Is that a normal mother-baby hippo interaction? I’m glad the zoo staff was on hand in case anything went wrong. It seemed that Bibi was totally cool with Fiona poking around in her mouth.
DubravkamcvmdJune 12, 2017 / 4:18 pm
Does this mean that Bibi does recognize Fiona as her baby or is this just normal adult animal tolerance of the young?
allein ?June 12, 2017 / 7:38 pm
I was wondering that myself.
Aside from that, I concur with those below. This one grossed me out (and it didn’t help that I was eating dinner).
HaHaJune 12, 2017 / 4:34 pm
Some kids like to play Dr.
Some kids like to play Dentist.
They worked so hard to get hay that was previously chewed by Bibi to Fiona, now she just goes straight to the source.
CatwhispererJune 12, 2017 / 4:53 pm
Gee-ROSS tag? Or am I the only one?
CirceJune 12, 2017 / 5:48 pm
The ick factor was strong!
BlakeneyJune 12, 2017 / 7:39 pm
Well put! Also, um, is that hygienic?
It doesn’t look hygienic.
Muppet2171June 12, 2017 / 6:22 pm
Yeah…no. not the only one. While I think it’s great that Fiona and mom are finally bonding, just…ew.
LauraJune 12, 2017 / 6:33 pm
What was that whitish goo on the sides of Fiona’s mouth? I mean, she was rubbing it off on the inside Bibi’s cheek! Can we all say together now: Ewww!
fkaWaldenPondJune 12, 2017 / 6:58 pm
Yup, pretty geeerrooooss and ewwwwww for me as well.
Alice ShortcakeJune 12, 2017 / 5:47 pm
Just for a moment there I thought Dr Fiona was about to perform a tonsillectomy!
Gigi the cat ladyJune 12, 2017 / 6:00 pm
Love at 1:07 when Fiona opens her mouth : Open wide mama like this! And Bibi opens her mouth again. LOL!!
AmylizJune 12, 2017 / 7:55 pm
Ok, maybe not the cutest Fiona video but I choose to focus on the fact that she is having positive interactions with Mama! 🙂
HaHaJune 12, 2017 / 8:03 pm
Um. Yeah.
I choose to be happy for the hippo bonding, it really looks like curious tot exploration, while I am also happy that I am NOT a hippo.
I remember a bit of the gross when rechewing hay.
Duckie ?June 12, 2017 / 7:59 pm
Are we sure that the zoo is feeding their hippos enough?
DougJune 12, 2017 / 9:22 pm
.. Taste like Cute Baby Hippo .. (No.. I don’t know if she taste like chicken) 🙂
Yeah, it’s gee-ross (and I applied that tag right away because I knew), but I also thought it was touching in its own way. You’ll notice that none of the usual Fiona-watchers are credited as submitters of this video. That’s because this was entirely my idea, so blame me.
And of course the zoo is over the moon to see Fiona bond with Bibi like this. Apparently it’s a promising sign.
Here’s another video the zoo posted today. Most of the Fiona footage you’ve already seen, but there’s an interview with a member of the care team with some impressions of Fiona’s first day in the big pool.
Oh, no worries– me being a vocal commenter in the geee-roooss and eww section is grateful nobody has a camera around me while I do my daily ablutions. Damn, that would gain quite a few disdainful comments I am sure. 😀 I’ll take hippo bonding with a healthy dose of ‘geee-rooss, now I have seen how they do it’, any day over nothing at all.
I love when she goes running after the tilapia underwater – “Hi, what are you? Do you want to play?”
FayeJune 12, 2017 / 10:21 pm
I was not grossed out at all. But I’m a biology major. Mama’s mouth is so big that it looked like Fiona might take one step inside.
Reminded me of playing miniature golf!
Also, I swear Fiona could see a light at the end of the tunnel!
Gigi the cat ladyJune 12, 2017 / 11:26 pm
You are a bunch of “petites natures” ??? That wasn’t gross at all, then again I’m one of the people that find the videos of Dr Pimple Popper on YouTube fascinating .
EAG46June 13, 2017 / 10:23 am
Me too! Sadly I doubt Dr. Sandra Lee’s videos will ever be featured here. Though she IS cute.
FayeJune 13, 2017 / 12:10 pm
See that’s where I draw the line. I can watch full surgeries but NOT DR. PIMPLE POPPER.
LauraJune 13, 2017 / 5:57 pm
Actually, I love Dr. Pimple Popper, too, and I’m not normally grossed out. But for some reason that cheesy white stuff got to me a bit. I guess I’m more sensitive about mouths. But I’d rather have a slightly gross Fiona video than no Fiona videos, and I normally adore videos of surgery to remove abscesses and pulling out bugs that have implanted themselves under a person’s skin and charming stuff like that. So go figure!
Oh, pfft – you should see what hippos do with their poop! I think it’s a tactic to deter crocodiles & other predators – as they’re pooping, they use their little tail like a propeller to whip it around and send it flying. There’s a clip on MTV’s “Ridiculousness” that had the hosts just collapsing in giggles.
Ricky's MomJune 13, 2017 / 6:37 am
I didn’t find it gross either. I thought it was both charming and fascinating.
Here is what the Cincinatti Zoo blog says about it:
“This interaction might make you nervous, but Fiona’s care team was happy to see Bibi patiently allowing Fiona to mouth her tongue, tusks and even the back of her throat. Bibi got down on the ground and offered her whole mouth for exploration! Hippos use their mouths to act tough, play, show affection, and explore the world around them (we think Bibi likes the mouth massage!)”
So, we really don’t know if Bibi realizes she’s Fiona’s mother, but she’s still acting maternally in letting a baby hippo be a baby hippo. Nom away, Fiona!
JulieJune 13, 2017 / 8:01 am
I don’t think this is gross, at all. This is not that different from humans kissing, the only difference is intention.
JulieJune 13, 2017 / 8:03 am
My ad was for “Thera Breath” fresh breath kit!!!! ????????
Is that a normal mother-baby hippo interaction? I’m glad the zoo staff was on hand in case anything went wrong. It seemed that Bibi was totally cool with Fiona poking around in her mouth.
Does this mean that Bibi does recognize Fiona as her baby or is this just normal adult animal tolerance of the young?
I was wondering that myself.
Aside from that, I concur with those below. This one grossed me out (and it didn’t help that I was eating dinner).
Some kids like to play Dr.
Some kids like to play Dentist.
They worked so hard to get hay that was previously chewed by Bibi to Fiona, now she just goes straight to the source.
Gee-ROSS tag? Or am I the only one?
The ick factor was strong!
Well put! Also, um, is that hygienic?
It doesn’t look hygienic.
Yeah…no. not the only one. While I think it’s great that Fiona and mom are finally bonding, just…ew.
What was that whitish goo on the sides of Fiona’s mouth? I mean, she was rubbing it off on the inside Bibi’s cheek! Can we all say together now: Ewww!
Yup, pretty geeerrooooss and ewwwwww for me as well.
Just for a moment there I thought Dr Fiona was about to perform a tonsillectomy!
Love at 1:07 when Fiona opens her mouth : Open wide mama like this! And Bibi opens her mouth again. LOL!!
Ok, maybe not the cutest Fiona video but I choose to focus on the fact that she is having positive interactions with Mama! 🙂
Um. Yeah.
I choose to be happy for the hippo bonding, it really looks like curious tot exploration, while I am also happy that I am NOT a hippo.
I remember a bit of the gross when rechewing hay.
Are we sure that the zoo is feeding their hippos enough?
.. Taste like Cute Baby Hippo .. (No.. I don’t know if she taste like chicken) 🙂
Yeah, it’s gee-ross (and I applied that tag right away because I knew), but I also thought it was touching in its own way. You’ll notice that none of the usual Fiona-watchers are credited as submitters of this video. That’s because this was entirely my idea, so blame me.
And of course the zoo is over the moon to see Fiona bond with Bibi like this. Apparently it’s a promising sign.
Here’s another video the zoo posted today. Most of the Fiona footage you’ve already seen, but there’s an interview with a member of the care team with some impressions of Fiona’s first day in the big pool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbqPF-fyCfo?rel=0
Oh, no worries– me being a vocal commenter in the geee-roooss and eww section is grateful nobody has a camera around me while I do my daily ablutions. Damn, that would gain quite a few disdainful comments I am sure. 😀 I’ll take hippo bonding with a healthy dose of ‘geee-rooss, now I have seen how they do it’, any day over nothing at all.
I love when she goes running after the tilapia underwater – “Hi, what are you? Do you want to play?”
I was not grossed out at all. But I’m a biology major. Mama’s mouth is so big that it looked like Fiona might take one step inside.
Reminded me of playing miniature golf!
Also, I swear Fiona could see a light at the end of the tunnel!
You are a bunch of “petites natures” ??? That wasn’t gross at all, then again I’m one of the people that find the videos of Dr Pimple Popper on YouTube fascinating .
Me too! Sadly I doubt Dr. Sandra Lee’s videos will ever be featured here. Though she IS cute.
See that’s where I draw the line. I can watch full surgeries but NOT DR. PIMPLE POPPER.
Actually, I love Dr. Pimple Popper, too, and I’m not normally grossed out. But for some reason that cheesy white stuff got to me a bit. I guess I’m more sensitive about mouths. But I’d rather have a slightly gross Fiona video than no Fiona videos, and I normally adore videos of surgery to remove abscesses and pulling out bugs that have implanted themselves under a person’s skin and charming stuff like that. So go figure!
Oh, pfft – you should see what hippos do with their poop! I think it’s a tactic to deter crocodiles & other predators – as they’re pooping, they use their little tail like a propeller to whip it around and send it flying. There’s a clip on MTV’s “Ridiculousness” that had the hosts just collapsing in giggles.
I didn’t find it gross either. I thought it was both charming and fascinating.
Here is what the Cincinatti Zoo blog says about it:
“This interaction might make you nervous, but Fiona’s care team was happy to see Bibi patiently allowing Fiona to mouth her tongue, tusks and even the back of her throat. Bibi got down on the ground and offered her whole mouth for exploration! Hippos use their mouths to act tough, play, show affection, and explore the world around them (we think Bibi likes the mouth massage!)”
So, we really don’t know if Bibi realizes she’s Fiona’s mother, but she’s still acting maternally in letting a baby hippo be a baby hippo. Nom away, Fiona!
I don’t think this is gross, at all. This is not that different from humans kissing, the only difference is intention.
My ad was for “Thera Breath” fresh breath kit!!!! ????????
That’s awesome – I got one for a dentist, offering to test my “Smile-Q”! 😀
I removed a dead, slightly mutilated mouse from the A/C blower fan in my Jeep last week. That was gross. This is just…weird. 😛
Eh, all babies are a little gross at some point – still great to see Fiona doing well, and getting along with mom!