SBA, Day 5 - What do you do when the trains don't run?

For the second time in DC history, the Metro didn't run.*  That put a little crimp in our plans and became a big concern for the area (Now we learn that schools offered excused absences and businesses allowed telecommuting so it wasn't exactly chaos.).

It would be a zoo out there. Wait, that was our solution. The National Zoo was close enough for us to get there and back. It would be a short day for us, but maybe we needed a short day (yesterday was FULL). And THERE ARE PANDAS! [While I am not a big fan of zoos, this one is well done. They do research, work to save endangered species, educate the public, recycle, and more.]

We grabbed a map and planned our approach (aided by a desire to avoid the many kids/strollers/rude people**). Overall, we were a bit surprised at how many exhibits were empty and how many animals were sleeping. I am sure it takes multiple trips to see everything and we were visiting in what is considered "winter." The hours are shorter and the biggest tourist weeks are ahead.

Our walking zoo tour was long (we stayed over 3 hours) and our feet hurt, but we tried to see a good variety of creatures. By the end of our trip we had scoped out the shuttle bus and quickly found a cab back to the hotel.***

Here are some photos**** (we really did not take many) and stories:

Perhaps the most famous resident - the Giant Panda.

We watched as the panda sat with its back to the crowd and stripped leaves from bamboo. We watched. It kept eating.

We arrived at the zoo in time to see the panda (get our panda stickers) and make the "meet the kiwi" program. There were more people waiting (we were in the middle of the group) than the room would allow, so I stayed outside and took photos through the window. I also got to see the green-winged macaw mini-program. Win-win.

What did we learn about the nub-winged (flightless), hairy-feathered native of New Zealand? Kiwi are nocturnal. They are solitary and do not imprint/bond. They carry the largest egg in relation to their bodies of any bird. To prove this there is a skeleton as well as x-rays on display. This particular kiwi is unusual in his willingness to participate in the program/lecture. The kiwi is the national symbol of New Zealand.

The kiwi is barely visible in the grey mesh box. The lights were low. More on the family to the bottom right at the end of this post at the end. DH is on the lower left. He seemed to be enjoying the lecture - nodding and smiling.

Kiwi skeleton showing they are the bravest mothers ever.

The keeper would pet the kiwi while it looked around and up over the edge of the box at times.

X-rays of pregnant kiwi on the table.

There's a kid wearing a Driftwood, Texas t-shirt in the bird lab!

 The green-winged macaw mini-lecture was held in an enclosure that housed other creatures including peacocks and mice! This macaw was rescued from life as a neglected pet. He has a permanently injured wing and is missing some digits on his left foot. When he lost his mate at the zoo, he began to pluck his feathers out. The keeper said that he was almost naked on his front. They tried a number of possible new mates, but while he likes other birds the plucking continued. Then they started the mini-lectures and he stopped! It appears he needed more interaction with humans. So the keeper answered questions and fed the macaw as we looked on. Then the macaw said, "Bye-bye!" The keeper said that was the signal to stop. We all said, "Bye-bye!" and the bird bid us farewell again.

My buddy on his rope perch.

The keeper and the green-winged macaw

There were mice running around in most of the bird enclosures. The zoo monitors population and welcomes the help in cleaning the cages (birds are messy). They were fast and I only caught a few very blurry images.

We saw familiar birds - roseate spoonbills, mallards, flamingos, whooping cranes - as well as unfamiliar varieties - scarlet ibis, Baltimore orioles, red-crested cardinal, and many exotics.

Flamingos were sleeping. Look at this color. I had no idea!

Red-crested cardinal

We visited the small animals where we found (among other things) a chinchilla!

JRF 's family has a pet chinchilla, Rhonda. We figure this must be a cousin. We will call him, "Rick."

Rick was sleeping.

This burrowing owl was in an area with a ground squirrel. The owl was balanced on a piece of wood. The ground squirrel kept wiggling the piece of wood. He finally succeeded in flipping the wood, the owl jumped back and the squirrel scurried to the corner and hit in some sawdust. It was an odd interaction - like a teeter-totter.

Our stop at the reptile/amphibian exhibit disclosed myriad snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, iguanas, caiman, alligators, crocodiles, and geckos. While many creatures hid, some were quite "present" and even active.

Australian snake-necked turtles swam like crazy. I decided to try a video.

OK. Two videos. I loved these guys.

Copperhead. I think he was looking at us.

The elephants were easily viewed from a bridge. They walked back and forth feeding. Six Asian elephants live at the zoo.

Did you know that Asian elephants once roamed throughout Asia, but may be extinct in the wild in the next 20 years?

Part of the elephant exhibit - energy in, energy out!

OK. A few more signs from the zoo:

In the restroom near the elephant house

We are apparently very like lizards or so this display says.

See - recycling matters.

Wondering about the big cats? They were all lounging around - sleeping in the sun mostly. We saw a few cats - large and small - but all were relaxing except the bobcat. He was sitting up - no question of his identity. I did find this photo of an exotic feline. I don't remember what kind he is, but his markings were distinctive.

I think this is a special heated bed. They pump warm water through the pipes for him. This is no surprise. We have a cat who sits on the heating vents in the winter.

Final story? JRF and I decided to shop after we rested. We were in the elevator when a family from the floor below us got on. They were the family from the kiwi program! One of the little girls stared at me (as she had at the zoo) and I asked the mother, "Were you at the zoo today?" "Yes," she said. "We saw you there." The father commented, "With the Metro shut down, we had few options, so we decided to go to the zoo."

NOTES:

*The last shut-down was caused by bad weather.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-region-braces-for-snowstorm-as-it-continues-to-struggle-with-one-inch-from-last-night/2016/01/21/8744619e-c041-11e5-83d4-42e3bceea902_story.html

We waited until 10 to leave. http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2016-metro-shutdown/

**It was the lady at the visitors' center! She must have been from New York.

***OK. I thought the cab pulled over for us, but it was dropping off a young woman and baby. I scared her as I opened the door. I offered her help. This isn't the south. That's all I am going to say. So we let her struggle out with the baby and stroller. The cabbie helped her some. Then we got in.

****In keeping with my rules of posting, many of the birds/animals/miscellaneous creatures kept their backs to us. We did manage a few decent images.