Hippo Holiday Spirit

Now that Thanksgiving is done, it's time to finish shopping for presents for my little hippo pod.  To help me get into the holiday spirit, I did a few of my favorite holiday things. 

I went to see the skating rink at the National Gallery of Art Scultpture Garden.  

They didn't have any little hippo size skates, so I watched the other visitors, admired the scenery, and sipped a hot chocolate to keep my snout warm.  

After that, I decided to go see the fancy window displays at Macy's.  Yes, hippos, there is a Santa Claus!

This window reminded me that I needed to do my shopping!  I went to the bookstore to pick up a few more presents.  (Don't tell anyone what I bought for them--it's a surprise!)

Shopping works up quite an appetite!  I finished my day with dinner and visiting with some new friends!

CHEERS!

How to feed a hippo

An animal keeper from the National Zoo told the Washington Post what 27-year-old Happy the hippopotamus likes to eat:

The 6,000-pound hippo consumes seven pounds of herbivore pellets, 4 1/2 pounds of fruits and vegetables and 35 pounds of hay -- in one day. Wild hippos consume as much as 88 pounds of grass per night, but as a percentage of their body weight (1 to 1.5 percent), that's only about half the amount required by other hoofed mammals.

The shopping list for the whole zoo includes 6,000 pounds of apples, 2,000 pounds of oranges, 2,000 pounds of papayas, and 1,200 ears of corn on the cob. That sounds like a nice picnic!