"Lesser Panda" my ass

[thehefner]

Now, everyone loves giant pandas, and I do too. They're the stars of the Zoo, after all, and they're even on DC metro cards. But let me tell ya... I think I far favor the red pandas instead.

I was walking through the Zoo, trying to find an animal to study for Wednesday's pantomime, and the red panda was one of the first things I saw. Rarely in a Zoo have I ever seen a animal of such character, adorableness, and utter showmanship. Seriously. When people would congregate around on the higher end of the habitat, right up to the treetop levels, this red panda would not just climb the tree... he would twist under branches and climb out to the flimsiest-looking twigs, and look right at us. Sometimes he'd even have one paw hanging off the twig as it precariously bounced under him.

And once, when someone had a telephoto lens, the red panda climbed up to the very, very top of the tree, and stretched his head upward. The photographer took his shots and whispered, "Thank you."

What a show-off of an animal, how enthralling to behold. For my assignment, I was to study an animal's characteristics for a half hour or longer. While I easily spent that much time looking at the red panda, I was in such awe that I found it hard to keep my mind focused on the task at hand.

Of course, now I have to figure out what the hell I'm going to do for class. I need to give a three minute pantomime as the animal with a beginning, middle, and end, that features the physical and vocal characteristics that reveals the inner life (the subtext) of the animal. They usually expect me to come up with a conflict that the animal would find in their natural setting, but aside from poachers, I can't seem to find any enemies or other major source of conflict for the red pandas. Their lives seem to consist of climbing trees, eating bamboo, and being awesome.

Of course, I'm not making this easy on myself. How the hell am I going to pantomime climbing a tree, traversing from one wobbly branch to another? And it also occurs to me that no one's going to be able to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be.

I still have no bloody idea. But they were more dramatic than any other animal I saw that day. And so goddamn cute too.



The only other thing I saw even close to as remarkable at the Zoo was a family of deer. Except I really don't think they were *part* of the Zoo. I was just walking along this service road between the bird house and Amazonia, a long downhill road with absolutely no exhibits and lots of park land around, and right in front of me, there was this big ol' buck. And further along, an adult female, two young'uns, and a baby. Anyone know if they're, like, the Zoo's free-ranging family of deer? Because otherwise, Daddy took the family to the Zoo for the day!


Speakeasy tonight. Weather permitting, of course. *fingers crossed*

Comments

[wendywoowho.livejournal.com]

The conflict that comes to mind for me is a poor red panda having two or more photographers to entertain at once, and having to go between them, making each more and more pleased and entertained. The effort! The stress!

[findingjuliet.livejournal.com]

ha! I did the pandas for my animal pantomime. No one knew what the frick I was ... i just sat around and chomped on bamboo and slept and pooped. That was about it :)

[themadhatter26.livejournal.com]

Conflict as a Red Panda: How can I be the best animal ever?
Answer: By doing away with those damn koalas.

[holli.livejournal.com]

Hee! I went to see the new Asia trail early in January, and the red panda was just as much of a crowd-pleaser then. And that family of deer was hanging areound the bird house, too-- I think they just figure it's a good place to hagn out.

[kwsapphire.livejournal.com]

You know pandas (both giant and red) are actually part of the raccoon family. Not bears. :)

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

After seeing this guy, I totally believe it. He was more like a hybrid of a raccoon and a cat than a giant panda.

[chickenhat.livejournal.com]

go to Youtube.com

search for red pandas

watch more cuteness

and if you're good you'll find the one where they share an apartment in Japan and headbutt the woman while she's trying to sleep

You think everything tastes like Possum Chicken.

[seangrimm.livejournal.com]

I had no idea there was a thing called a Red Panda, nor did I know that what we commonly call a Panda is actually a Giant Panda. I think calling this little red furry bugger a Fire Fox is a lot less confusing than Red Panda, along with it being just a cool name. However calling it a Bear Cat? That just makes me feel like I'm watching Avatar the Last Airbender.

[whimmydiddle.livejournal.com]

Good choice! I did not fall in love with the red pandas until I saw them in person. See how cute that photo is? Believe it or not, that and all other photos do not do live red pandas a single iota of justice.