I get asked frequently why I call myself the Penguin and the answer is quite simple; the penguin is my favourite animal. Why would a penguin be my favourite animal you may ask? Have you ever been bitten by a penguin? No. I have.

I was at a zoo in Wales (A country to the west of England for those who don't know - the penguin (me), is Welsh and loves Wales and would move back in a second for the right opportunity) and every lunch hour they let the penguins walk around the zoo for excercise, or something.

A little black and white, tuxedo clad bird walks up to me and eyes me up and down. He pauses, staring straight at me. I take a step to my right and he follows. I step left, and he follows. I take a step forward and he takes a step back. He was like my little mirror image, shadow or something.

I walked on, thinking nothing of it, laughing at the cuteness of it all. When I turned to check on him, much to my delight, he was following me. I slowed and soon he was walking beside me, step for step.

Half way around the zoo, I'm approached by another penguin. By this time, I had already patted my new buddy on the head and scratched behind where his ears would have been. I have a way with animals... shame I know so little about humans.

The other penguin walks up, looks me up and down, and stands right in front of me. I, being male, assume that if one penguin is friendly then all penguins are friendly. Wrong assumption. As I stuck out my hand to pet this new curious onlooker, his beak darted towards faster than I expected. I snapped close around the palm of my hand, but was quickly removed by the bird. I guess I don't taste good to penguins.

My penguin buddy stepped forward, made a hissing type sound, yelped or squawked or whatever sound best describes a penguin scream and chased the mean penguin away. He protected me. My one-and-a-half foot tall bodyguard.

The bite didn't really hurt, startled me more than anything, and I always tell that story to people to break the ice. It's different, it's fun, and it's why I love penguins.

And this is probably the cutest story you'll ever see on this blog. I offer no apologies, unedited ramblings, and sometimes a smattering of common sense.

I hope to see you around.

Cheers,

GJI Penguin