Addicted to Panda VideoCam

Hello. My name is Barbara Paine and I'm totally addicted to Panda VideoCam.

What is it about watching that live feed into the den of Mei Xiang, the giant panda and her cub, Tai Shan that gets me so excited? I haven't a clue.


Maybe it's because I started following Tai Shan's life story shortly after he was born at the Smithsonian National Zoo this past July. I had read a blurb on the internet that just 2 minutes after he was born, the mama panda was holding and cuddling him. There was a link to the video cam that I clicked on. And I was hooked.

At first I couldn't see anything other than the mama panda ... I'd keep an open browser while I was at my desk just to see if I could catch a glimpse of the cub. Every now and then I thought I just might have seen him, but it was hard to be sure.

Then one day I clearly saw him lying near his mother. I saw him get up and walk around... I found myself saying to no one in particular (by the way, that means Rascal -- who doesn't really qualify for a person, except in Dave's eyes, but that's another story) "There he is! Look! Isn't he adorable?" Hmmmm. No response. Yep, that was probably the first sign that I had a Panda VideoCam problem.

Since then, Tai Shan (pronounced tie-SHON) has grown up quite a bit. I've watched the video footage on the Animal Planet website showing his first medical exams and watched as Mei Xiang (pronounced may-shong) gradually ventured further and further away from her cub. I even cast my vote to help pick his name and possibly win a trip to Washington, DC for a private tour of the pandas. I didn't win the trip but my name won.... the cub was named Tai Shan which means "peaceful mountain".

Here's a picture of Tai Shan being checked by the vets on October 21st. He's a whopping 14.1 pounds and is 27" long.


Pretty cute huh?

By the way, Mei Xiang means "beautiful fragrance". What do you think that chances of that being true are? LOL!

Here's a picture of Mama Panda and son after his October 21st check-up:


I hesitate to post the link to the webcam in fear of creating more panda junkies like myself, but it sure would have been nice to have someone to call the other day as I was jumping up and down when mama picked up her cub by the back of his neck and then started cradling him in her arms, rocking back and forth... it was just such a wonderful event to watch! I wanted to know that someone else was taking in this moment!

So, just in case you want to take a peek, you can find the panda video cam by clicking on this link -- Panda VideoCam.

Don't say I didn't warn you!