Lions, Tigers and Komodo Dragons, oh my!

So yesterday (Saturday), it was about 55 degrees and sunny out--perfect for Holly to go spend 3 hours inside at some Antique Fair (or some such place that Holly would find exciting and wonderful and that me and the kids would be bored with before we even got there). The only good part about the Antique Show was that it was very close to the Smithsonian National Zoo--hooray! So, we all boarded the Metro (light rail system in D.C.--EXACTLY like the one that Cincinnati should build if it ever gets it's head out of it's rear end). For $3.45 round trip we all got to ride the train, wait in line, and mingle with a nice cross-section of D.C. populace. Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, the zoo.

So, the kids and I said good-bye to Holly and proceeded hiked a half-mile to the zoo from the Metro stop. Like all the other Smithsonians around D.C. or "The District" if you live in D.C. (I'm protesting that stupid name, BTW--that and we don't live in D.C.) the zoo is free. Double score!

We had on our short list wanting to see: I wanted to see the pandas, while the kids wanted to see the Lions and Tigers and the Komodo Dragons--I'll let you figure out which one wanted to see which.

Not surprisingly, the zoo was not that crowded given the weather. However, the animals were all outside which was fun to see. We got a special treat and watched the elephants getting an afternoon snack. The highlight of the elephant house wasn't the pygmy hippo, or the capybara--always sweet to see a rodent that is larger than a German Shepherd--but the hippo. I don't think that any of us have ever really seen a full-grown hippo before, at least not this size. The best part about it, according to the kids was that it pooped in front of us. It pooped a lot. I mean A LOT. No picture of that unfortunately--I'll let you use your imaginations--and yes, it was that bad.

So, here are some pictures from our zoo adventure.
Apparently, pandas eat a lot of bamboo a day. I'm talking a LOT of bamboo. It seems that when they are awake, they are pretty much eating non-stop. Much like our old cat Cicero...who now weighs in at a healthy 18 pounds.






Here is the Capybara. Apparently it likes standing in pools of water. It too was eating--but I couldn't get it to stand still long enough to get a clear shot...except when it was standing in the water. Water apparently equals Capybara tranquilizer. Who knew. Nothing like a 60-pound rodent to brighten one's afternoon at the zoo I always say.

Male lion. The one thing I'll say about the National Zoo is that they really haven't gone out of their way to make the animal habitats anything like their native habitats. I guess if you are a lion that comes from a place where there are a lot of oak trees, clover, and bamboo you're all set. Props to the Cincinnati Zoo's cat house--those crazy murals, and the ambient noise for the cats...this lion would kill one of you to get a room there. Well, maybe kill is the wrong word--I have to constantly remind Holly that in the wild, the lion is looking at you thinking, "Oh good, dinner is here."

Female lion. She stood still for quite a while sniffing the air. I think she saw all the little kiddies around and was just trying to figure out which one smelled like it wanted to be her snack the most. Interestingly, they had the male and female lions in separate enclosures. No idea why, but there you go.

Here is the Komodo Dragon. It pretty much was in a corner of it's enclosure looking rather depressed. We stared at it though the thick glass and it just blinked back at us. This went on for about 3 minutes until we gave up that it was going to do anything interesting. Sometimes the zoo can be like that...oddly, much like a couple of my essay questions on my New Testament exam apparently (I got a B-).

We did also see some other wonderful animals, and a giant octopus who really didn't take a liking to us sticking our faces right up to the glass--either that or it was hungry (it kept on spreading out it's tentacles over our faces. Do you blame it, really?). As we were about to leave the zoo we saw, in the new Asian Trail exhibit, one of the sloth bears come out to pose so we got a couple of pictures. "It needs a Kleenex" one of the little kids next to us observed. From the mouths of babes....