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.