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Red Pandas and Black Bears, Oh My!

Yesterday, Rusty the Red Panda escaped from the National Zoo. He made his break for freedom into Rock Creek Park, where I run quite regularly. Now, a Red Panda is much, much smaller than the Giant Panda, and more closely related to the common raccoon. But it's still a wild animal.

Interesting aside: Apparently Twitter played a big part in Rusty's capture.

Last night, as MG and I were enjoying a hot summer night trail run in Rock Creek, she made a joke about being worried about bumping into a bear. We chuckled.

Today, a rogue Black Bear was spotted in northwest DC. It was not a zoo escapee, and was eventually tranquilized and captured. They're moving it to an undetermined location.


Who knows what wildlife might appear next out there? 

Hopefully no mountain lions escape or wander onto my favorite trails. 

Another good reason to always run with a friend or two. Now, to find someone considerably slower than me ...

 



 

8 comments:

  1. Glad your path didn't cross with that rogue bear. good luck finding stove bear bait.

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  2. Yikes! Don't forget about the rat snakes falling out of the trees!

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    Replies
    1. Darn it! That would have been a great addition to the title of this post.

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  3. That reminds me - wasn't there a mountain lion sighting in RCP two years ago?

    "A mountain lion in Northwest Washington? Park Service doubts it"
    http://wapo.st/tqlx4C

    Note the last paragraph at that time: "National Park Service officials said...they had no indication that a bear was ever in the park within the city."

    Uh-huh... Next up, mountain lions...

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  4. My wife is paranoid about running in Umstead State Park by herself because of bears and rapists. Umstead is actually quite safe. Good luck avoiding the bears!

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  5. Come run in NC The bears & bobcats & deer will leave you alone

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