Not the First nor Last Spurts of Excitement

So it seems like lately there has been a buzz of excitement around the zoo for many reasons. It seems like we are just starting to be able to learn and be able to do some really cool stuff around the zoo. Such as, learning how to do all the positions involved in doing shows, being back-ups, & going on walks with animals.

Another thing students are giddy about is that we got our assignments for which areas we will be in while the second years go on their field trips. Some are so ridiculously excited, some very upset, and some like me are pretty darn happy but would be no matter where they were put. I got what we call MMQ for one week and Parrots for the other. MMQ area is really cool because there is a variety of animals to care for such as, a racoon, a capuchin, a bobcat, an alligator and even a dog. Parrots is probably not my favorite area, not that I have anything against birds, but they are just not my favorite. I would have to say that probably has to do the constant squawking. So today was definitely very exciting as we all found out the specific animals we would care take on. I got Sierra the dog, Benny the capuchin monkey, & Friday the racoon, who I am especially excited about.

I did however recently fall a tad in love with one of our birds named Cain, a chattering lory who I was initially somewhat scared of, due to some horror stories of him biting and being quite aggressive. Yesterday his trainer took him out around some first years who wanted to possibly care take on him and to see who he would like and who he wouldn't. Much to my surprise as I say in to watch he walked right up to me crawled up my arm onto my shoulder and started to lick my ear! Not going to lie, he totally gave me goose bumps! Then, after his trainer removed him he did it again and attempted another time or so. I totally changed my perspective after that, and apparently licking my ear must be the way to my heart haha! ..::Cain, the Chattering Lory::..

So doing Parrot area for the first time and I have to say its very muddy, and hurts your back from having to squat down to clean tubs of water & ducking in and out of cages hoping a bird doesn't fly at you or worse fly out of the enclosure. It does have the perk of getting to walk the emu twice a day which is painfully slow because our emu Julietta seems to be afraid of the entire world and walks slower than most of our tortoises. We constantly have to stop a nudge her walk down the same hill she walks down twice a day and walk through a little wet asphalt which seems to be the scariest thing in the world for her. Its a funny joke that they say often which is that and emu's brain is only as big as their eye so whenever we talk her out for a walk it's like she's seeing the zoo for the first time every day.


Before that I didn'tget to clean or feed any animals because I was in nutrition area, which is at first really intimidating but then really fun. We make most of the animal's diets at the zoo and the scary part is that if we make a mistake we don't want to make any of our animals. Also, one day I ending up making like 15 pounds or so of raw meat for our large carns which seemed like not a big task at first but after a while the smell of the raw ground meat really got to me and I felt overwhelmingly nauseous. I'm just thankful I didn't loose my breakfast, YUCK!

I also got to do Primate area which was really fun because I got to feed a ring-tailed lemur a banana & watch him eat it, which is just plain adorable. We also wrestled with some capuchins in order to close the guillotine door so that we could clean their bedroom without them hassling us. This was usually the funniest part of the day being that those darn little monkeys are a lot stronger than you would think & can hold down that door with a lot more strength than you would imagine. I actually recently found out I get to be a caretaker on the capuchin troop, and now I know that that week will be a very interesting and challenging one, but I'm definitely up for it. We also got to clean a Gibbon named Samantha & I actually got a video of her calling in the morning. It still amazes me that the sounds she makes can come from a monkey.






Finally this week I got to be in Carn area which is awesome. I get to work around a lion, hyena, 2 mountain lions, a tiger, 2 servals, a grey wolf, and a coyote. It can't get much better than that for me even if I do have to squeegee water away from the enclosures until by back gives out. We also do something in that area called "switch" where one animal leaves its enclosure in order to go into the larger enclosure called the arena. Seems like a pretty simple idea, but the fact that we are dealing with such large potentially dangerous animals requires very special procedures. This includes walking through numerous times checking that all animals enclosures are locked and secured, that all animals not switching are locked in their bedrooms, & also people stationed at certain areas to pull guillotine door, close slider doors behind animals entering & exiting the arena, & a person to either open or close the enclosure door behind the animal switching. This is definitely one of my favorite things to do in this area because I just think it is so awesome watching a lion run through a corridor into the arena to go pounce on the meatballs her trainer left for her, or watching the wolf trot back to her enclosure to find a buried rat, dig it up carry it around only to bury it again. To me it is just so amazing to watch.

Caretaking, Back-ups, & Fires OH MY!!

So these 3 words have definately been buzzing around school quite often lately and getting everyone especially the first years quite excited. In the last couple of weeks we have definately learned a lot both expected & unexpected. As I mentioned before we were learning how to be a caretaker on Schmoo the Sea Lion if we wanted. Sadly, I didn't get picked which I was pretty bummed about but with some wishful thinking maybe I will still get to be her trainer. Either way I am confident I will love and learn from whichever animal I get. So we also have been assigned more animals to caretake on such as some birds and primates. I got to be a caretaker on the Capuchin troop which should be really interesting. We also will be finding out some more animals we get to caretake on when the second years go on their field trips.

Along with the excitement of the oppurtunity to caretake on certain animals we have all been learning how to be back-up certified and learning how to handle certain domestic & "handler" animals which are animals we as first years are allowed to take out, interact with, & hold without having to be that animal's trainer. Back-up certified also means we are able to go with trainers & their animals if they need a "back-up". This is important at our school because no animal is allowed out of their enclosure without 1 person & a back-up. Yes, this includes the rabbit, Chinchilla, & even the dog. This may seem strict & unordinary but it teaches us discipline & also in my opinion prevents some people from being over confident with animals which can sometimes lead to unsafe conditions and ultimately cause harm to humans or the animals. So the second years are very excited now that we are all back-up certified because they can take out their animals more often since there are more of us and ofcourse us first years are more than willing to assist. Also, all the first years are so excited to take out certain animals like the Tegu, the turtles, & the bunny. All the handler animals are definately getting lots of attention!

..::Me & Max the Black & White Tegu...Pretty much my favorite reptile so far::..

..::Me, Ashley, & Jenny holding one of our large Pythons::..

So you may be wondering what fires have to do with anything at the zoo. Well, let's just say we definately had a scare. One Tuesday afternoon we were sitting in class and were interrupted by our zoo director and she let us know there was a fire approaching near the surrounding hillsides. Surprisingly after the announcements & some slight organizing & direction we pretty quickly manage to put together all the crates for all the animals in each area in order to prepare for a possible evacuation. Despite the stress and suddeness of the situation, and the fact that we haven't even had our fire drill yet, everyone worked together extremely well and were very effiecient if we did need to evacuate. Luckily the fire did not get close enough for us to evacuate, but Wednesday morning the fire did seem pretty close and looked very dramatic before the sun came up at 6 in the morning, and we made the decision to put all of our birds in a classroom because birds are extremely sensitive to smoke. Thankfully shortly after the sun came up the fire closest to us was put out and not long after that the other fires were extinguished. So eventhough we did not expect this experience I think it was great that we were able to learn exactly what to do because sometimes drills don't/can't cover some details. Ofcourse none of us wanted such a threat or would ever hope for it, but it definately gave us a positive outcome.

..::Fire at about 11:30 am on Tuesday::..

..::Kind of blurry but an idea of how close the fire got at about 6:15 AM Wednesday morning::..

So we have been learning more and more things each day and frankly it's quite exciting and overwhelming. It's definately good that we are staying on our toes because some days are so rigourous and tiring we definately need these spurts of excitement to keep us focused. It definately seems to me and some others that especially right about this time we are kind of hitting a wall, exhaustion is setting in, homework is piling up, & bank account are running low, so challening and rewarding situations alike absolutely help me to always re-evaluate why I'm here and why I'm working so hard to be here and not to forget how lucky I really am to be able to chase my dreams.