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Today Cosmo and I went to the Washington DC Zoo.  If you have never been it is quite interesting and most of the animal habitats seem pretty nice.  Particularly nice are the Small Mammal and the Invertebrate exhibits.   

The first animals we saw when we got to the zoo were the Cheetahs.   For the most part they seemed rather board.  One was sleeping and one was walking slowly around the edge of the habitat.   The third one was the most interesting.  From his position he could see cars coming into the parking lot.  He sat there like a cat watching dogs run by (just following them with his head as they went past).  At one point a motorcycle went by.  This must have triggered some playful/predatory urge, because he took off running down the edge of the fence chasing after the motorcycle.  This should serve as a warning to motorcyclists around the world.  Watch out for predators.   

Later in the day we went to see the Gorilla exhibit.  This was the one I really wanted to see.  I left feeling very depressed.  Gorillas are depressing.  The one Gorilla that was in view just sat next to a window in his indoor habitat and stared blackly out into nothing.  People walked up to him and stared back at him.  Separated by just an inch of glass, the Gorilla seemed to have no response whatsoever.  The whole experience was sad.  

All in all it was a good day with a lot of walking and lot of kids.  For whatever reason, the Zoo people seem to have some aversion to food and shade in the same area.  There are plenty of places to eat, but none of them seem to have a shaded area to sit in. 

Others things learned, Pandas are animals that seem to sleep all the time.  Sea Lions always seem to have fun even when they aren't doing anything.  Lobsters have lots of parts and can live up to a 100 years; seems wrong to eat something that is 100 years old.