Souvenirs: Reddy the Red Panda
One part about traveling that I enjoy is getting souvenirs! It’s not always about the souvenirs and shopping, but going shopping every once in awhile on a trip can be fun! It is also really fun to find something and bring it home to remind me of an exciting vacation.
A few years ago, my husband and I visited the St. Louis Zoo during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We went with his parents, and what is really cool about this zoo is that it is completely free to visit! My favorite animal is the red panda, and they had a really nice exhibit for a red panda. I took several photos of their red panda, and I was just enthralled with seeing this absolutely cute creature! My husband tried taking a photo of me with the red panda in the background, but he wasn’t able to get a good photo because the red panda was too far away in the background.
While in the gift shop, I came across a stuffed red panda. I felt a bit weird wanting to buy a stuffed animal as an adult, but it was just so cute, and I could not resist! My husband decided to buy it for me since he could tell I really wanted it. I was extremely thankful and accepted my gift. On the ride home from St. Louis to Indiana, I took photos of our new stuffed animal friend! Don’t worry! I was not the one driving! Of course, I also had to name him! I decided to name him, Reddy! Reddy has been a wonderful companion and gives great fuzzy hugs. I am so glad to have him in my life!
Did you know that the red panda is the original panda/first panda? It was discovered before the giant panda! Also, it is not even related to the giant panda! Red pandas mostly eat bamboo. They can climb straight down trees head first, which is apparently a rare thing for animals to do. A common nickname for this animal is the firefox. The popular Internet browser, Mozilla Firefox, is named after the red panda. They are about the size of a house cat and typically live in Nepal, China, India, and a few other surrounding countries in mountainous forests.
I absolutely love red pandas! I even belong to the Red Panda World Facebook group! Mostly, people just post cute photos of the animal. Every once in awhile, someone will post photos of their stuffed red pandas taking fun adventures. I enjoy seeing these cute pictures when scrolling through my Facebook.
Unfortunately, this endangered species needs our help! If you would like to learn more about this beautiful animal and how to protect it and its habitat, please visit the Red Panda Network at https://www.redpandanetwork.org/ Reddy would greatly appreciate your help!
