A young boy, running ahead of his family, asked the keeper what animals were in the large, gunite exhibit the keeper was hosing. Picking the simplest of his standard answers, the keeper told him that they were mountain goats.
When the boy’s family caught up with him he turned excitedly to his mother and said, “Look mom, mountain goats.” His mother, reading the sign on the fence, replied, “No, they’re Siberian ibex.” This went back and forth several times, with the boy insisting that they were mountain goats, and the mother insisting on a literal interpretation of the sign. Finally in exasperation, the mother turned to the boy and said, “How do you know they’re mountain goats?” The boy pointed at the keeper and said, ‘‘He told me!” His mother had no reply.