"Well, they can't look at a clock and say, 'It's four-thirty,'" Alex clarified. "But they seem to have a sense of when things are going to happen when they happen regularly. Feeding time, enrichment, even when the peak times of day for visitors will be. Stay here, okay?"
He unlocked a side door and vanished inside, only to reemerge a minute or so later inside the Troodon pen. He remained inside of a barred area, separated from the main enclosure for safety. A sharp whistle brought the four dinosaurs running to him. A hand signal had them standing straight up, rewarded a few moments later with treats of dead mice. Another hand signal had them crouch down, with the same treat as a reward. Finally Alex tossed in a battery-operated ball and the four dinosaurs went wild, hopping, squawking, and chasing it. Alex grinned out at Peggy and wiped his hands on his jeans as he walked back inside.
Once he was back in the viewing hallway, his hands washed and sanitized for good measure, he grinned again. "They love that thing. They'll chase it for a good twenty minutes or so."