Adventures at the Washington DC Zoo, Part the Oneth

How insanely, totally delightful that the Washington DC zoo is such an incredible place. 


It doesn't GET any better.  I mean, first of all, can you say "FREE?"  Because it is.  And second of all, it's a way awesome zoo.  And you can even bring food/snacks in with you, so other than getting yourself down there (Metro passes?  Parking fees?), it can be a money-free afternoon.


We chose to use the Metro to get there.  As Matthew was still ill with what Digger (Life After Jerusalem) has kindly labeled as "Ebola"  (it seems to follow my family around), it was only James, Zachary, and yours truly.  Also, our Oakwoody Residence is within a tiny little walking distance to the Metro.  So taking the Metro to the zoo it was.


And what a great decision!  For if we had not taken the Metro and then walked to the Zoo entrance, we would have totally missed out on seeing The Couch:





Seriously.  Some random couch on some random street corner of Washington DC.  WHAT is THAT?


And when we were done at the Zoo in the late afternoon and were walking back to the Metro to go home, the random couch was still there on the street corner.  Which leads me to ask:  does the couch permanently live there?  Is that the couch's home?  Does that stoplight go so long that pedestrians have to wait for what seems like an eternity, and did they all pitch in and buy that couch so as to give themselves somewhere comfy to sit while they wait to cross the street? 

Anyway... 


Had we not walked from the Metro, we also would have missed the following photo op with Zachary and a panda bear with Chineseish painting on it:





Panda bears are Zachary's new obsession.  It's probably his way to begin to identify with our new post (Chengdu, China, in fall of 2011), which is where there are all manner of wonderful pandaish fabulicities (a darling post about the panda preserve in Chengdu, China by Shenyanigans). 


We reached the Zoo, and it was AMAZING.  I took so many pictures of so many animals that I'm going to have to make this into at LEAST two different blog posts.  For behold!


There were...





Otters







Monkeys grooming each other

This most amazing owl.  He actually has blood on his beak.  For what the picture does NOT show is that his talons have... um... FOOD in them.  I spared you.  You're welcome.

The sloth was not eating.  I'm assuming sloths have to eat at some point, but this one was not.  I love how his (her?) arm was sticking out of the side of the Sloth Sleeping Box. 

By the way:  mystery solved. 


I now know exactly what kind of animal my youngest son would be.  He would be a Rock Cavy (sign, above, pictured, below).  For, as the sign says, "Male rock cavies develop a fondness for their particular rock piles."  Yep, that's my youngest son.  He HATES change, and he HATES moving.  We won't discuss this any further, but you can just imagine how thrilled he is every time we move.  Which is always. 







The rock cavy, who is very fond of his own particular rock pile. 







The shrew.  And I can't EVEN tell you how long that nose is.  Seriously - the other half of that insanely long nose is buried under the wood chips.  It's like an elephant's nose!  Except thinner.

Squirrel of some sort.  (Okay!  I suck at remembering their names!)


But my total favorite animal at the zoo was, of course:






Oh, yeah.  He was WATCHING ME. 


(Figures.)


Those Tigers, Dude. 


You just NEVER KNOW where they might be.


They could be... ANYWHERE.  And they could be...ANYONE.






(Just kidding.)

Comments

[shannon]

Ok first understand i am NOT repeat NOT a squirrel expert. I will stick to flowers thank you very much BUT I know that squirrel! It is a Prevost's squirrel native to SE Asia. Aren't they most gorgeous squirrel ever??

When we were in Jakarta we stayed on Palau Putri (Putri Island) one weekend and my boys swore up and down they saw one of these squirrels. I kept telling them they were full of it. Just as we loaded into the boat to head back to Jakarta, you know when my camera was all packed away, I saw not one but two eating some fruit nailed to the side of a tree. No pictures but great memories.

Love the tigers, it is creepy when they look right at you isn't it?

[Donna]

Seriously, how do you take those pictures? I go to the zoo and I get a picture of a branch. With something at the tippy top that may or may not have fur. Is it an owl? A lemur? A rock cavy? Noone ever knows.

When we're in DC in July, I'll be on the lookout for that couch. Seems like a good place to stop with the baby for a nap.

[David L.]

The zoo is among D.C.'s greatest attractions, and it doesn't get enough publicity.

But before you tout it as free, it is worth noting that the admission is free, but our tax dollars keep that place open. Just think of it as getting your money's worth compared to the millions of Americans who pay taxes to support the zoo without ever visiting it.

[Emily]

Your pictures are amazing.
I think that if we are ever in the same place at the same time, I will request some photography lessons. Please?

[Connie]

Your photos of the animals are National Geographic quality :) Love it! Esp. the wild couch. Likely explanation is stupid waste management. We liked living in (and commuting from, but it was worth it to us) Maryland. Prince George cty had a bulky item pick-up. I think we had to call and arrange it, and it was only certain times a month, but they picked up bulky stuff. I assume that most counties did not. In any place other than Prince George, old couches ran wild.

[Brian]

Your pictures are awesome...good work!

[Bridget]

love the animal pics! It's true, being from DC I object to paying when I go to a zoo...but a pp is right that we pay, just in a different way.