Today was such a beautiful day, although I had originally planned to stay at work a little later and use some flex time later in the week, I couldn’t resist and ducked out at the eight hour mark, swung past Giant, got some groceries, and after fixing myself an early dinner, decided to take a stroll through the National Zoo.

The Zoo is under construction: massive renovations to the Elephant House, which pretty much divide the Zoo in half. A lot of exhibits seemed to be inaccessible, particularly the ones on the west side of the Zoo: the seals and sea lions, etcetra. The bear exhibits. Sadly, I was very much looking forward to seeing the Big Big Cats: the lions, the tigers. A sign notified me that they were not out after 4pm. Alas! I did see the cheetahs, and a fishing cat (sort of), and some clouded leopards.

Those latter two cats were on Asia Trail, relatively new to the Zoo. I also spent many minutes fawning over some adorable red pandas, which inspired me to do nothing more than rub their bellys and scratch them behind the head. I doubt they would’ve enjoyed that much, and perhaps neither would I, but they’re just adorable creatures.

As were the clouded leopards: they’re a pair, and although I don’t know off hand how old they are, they behave almost like kittens, bounding off rocks and trees in mock, playful attacks against each other, chasing each other around their enclosure. Great, friendly, engaging cats.

I wandered towards the Bird House and the Aviary which is accessible, due to the construction, only through the Asia Trail. There’s a new bridge over what will be a hugely expanded elephant environment. Sadly, the Bird House was closed at 6pm, which meant I couldn’t get to the Aviary. There are birds in enclosures surrounding the Bird House, including a whole flock of Pink Flamingos. They’re actually not that far from my apartment, actually: turn around from the flamingo pen and you can see the red brick of my apartment building, maybe 200 feet away. Making my way around the Bird House, I stopped in my tracks: a deer, grazing, standing bold as could be on the pedestrian pass. I had a conversation with a passing Zoo employee who informed me at least six deer lived free on the Zoo grounds, and this one in particular usually had two fawns with her and I should be on guard lest she display her matronly traits. Also, since I wasn’t driving a car, I made the decision not to run said deer over.