Snore and Roar

Upon moving back to DC, I learned about Snore and Roar. Last year Sean and I became FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo) members so we could register for Snore & Roar, a camp-out at the zoo that would give us an opportunity to get backstage of one of the offered exhibits. Last year we registered for the Primate House, however it was rained out. We joined again in 2007, so we could go to Snore and Roar. Friday after work we headed to the zoo to begin our Snore & Roar Adventure. Let me tell you this: We were super excited. We had paid extra for the Great Cats tour. Although extra, we knew that this was the way to go, and passed on the Small Mammal house, the Reptile House, the Birds, and some of the other less exciting options. We arrived right on time and began assembling our tent under a big beautiful tree on the flattest ground we could find. We then watched the fathers show up with their daughters. The Mothers with their sons. The lady with her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend. (this was just strange, and they all looked miserable.)

Sean and I chuckled that we were the only childless people there and started coming up with ideas on how we could scare the children at night. (Don't worry, no children were harmed or scared!)

After approximately 11 tents were erected, for three Snore and Roar programs (Great Cats, Cheetahs and Pandas), we broke into our group of 10 and went back to where the tigers and lions are kept. Sean and I were totally excited at this point and pushed our way to the front. We had to stand behind a yellow line which was about 3 feet from the cages. Some of the cats just stared at us, some paced back and forth, others jumped on the cage wanting to play or eat us. Last year, 3 Sumatran Tiger cubs were born and we went to the zoo for their debut. Now they are close to 150 pounds and were a blast to watch. The lions weren't as exciting although the young male was very excited to see us and paced back and forth in clumsy fashion.



The Lioness is mostly relaxed.
One of the tiger cubs eagerly looks at the tourists. The most fun was playing with the cubs. I would look at one and then start walking down the hallway, looking over my shoulder and it would follow me to the end of the enclosure, which meant it might have to go through a couple of cat doors that they were allowed to pass through. I was more entertained than the cub.

Now I have mixed feelings about the whole zoo concept, but it was definitely a wonderful experience to get that close to these beautiful animals. After about an hour we got to feed two animals which have strange and forgettable names. One looked like a small anteater and the other like a large rat. This wasn't exciting in the least, but it stalled for time while the other group went into the cat house.

After the exhibit tour we went on a flashlight tour. We only saw a few duck families, a sleeping Red Panda, squawking flamingos and the alligator. Oh, and huge cranes.

Upon returning to our tent, we got ready for bed and listened to the kids settle down. It did thunder during the night, but luckily no one evacuated us, and no children started screaming as I feared there would be an uproar. Around 5am, I heard a noise which I cannot replicate in words, nor can I mock with my voice. I can only guess it was some sort of bird and probably one of those very large cranes we spotted the night before. Well, the cranes had a lot to say and it was no surprise that everyone was up and tents were down before 7am.

By 8am we were home, wishing we could have slept near the cats instead of the kids and birds. I would have like to cozy up with this guy...

This lion finally calmed down for a few minutes to sit and smile for me.