Baby Animals, Or, My Day @NationalZoo

NOT A BABY ANIMAL, BUT A MEERKAT, WATCHING WASHINGTONIAN PHOTOGRAPHER ANDREW PROPP PHOTOGRAPH THE BABY HOWLER MONKEY...ACROSS THE WAY

My job provides regular fascinations, but there's not much to compare with spending much of a day with baby animals at the National Zoo. The story is on washingtonian.com. For now, I offer a few of my own photos from the day. I'm not much of a zoo person, (and definitely not a circus person), but this was a special occasion.

THE COOLEST DUDE AT THE ZOO, A TOTALLY CHILL FROG

I'm all about animals in the wild rather than in captivity.Today I experienced a positive side to having animals in human care, especially when one zoo official said that -- given all -- at this stage in their development it was safer for the baby cheetahs to be in the zoo rather than in the wild, that this is when they would face the most peril. I appreciated that argument while watching their handlers feed and nurture these two 7-pound babies. That's not all. We spent time with turtle babies, insect babies, chicks, monkey babies ... and more.

ANDREW PROPP PHOTOGRAPHS A TURTLE BABY. WAIT TILL YOU SEE THE PHOTOGRAPH!!!

I returned home so happy to be living among animals, a dog and parrot, even though this morning began inauspiciously with the demise of a mouse. I hated that. All day long I hoped the zoo animals would not pick up on the vibe and consider me the enemy. 

BABY RHEA CHICKS WITH THEIR PROTECTIVE DADDY

WHAT ARE ZOO WORKERS AND PHOTOGRAPHER PROPP LOOKING AT? 

...THIS LITTLE BABY CHEETAH

AND BOTH BABY CHEETAHS, KILLING A PAPER BAG AFTER LUNCH

A WEEK OLD BABY FLAMINGO

If you haven't yet, please read the full story: baby animal boom at National Zoo.