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RussianSu Lin’s Mud Day
Posted at 1:03 pm March 6, 2006 by Panda Research Team
So many of our panda fans had such a great time watching Su Lin disguise herself as a mud ball last week (Feb. 28). Want to know the story?
Anticipating the rains that were predicted by our weather service in San Diego, we added a large amount of an organic top soil to Bai Yun and Su Lin’s lair/shelter first thing in the morning. We hoped that they would use it if they wanted to get out of the rain. Bai Yun frequently rolls in it when we refresh the soil. But we weren’t sure if Su Lin would use it or not, especially since the previous night she had stayed out in the rain, almost relishing the cleansing!
Mid-morning the rain began to come down with greater intensity and little Su Lin came flying out of her tree perch and began looking for shelter around Bai. Bai, of course, was completely content munching on her bamboo. Su Lin was not satisfied at all and began seeking other shelter. She walked around the lair and discovered the huge, fresh mound of soil and without hesitation dove in! Her rolling was delirious and for those of us watching, hilarious! It was soon difficult to make out what was Su Lin and what was soil. As timing would have it, the rain stopped. Su Lin came out from the shelter and walked passed Bai Yun. Bai took a hard look at her, then looked at the shelter, abandoned the cherished bamboo, and went for a roll herself (see photo with Suzanne’s blog, “Coat of Many Colors” below). We now had two very dirty pandas. For a panda that seems to pride herself on always being well groomed, Bai Yun seemed extremely pleased with her new “attire”. It wasn’t until the rain began again that either dirty girl became clean!
What great fun their antics gave us all on a very wet day in sunny San Diego.
Posted by the San Diego Zoo’s giant panda keepers.
View more photos of Su Lin and Bai Yun on that muddy day in the Su Lin Photo Gallery.
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March 6th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
A couple weeks ago, I had seen Bai Yun having a great time rolling around in the lair and getting rather dirty. Su Lin had joined in too, but got nowhere nearly as dark as she had on the Feb.28 escapade. I wondered why Bai had all of a sudden gotten the urge to roll in the soil, and now I see that the fresh soil was the draw. It’s great to see these activities that I never knew pandas were so fond of doing.
March 6th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Please, please, please show us a video of Su Lin’s Mud Day!
March 6th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
What a great job!
March 6th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
According to the weather service it is supposed to rain in San Diego on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I told my husband that I have a front row seat on the laptop those days so I don’t miss any fun! I can’t wait for the weekend.
March 6th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Thanks so much for posting the picture of Su Lin as a little mudpie, as I missed seeing her when it happened. It’s unbelievable how different she looks. Also enjoyed seeing the shot of Bai Yun rolling around in the dirt. Both girls seemed to have had such fun.
March 6th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
She was soooo cute that day! I would love to see it again on the video page, too, please?! Thanks for telling us about her day. I wondered where she got all that mud in her usually pristine enclosure.
March 6th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Thank you so much for telling us these very cute stories. I’ve been waiting for the stories since I only saw a very dirty little Su Lin.
Christine (NJ), you are one wonderful animal lover and so knowledgable! It’s such a pity that our zoos are not well supported financially. So many endangered species need our help, yet the help is far from enough.
March 6th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
OMG!!! That’s our baby Su Lin? I can not stop laughing at that picture. I had gone back to watch the video from that day but it skips too much of the fun. Too funny!! Hope I can catch the two of them next time. Thanks for the pictures and write ups!
March 6th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
I wish I could have captured that picture! I’m so glad that you posted it. Can’t wait till Friday.
March 7th, 2006 at 8:22 am
She looks like a black or brown bear cub…and not a black and white one. Either way she is still very adorable! And the next day she was all cleaned up. It’s amazing how they do that.
March 7th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Thank you so much for the pictures and reports! I’d never have guessed that this behavior would be so gratifying for pandas! It really helps us to understand how their minds work. Suzanne, was the dirt placed there solely for the bears to engage in this way, or is it something you do because you can only get soil to “set” when there is heavy rain?
March 7th, 2006 at 9:28 am
Count me as one of those pandacam viewers tracking this little mudball!
Thank you for the recap of what happened during the day. And as a side note, it’s been great to see the male pandas on the pandacam as well. 
Thank you!
March 7th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Please send more pictures of Mamma and baby mudballs!!!!
March 7th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Thanks for sharing Princess Su Lin’s mud cutie-pie day. The joie de vivre of a baby animal should be shared and treasured as a reminder of what life is really about - enjoying the moment, exploring new things, and just rolling in it!
Thanks, too, for the great camera work. I was just watching Gao Gao chow down on his bamboo, and that big round male Panda head with those incredible jaw muscles reminded me of something I wanted to ask you about:
I read somewhere that because they have such huge and powerful jaw muscles Pandas have fewer facial expressions than other bears, so they have developed a larger repertoire of vocalizations to communicate with each other. I’ve heard the noises other bears make - the moaning of a frightened black bear, the “chuttering” of nursing cubs, huffing and tooth clacking from a nervous bear - and I’ve seen the body language - head-bobbing, profiling, grinning - that black and brown bears use to communicate their intentions. So I wondered if the Panda researchers could share some information on Panda communication (aside from scent marking). I’ve heard Mei Xiang huff, as if exasperated, a couple of times, and Bubba Tai has let go with a couple of assertive little baby barks in addition to his cub grunts, but I’ve never heard him make a sound while nursing. Do the researchers have any recordings of Panda vocalizations and what they mean? Are captive Pandas quieter than wild ones because they don’t have to deal with as many threatening situations? Do Pandas have more vocalizations than other bear species? And what do we know about their body language? (Gee, I’m not asking much, am I? LOL. Just thought this might make an interesting blog.) Thanks again.
March 7th, 2006 at 11:23 am
You say that the keepers never clean the bears, yet the Wolong people use a hose and the pandas love to play with the water.
March 7th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Pamela #14:
That’s a really good topic (non-chemical communication in pandas). I’ll write something up on that for my next Monday blog entry…
March 7th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
When I watch Gao Gao on the panda cam, I can understand why Mei Sheng and Su Lin are so good-looking–besides a beautiful mother, they have a very handsome father, too.
March 7th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Suzanne, you are always so well informed and it is marvelous that you share with all of us. Do you provide all the information and pictures for the panda fans URL?
March 8th, 2006 at 6:50 am
It took me a minute to pick little Su out of the picture - at first I thought what I was seeing was a limb on the tree - too funny! I’m sorry I missed her little adventure.
To Lady (#15), I’ve seen the keepers in Washington squirt Tian and Mei with hoses - and they seemed to love it - especially on hot summer days. Can’t wait to see how Mr. Tai likes it this summer. He’s such an energetic and active bear. From what I read, Susie is too, I guess I’m just not checking in on the cam at the right times. Can anyone fill me in on times that she seems to be the most active?
I, too, vote for more pictures to be posted of our sweet girls all dirtied up.
Thanks!
March 8th, 2006 at 7:07 am
Thanks for telling us about how Su became a balck smudge for a day. Didn’t Bai look concerned when she saw what her princess had done?
March 8th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Yes, Suzanne, please teach us on the topics regarding the communication of the pandas. I’ve noticed many times Mei staring at Tai for a while and his head was down the whole time as if she was teaching him something. I would love to buy a DVD of Su’s birth for a keepsake if you made one. Thank you always for keeping us up to date on their lives.
March 8th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Well, I missed the mud thing but I’m sure it was just as cute as the snow thing in the east. They had a ball. These bears are such a joy to watch! Such acrobats.
A thought I had today: Do the bears tend to favor any particular paw when they hold the bamboo leaves? Can we say they are left-pawed or right-pawed or does it just depend on which side the bambo stalk is located? Hmmmmmm….guess I’ll try to observe.
I am grateful for all of the cams and all of the bears who bring great joy to my life.
March 8th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Handsome Mei Sheng. Is his current weight still 150 pounds? He looks like he is bulking up.
Su Lin climbs so high, up to the top of the trees, and so wide, to the outermost small branches, don’t you at times get a little nervous and want to put some bales of hay or other soft substance for her to land on if she falls? Can she see her brother and father when she is high up?
March 8th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
I love that picture of Bai Yun rolling in the soil. She truly was having a blast and the picture shows nothing of the “Teflon bear” that we are familiar with!
March 8th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Thank you for the whole explanation of Su Lin’s mud bath. I love these bears.
March 8th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
That’s her in the foreground? Wow. It took me several minutes to figure out that’s a panda bear! We’ve seen Tai Shan get dirty on the NZP cams, but nothing like Su Lin! Thanks for sharing the photo.
March 9th, 2006 at 9:10 am
Yesterday there was something in the blogs about a condor that was sick. I know this has nothing to do with the panda but I was hoping that the condor was getting better now since the blood transfusion. Any info would be great. And are they gonna show a tape of Su Lin rolling around in the mud?
Editor’s note: For updates on the California condor, check out the comment section of “Condor Rescue in the Grand Canyon,” dated March 3 in the “Animal Stories” category. As for Su Lin’s mud day, we do not have video of that event. But more photos will be available soon.
March 9th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Thank you for the new pictures! They’re great and so are you guys.
March 9th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the adorable pictures of our little mud cubby! Aren’t they just the cutest… and so happy to be playing in the mud! Who knew! It’s amazing how fluffy and white they look now!
March 10th, 2006 at 2:38 am
The muddy cub story is great! So sorry I missed it. Any chance you will add a link to a video of that adventure?
Editor’s note: We don’t have video of the mud day.
March 10th, 2006 at 7:22 am
I just saw the pictures - too darn cute for words!!!!!
March 13th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
Oh….sooooo….cute….Su Lin looks like a “black sculpture.” It’s hilarious! Too bad we missed seeing Su Lin video in the mud.
March 28th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
gosh! They are so cute! Do you clean the pandas if they get dirty? Maybe they will enjoy a shower
April 20th, 2006 at 9:01 am
I think that pandas are cute 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that the pandas like the H20!!!!!!!!!