Panda vs. Snow Leopards... Let the Cute-Off Begin

A certain blogger out there (Dynoness!) has claimed that the Sydney Zoo's Snow Leopard's are cuter than Butterstick. You be the judge.

Those cubs are damn cute. But if I wanted to see a bunch of cats, I'd just go home. Maybe this is Dynoness' way of telling me she misses Julius The Cat hiding behing her toilet, waiting to swipe at her husband's genitals. It's a long story, but you get the gist.

Having seen Butterstick in person yesterday, I'm going to go with him as cutest. When we arrived, he was sleeping in a ball in his food bowl. After a few minutes of sleeping (but cute sleeping), he must have used his pandasense to realize that I, his soul-mate until he's grown and not so cute, was there. He let out a big, pink mouthed yawn and got up to play. I swear, he came right over to where I was standing. I'm not making this up. Granted, there was glass between us, and you could tell it made him heartsick to be playing with his box so far away from me- two whole feet! The zookeepers ushered my group out so the next Biggest Butterstick Fan Ever could lay her own claim to fame. I went and had an obligatory look at the parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who are locked away from the cub during the day so that the viewing public can enjoy His Supreme Adorableness unfettered. Then, in true American style, I went to go buy stuff- actually, a bribe for my boss so that she wouldn't make me take personal time for taking a two hour lunch- I think it worked- that panda is cute enough to soothe even the most hardened heart, which is good, since my boss is actually way cool.

The National Zoo is actually a pretty depressing place. To be fair, I've only been there on dreary DC drizzly winter days. But the whole place seems to be eternally under construction, a phenomenon I thought was unique to O'Hare airport. Butterstick's lair is concrete, and while the zoo touts its panda toys as state-of-the-art, they seem to be lacking a certain je ne sais quoi- namely, real technology- apparently, one of the main toys is a garbage can filled with honey. I'm sure that's part of their natural habitat. Gotta appreciate the authenticity.

Alright, as soon as I remember to bring the USB cable for my digital camera to work, where my computer lives, I'll upload the Stick Pics.

By the way, for the latest and greatest in adorable animal competition, visit kittenwar.com. Seriously, it's what gets me through these dark winter days where it's too warm to snow and be pretty but too cold and damp to be considered warm.