Zoolights in DC

We ventured out on a cold (for DC) night. It was just below freezing with a breeze blowing. The Christmas Zoolights was set up at the zoo and we hadn't yet been. At the pedestrian entrance, there, there is a long ramp with lights all along the way pointing to where the ticket entrance was. There was also a zookeeper at the very front to give encouragement to keep going. Both Ryan and I thought he was just a bum sleeping on the bunch till he started talking. He was well bundled for the weather. There were other people, but no crowds, so we got to take our time and see the animal exhibits that were open and enjoy the lights. The zookeepers in most places were very friendly and pointing out where the animals were sleeping. The nocturnal animals were just starting to wake up. Many others were enjoying dinner.

The main entrance with the pandas.

One of the last chances to see all three pandas. We had a great view of the male, female and baby (here). The baby was sleeping, so it was easy to get a good picture. The other two were pacing too much.

Panda lights.

Porcupine taking a nap.

Since the Zoo is run by the Smithsonian, they have lots of species we are not used to seeing. A tailed porcupine here.

This hummingbird stayed in one spot for the picture, but didn't stay still. The wings looked like they moved. Lots of the lights were animated.

Ryan looks at the Grand Caiman iguana.

The reptile exhibit was in an amazing building.

The lights for the fly turned on and off. In the background, you can see one of the many trees that was lit up as well.

The same lizard as the lights above.

This big lizard moved his head back and forth. We didn't see the actual Komodo dragon, but the zoo is proud of their breeding program.

This picture is a little hard to see, but it is one of the apes on his back snoozing away. We spent some time in the ape house. Was fun to try to find all the sleeping apes and orangutans. Many of them had blankets and they were snuggled under them. One of them was only pretending to sleep - Lucy. She was enjoying interacting with people too much and had broken from the usual routine of sleeping as soon as the zoo closed. The orangutans have an amazing transit system where they head over to the "think tank" often to work on computers and other scientific studies.

Drinking fountain by the tigers and lions - they were all put away for the night, but there were still lights near their exhibits.

Anteater lights. The ants "walked" down the hill.

The largest animal lights were the elephants. I think they were life sized. Was a great night at the zoo.