Visiting the Pandas through a Little Boy's Eyes

Is it just me, or are zoos way more exciting when you are an adult with a small child?  I don't remember thinking that zoos were very fun places.  Most times when I remember going to the zoo, I remember that it was hot, crowded and smelled odd.  But this weekend we took Gabriel to the National Zoo and had a wonderful time.

In fact, I'd have to say that the best time to go to a zoo is likely in the Fall/early Winter.  It was definitely cooler, but by Canadian standards, absolutely doable.  But the animals were calm and it was much less crowded and smells weren't even detectable.

Highlights of our trip:

1) The Red Panda: more like a raccoon than a panda but the colours were very lively and bright.

2) The Pandas: they looked so cuddly and cute, but the way they snapped those bamboo shafts, Whoa!

3) The Elephant: the trainers had her doing all sorts of tricks.  They just waved their wand and called out commands.  Sort of like with Abe, except that they did it from inside a steal structure.  Hmmm...  Let's go with the fact that she's big and might not notice if she stepped on them, shall we.  I'd also like to note that the 3 inch diameter steel rods connected to 8 inch by 8 inch posts was a good indicator of elephant strength.  Yikes!

4) The tiger that stuck his tongue out at us.  I guess he wanted to stay inside where the food was, and didn't like that they made him go play outside.  Abe empathizes.

 

 5) The Ape:  Oh, the ape.  Everyone thought he was scratching.  But.  He wasn't.  He surprised us by catching his feces, hot out of the oven and then chowed down on it like he was eating an apple.  Hmmm.  Yum.  Well, another good indicator of the degrees of separation between us and them.

6) The Aquarium: I think this was Gabriel's favorite part.  But are we surprised?  After all, he is a water boy!  Can't keep this boy away from water.  The bright colours, soothing sounds.  He loved it!

Although I am pretty sure that Gabriel loved everything about the zoo.  He watched each animal with fascination--especially the panda.  And loved the accompanying animal sounds I made.

The downside of the zoo--animals in captivity... you know, I kind of feel bad. BUT, the best part about going to the zoo is seeing all of those REAL animals that you might never see anywhere else except in books.  And let's face it, REAL is sooo much cooler!