Pandas, horses and dogs, my snow! Large and small animals in the United States are enjoying the first major snowstorm of 2021.
While people took shelter in the Midwest and the Northeast, the animals were filmed playing in wintry conditions.
On Sunday, giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, went viral on social media after security footage captured the iconic bears rolling and somersaulting in the snowy gardens of their enclosures. Both pandas could be seen going down a hill on their backs.
In a video, a pair of black horses in Idaho on Monday was seen walking around their pen and covering their bodies in white.
Other videos showed dogs gaping, jumping, sniffing and skating in the pristine snow.
A golden retriever in Maryland even tried to make snow angels.
NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said Nor’easter was on its way to becoming the biggest snowstorm for the three state area in five years. The winter storm has already projected up to 2 feet of snow and blizzard-like conditions across the Northeast.
Karins said the forecast for the New York National Weather Service’s office is 21 inches in Central Park, which would combine it with the fourth largest snowstorm in New York City history.
Meanwhile, with the winter storm came another record: the 11-month-old male giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji from the National Zoo experienced his first encounter with snow on Sunday.
In a series of photos, the National Zoo tweeted on Sunday: “He took a bite of the fresh powder.”
Xiao Qi Ji was the first baby panda the zoo had in five years. Its Mandarin Chinese name means “little miracle”.
