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Snow cute!: National Zoo’s Giant Pandas take full advantage of winter weather

The first snow in Washington, D.C., in nearly two years arrived Sunday, and the pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo took full advantage. Giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are shown in Smithsonian National Zoo video sliding and rolling around in the snow in the giant panda’s outdoor habitat. Be warned: the video is dangerously cute! Five-month-old cub Xiao Qi Ji was also pictured enjoying his first ever major snowfall. The zoo said the cub ventured out of his indoor habitat for about five minutes to check out the snow, but did not go all the way out to the outdoor habitat to play.

Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji exploring and experiencing snow for the first time. (Courtesy Smithsonian National Zoo)

The National Zoo says Xiao Qi Ji was very interested in looking around the zookeepers’ space and even took a nip at the snow. The zoo also posted pictures of some of its other animals enjoying the winter weather Sunday.

After weeks of study, fearless elementary students in Va. get to know cicadas

At long last, the cicadas are here, and students at Belvedere Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia, couldn’t be happier. They’ve been studying the noisy little critters for weeks, and now that they’ve arrived, they don’t fear them – they welcome them.
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