Roar.

One of the beautiful things that has come out of my temporary unemployment, is that I have more time to spend with my husband. This week we took about an hour and a half subway ride to the Bronx and spent the entire day at the zoo. The weather was perfect, there were hardly any people there, and the cool weather meant that a lot of the animals were active and awake, in contrast to the summer season, when it can be disappointing to see all of the animals asleep or hiding in shady places. 

Taking photos in the monkey house was a bit difficult, because the tropical conditions kept causing my camera lens to fog up. About three seconds after taking this photo, Steve actually got the monkey to laugh and it looked like they were sharing an inside joke. What would have been the perfect photo op was just a milky blur in my camera, because the lens had quickly covered up with a thick fog from the warmth and misting water in the environment. Oh well! Memories make the best photographs, anyway.

This big guy knew he was the bee's knees, and he certainly flaunted it. Big cats just completely captivate me,  and I would have attempted to give him a hug, had a gigantic electric fence a la Jurassic Park not separated us. 

The grizzlies were in a playful mood and put on quite a show for us. It was great. I have been to many different zoos, but usually in the summer, and I've never seen so many animals being so active. They must have been enjoying the crisp perfect fall weather as much as we were.

Last but not least, this is Leo, the not-quite-a-baby-anymore baby snow leopard, the prized boy of the Bronx Zoo this year. He finally sat still and let me take a good photo. This was the end of the day, and the waning light coupled with him jumping from boulder to boulder (which was so, so cool) made it difficult to get him into focus. Luckily, he tired himself out and plopped down within view. What an amazing animal, and what an amazing day.

Sometimes, when I visit zoos or aquariums, I can find myself feeling depressed by the sleepy looking animals or the small enclosures that they are confined to. I was so impressed by the Bronx zoo, the size of the habitats, and the amount of natural outdoor enclosures used to give the animals the best experience and lives possible. We both agreed that our zoo date was our favorite outing together to date, and I can't wait to go back again soon.