Have you ever heard of a Fishing Cat? The Cuban Crocodile? African Pancake Tortoise? If not, you can see them all at THE ZOO!!!!

I finally (after close to a month of living here) had the chance to start striking things off the Washington To-Do/To-See List. How to pick what to do is probably going to be the hardest part as there is so many things to do and see that it will be hard to figure out what *exactly* to explore that day.  But, with it being a Sunday and me feeling a little homesick, I decide to tap into my life back in Calgary which meant, drum roll please, I WENT TO THE ZOO!!!! I can tell you that the Zoo will be a common ground for me; and no, it is not because I belong there (for all you people that had a joke on the tip of your tongue).  First and foremost, it is free, which is awesome.  Secondly, there is so much to see and learn while there that it will take me lots of trips to probably see every animal there.  Also, the metro ride there is pretty simple as I don't need to get off my line and the area of town that the zoo is in is one to go explore further (I think it has a Vietnamese place which is something I have been trying to find as I have been craving salad rolls and bubble tea).  I was like a kid in a Disney store when I was walking up the path and into the zoo; it was so exciting to be finally doing something, and that something being the zoo!!

 

So just a bit of some background for you guys on the zoo- it was founded in 1889, covers about 163 acres and holds 2000 animals from 400 different species.  If you want a more detailed list of all the animals, click here:  http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/exhibits.cfm. I don't even think I could list all of the different animals that I saw as my mind was going miles a minute just looking at everything.  I was like a squirrel - everywhere I looked there was something different to see and I am sure I back tracked a lot to make sure I got to see every exhibit.  I originally decided to forego the Bird House as birds free to fly in enclosed spaces and me do not go hand in hand (something I picked up from my dear mother hahaha) but I thought that if I was going to do the zoo, I was going to see every part of it. 

I really do not know where to begin in telling you about my experience there.  It truly is one of those things that you need to experience for yourself, but I will try to guide you through my time of being there, show you some pictures that I took (I took around 244 pictures so I won't post them all hahaha, but I will eventually get a picture of every animal there) and some write ups (courtesy of probably Wikipedia hahaha) of some of the animals that I have never heard of before.  And you will have to pardon my comparison to the Calgary Zoo as that is the only zoo I have ever been at before. 

 

I am a cat person; always have been and probably always will be.  So one of the first animals I get to meet at the Zoo is called a Fishing Cat.  Never heard about them; never had an inkling that they even existed.  But alas they do.  Sadly, I never saw one actually go 'fishing' for food, but just to see them was quite interesting. 

 

What is interesting about this cat is that they will attract fish by lightly tapping on the waters surface with their paws, mimicking insect movements.  Then, when their prey is close, they will DIVE (yes, a cat diving into water) into the water to catch the first.  They will also apparently swim underwater to prey on ducks and other birds.  Their paws are slightly webbed to let them scoop their prey out of the water as well to help them swim underwater.  Their tail is flat, kind of rudder-like, to help them steer underwater.  I really really hope one day I will be able to see it actually diving into the water or something like that. 





So next stop I see is the Asian Small-Clawed Otters.  Holy canoly, these guys are like cockroaches - freaking everywhere.  They seemed to be tinier than the North American River Otter (which is what the Calgary Zoo has) and I am going to take an educated guess and say that they have longer claws than the American Otters.  But seriously, the exhibit was over run with them. 

So I go walking and walking and more walking and I find myself in the American Trail, which consists of animals like a beaver (which I sadly did not see), seals and sea lions, the bald eagle, and also, and this is pretty cool, grey wolves.  What is cool about the grey wolves are that they actually came from the Calgary Zoo!!!  So it was like I was back at home when I saw these two wonderful animals.  I am hoping their transition to Washington has been more stable than mine has been hahaha. 

 

The Zoo also has an aquarium type area, invertebrate house and reptiles/amphibian place as well.  There were many different types of fish, crocodiles/alligators, reptiles, frogs, coral and sting rays a plenty!!!  In this area is also the creepy crawler type things like tarantulas (I hate that psychological feeling that when you are looking at things like that you have this sensation that something is crawling on you/over your feet - I am pretty sure I visibly shuddered when I was taking the pictures) and so many different types of snakes.  I finally saw what a Rattlesnake looks like up close and I hope that is the one and only time I get to see one (except for behind very thick glass where it can not get out). 

 

So while I am walking throughout the zoo, which I would like to know just how much I walked that day as it seemed to be a lot of walking,  I am noticing that it is becoming more and more the 'Zoo of the Turtles'.  I seemed to have been seeing turtles is every area of the zoo.  According to the website, there are 15 different types of turtles at the zoo - crazy. 

 

Oh, there is also a kids part to the zoo - you know, the kids farm type area with farm animals and all those wonderful creatures.  I had to laugh because they had cows in an area, and people were actually stopped to see and look at the cows.  I keep forgetting that I live in a very city-type atmosphere and that maybe some people have never really seen a cow out in the 'real' world.  I know that there is a girl in my classes that has never seen a moose before. 

One really interesting part of the zoo is what is called the O-Line; it is the Orangutan Transport System.  It consists of 8 50-foot high towers that goes from the outdoor orangutan yard at the Great Ape House to the outdoor orangutan yard at the Think Tank.  The line is supposably usually accessible for the Orangutan's between 11am and 2pm.  Now, and if you were thinking what I was thinking in that what stops the Orangutan's from climbing down and experiencing the zoo with real people, the surrounding grid and whatnot are electrically charged, so that will stop the Orangutan's from climbing down and people climbing up.  Sadly I never got to see the Line being used, but I am hoping that one day I will (if statistics play in my favor hahaha). 

 

I could go on and on and on more about everything that I saw, but I think I will stop.  I will definitely be going back to the Zoo more times to get the full experience and to be able to see everything and read about everything and all that educational stuff.  There are programs there that you can watch and learn about the animals (I think there is one at the Seal exhibit that I would like to catch).  When it all boils down to it, you need to come and experience this zoo for yourself to be able to see everything, and it is free, so why wouldn't a person??

 

With this I leave you to your everyday life and hope that this small escape to the National Zoo in Washington was a good break for you.  Stay tuned for all of my next adventures that I am going to have - there will be a crapload for you to read, laugh out loud too and smile at.  With that said, I will leave you with this kick ass picture I took, which is probably one of my favorites from this trip. 

 

The Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin