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Suz invited us to join her for a National Zoo volunteer and family
tour on a beautiful but cold late February day. (Regular readers may remember Suz as
spider woman.) It was great fun! We had two docents for five adults and
three kids; it really was very nice. We started in the auditorium -- which was a little silly for the 10 of us.
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The docents passed several fun things around to Robert, TJ and their adults: feathers, skins
and shells. We learned that the scales on a python are bigger and rougher on the bottom than the top
(for better traction). And that the turtle's shell is considered scales. Porcupine quills really are sharp!
And elephant hair is, well, elephantine -- very thick and strong.
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After a very nice introduction to some of the animals we might see and to the distinction between
birds, reptiles and mammals, we put our coats back on and toured the Asia trail to the bird house.
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First stop: the sloth bears. They were out enjoying the sunny weather. Then we stopped by the fishing
cat exhibit. The cat was on the prowl hoping for lunch
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While the adults were admiring the giant pandas sunning themselves...
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...the boys were enthralled by the construction of the elephant trail.
Eventually, we crossed the bridge to the bird house.
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The Flamingos were especially fun because of the size of the flock and the shocking color.
It's good to be reminded how nice it is to live in DC and have this great, free zoo so close.
Thank you very much Suz.
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