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I've literally just been getting passed around at the zoo like I'm some kind of weird disease, but it's been good to get experience everywhere.
A couple weeks ago, it was elephant, where I got to see everything instead of just how they put them out on exhibit. This week, Health Center. So really, just a whole bunch of birds, some itty bitty tortoises, the tamanduas, and preparing the medication. Preparing the medication was actually the best part I think. It was pretty interesting to see all the different stuff that they have to give the animals.
Also, today was Valentine's Day at the zoo, so we went out and watched Baheem the tiger attack a pinata that we put up in the tree, which was pretty funny. He ripped the unicorn's head off to get to the chicken that was put inside, so that might have traumatized some children. It was awesome to see him hunt it down out of the tree though.
BASEBALL STARTS TODAY!!!!
The last two nights I've seen Snoop Dogg in concert, and Just Go With It. Snoop Dogg was actually pretty awesome, even though that's not really my type of music..... Just go with it was hilarious. But that's probably because I love Adam Sandler and Dan Patrick and Brooklyn Decker.
Drive until you lose the road, or break with the ones you've followed
Showing posts with label elephant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elephant. Show all posts
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Shattered
So, this week at the zoo was totally different than ever before, so that's a nice change of pace. Especially since I have to miss next Saturday because of section leader tryouts, so luckily I'll have a good taste in my mouth for a while.
TUESDAY
There was some kind of giraffe keeper conference thing in Arizona, so a bunch of giraffe people were coming to Tucson that afternoon. So everything had to get done fast because all the keepers had to join them on the tour at 2. So I did tortoise, bird and dry feed stuff. And three school groups came in during the morning, so it was a very busy morning.
SATURDAY
No hoofstock, but carnivore area this time. I was a little bit surprised, but hey, I'm down for seeing new stuff. Getting all the food prepped is kind of ridiculous because there's way more to do, and there's a lot of birds, so there's a lot more bowls and stuff, so it's slightly out of control, and I would definitely have a hard time remembering all the different things that we had to take out there.
The first stop was the bird run, where we fed everything but the parrots. The bird run is a little short, so I have to kind of hunch over just to walk in it at all, which is sort of annoying. And there's a lot of birds, which isn't really that great. The cockatoos can talk, so I had a really long conversation with them by just saying "Hi" and "How are you?". So bird run, not very exciting.
Next we went over to the muntjac. It's kind of like a deer the size of Kingston, just to give you an idea about how small this thing is. It was really funny though, it likes it when people scratch its neck for it because it can't reach it with its short little legs. There's some turtles in there too, but we just have to count them. Then we went over to tiger, which was really cool. Got right up next to it and I got some whisker and nose from it through the chain link fence. He was funny though, he has a cool noise when he's happy, and he's happy when he's eating his big plate of meat. While he was eating, we went in and cleaned, I cleaned the windows, and then sprayed cologne and some other scent everywhere, and rearranged his toys so he would have some new and exciting stuff to do.
Next up was Warty pigs and Sun Bear. The sun bear is really funny. She comes up to the fence and hangs on while you feed her. She doesn't like to go outside because she's old and is blind in her right eye, so that's kind of sad. The warty pigs are kind of weird. They have this huge complex social system, and there's only three of them haha. We fed all these guys and cleaned up their exhibit. There was a dead bird in the warty pig pool, so that was kind of interesting. After letting everyone out, we went over to elephants.
Elephants was just as cool this time as it was the first time, except I didn't touch its foot this time because it wasn't Cassie in charge of elephants. They're so big! It's really ridiculous to stand there next to them. After the two elephants were out we went back to the bird run to change out the water and feed the rest and hose down the floors. Once again, bird run is not my favorite part.
When we were done with the bird run for the day, we went back to warty pig/sun bear to clean up the back area, feed the sun bear its lunch, and do some warty pig training. But before training we went back to elephant where we put palm and bamboo on the fence for them and then watched them go around and pluck it all of after we were done putting it up.
The last thing of the day was to give the tiger a bone and clean out its back area, so we brought him inside, put the bone out on exhibit, and let him back out. That was interesting because it was in a giant trash can, so he tackled the trash can, go the bone, ran across his little stream and went to town on his bone. Then we cleaned out the back area, which took like 30 seconds because it was already pretty clean, and that was it for the day.
Only kitchen next week, but then the week after I go four times in a week, so that should be fun.
How many times can I break til I shatter?
TUESDAY
There was some kind of giraffe keeper conference thing in Arizona, so a bunch of giraffe people were coming to Tucson that afternoon. So everything had to get done fast because all the keepers had to join them on the tour at 2. So I did tortoise, bird and dry feed stuff. And three school groups came in during the morning, so it was a very busy morning.
SATURDAY
No hoofstock, but carnivore area this time. I was a little bit surprised, but hey, I'm down for seeing new stuff. Getting all the food prepped is kind of ridiculous because there's way more to do, and there's a lot of birds, so there's a lot more bowls and stuff, so it's slightly out of control, and I would definitely have a hard time remembering all the different things that we had to take out there.
The first stop was the bird run, where we fed everything but the parrots. The bird run is a little short, so I have to kind of hunch over just to walk in it at all, which is sort of annoying. And there's a lot of birds, which isn't really that great. The cockatoos can talk, so I had a really long conversation with them by just saying "Hi" and "How are you?". So bird run, not very exciting.
Next we went over to the muntjac. It's kind of like a deer the size of Kingston, just to give you an idea about how small this thing is. It was really funny though, it likes it when people scratch its neck for it because it can't reach it with its short little legs. There's some turtles in there too, but we just have to count them. Then we went over to tiger, which was really cool. Got right up next to it and I got some whisker and nose from it through the chain link fence. He was funny though, he has a cool noise when he's happy, and he's happy when he's eating his big plate of meat. While he was eating, we went in and cleaned, I cleaned the windows, and then sprayed cologne and some other scent everywhere, and rearranged his toys so he would have some new and exciting stuff to do.
Next up was Warty pigs and Sun Bear. The sun bear is really funny. She comes up to the fence and hangs on while you feed her. She doesn't like to go outside because she's old and is blind in her right eye, so that's kind of sad. The warty pigs are kind of weird. They have this huge complex social system, and there's only three of them haha. We fed all these guys and cleaned up their exhibit. There was a dead bird in the warty pig pool, so that was kind of interesting. After letting everyone out, we went over to elephants.
Elephants was just as cool this time as it was the first time, except I didn't touch its foot this time because it wasn't Cassie in charge of elephants. They're so big! It's really ridiculous to stand there next to them. After the two elephants were out we went back to the bird run to change out the water and feed the rest and hose down the floors. Once again, bird run is not my favorite part.
When we were done with the bird run for the day, we went back to warty pig/sun bear to clean up the back area, feed the sun bear its lunch, and do some warty pig training. But before training we went back to elephant where we put palm and bamboo on the fence for them and then watched them go around and pluck it all of after we were done putting it up.
The last thing of the day was to give the tiger a bone and clean out its back area, so we brought him inside, put the bone out on exhibit, and let him back out. That was interesting because it was in a giant trash can, so he tackled the trash can, go the bone, ran across his little stream and went to town on his bone. Then we cleaned out the back area, which took like 30 seconds because it was already pretty clean, and that was it for the day.
Only kitchen next week, but then the week after I go four times in a week, so that should be fun.
How many times can I break til I shatter?
Saturday, January 30, 2010
(S)he will be loved
It's a boy!
Last night, a baby zebra was birthed at the zoo! So this morning, I was surprised when I wasn't there before Susie, and she left the keeper's quarters just as I got there, and then a minute later she was on the radio screaming there's a baby, there's a baby. So a few of us went out there, but I didn't get to look then. I went back and put together the rhino and zebra food dishes while Susie did a bunch of stuff. When I was done with this we went out there, and she dropped me off in the zebra yard to clean up while she started feeding everyone so we would have more time to move zebras around since there was a baby now. While I was cleaning the exhibit I caught my first glimpse at the new little boy. He was soo cute. When I was done cleaning we let the ostriches out so it would be easier to start moving zebras around and cleaned out their barn so we could move the mother and newborn into that area.
After we did that, we cleaned out the rhino yard really fast and got the rhinos and gazelle out before we started messing with zebras. Then we cleaned out their back areas and went back to the zebras. We put the male one out like normal, but kept the older female separate from the mom and baby. When we got everything sorted out Susie started calling everyone that was off that needed to know there was a baby, and slowly all of them started showing up in the next half hour or so. We just sort of watched the baby for a little while to make sure he started functioning properly and then we left to go do some tortoise and rhino stuff before more zebra time.
Cleaned out the tortoise areas and put out the new food, and then brought them out of their houses. While we were up in that area, Susie tried feeding the crane again because he didn't eat very much early in the morning, but he didn't eat much again this time either. It was kind of fun talking to the zoo visitors and being able to actually answer their questions. I felt kind of important.
So we went back to the zebra area to start cleaning that out, one little pen at a time. But right when we started there was a call over the radio saying something about the elephants, and Susie wanted to make sure that they told us when they started what they were going to do. So we cleaned for about ten minutes and then went out into the zoo and went to the elephant exhibit. The zoo had just bought a giant ball, and some of the keepers put it in the exhibit this morning, so we all gathered around to see if the elephants would play with it. The Asian wanted no part of it, but the African played with it for a little bit before going to find food. It was kind of cool to see them see a new toy for the first time.
When we went back to the zebras to finish cleaning there were a couple other keepers sitting and making observations minute by minute of the baby while I finished cleaning out the different zebra areas. I got to see the placenta up close and personal, that was really cool but kind of gross at the same time. That was pretty much it for the day. Very zebra heavy, but totally worth while. The baby was having problems nursing and stiff rear legs, so hopefully he's feeling better before I go back Tuesday.
Tap on my window, knock on my door I, want to make you feel beautiful.
Last night, a baby zebra was birthed at the zoo! So this morning, I was surprised when I wasn't there before Susie, and she left the keeper's quarters just as I got there, and then a minute later she was on the radio screaming there's a baby, there's a baby. So a few of us went out there, but I didn't get to look then. I went back and put together the rhino and zebra food dishes while Susie did a bunch of stuff. When I was done with this we went out there, and she dropped me off in the zebra yard to clean up while she started feeding everyone so we would have more time to move zebras around since there was a baby now. While I was cleaning the exhibit I caught my first glimpse at the new little boy. He was soo cute. When I was done cleaning we let the ostriches out so it would be easier to start moving zebras around and cleaned out their barn so we could move the mother and newborn into that area.
After we did that, we cleaned out the rhino yard really fast and got the rhinos and gazelle out before we started messing with zebras. Then we cleaned out their back areas and went back to the zebras. We put the male one out like normal, but kept the older female separate from the mom and baby. When we got everything sorted out Susie started calling everyone that was off that needed to know there was a baby, and slowly all of them started showing up in the next half hour or so. We just sort of watched the baby for a little while to make sure he started functioning properly and then we left to go do some tortoise and rhino stuff before more zebra time.
Cleaned out the tortoise areas and put out the new food, and then brought them out of their houses. While we were up in that area, Susie tried feeding the crane again because he didn't eat very much early in the morning, but he didn't eat much again this time either. It was kind of fun talking to the zoo visitors and being able to actually answer their questions. I felt kind of important.
So we went back to the zebra area to start cleaning that out, one little pen at a time. But right when we started there was a call over the radio saying something about the elephants, and Susie wanted to make sure that they told us when they started what they were going to do. So we cleaned for about ten minutes and then went out into the zoo and went to the elephant exhibit. The zoo had just bought a giant ball, and some of the keepers put it in the exhibit this morning, so we all gathered around to see if the elephants would play with it. The Asian wanted no part of it, but the African played with it for a little bit before going to find food. It was kind of cool to see them see a new toy for the first time.
When we went back to the zebras to finish cleaning there were a couple other keepers sitting and making observations minute by minute of the baby while I finished cleaning out the different zebra areas. I got to see the placenta up close and personal, that was really cool but kind of gross at the same time. That was pretty much it for the day. Very zebra heavy, but totally worth while. The baby was having problems nursing and stiff rear legs, so hopefully he's feeling better before I go back Tuesday.
Tap on my window, knock on my door I, want to make you feel beautiful.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Her Diamonds
Alrighty, another Tuesday done, another couple things learned. Tuesday's still not too interesting, but whatever, it's still the zoo.
Started off with a keeper meeting where they talked about when and where certain trees are getting cut down over the next week. Sounds like quite the project. Then me and Stacey sat there while we waited for everything in the kitchen to settle down.
After a few minutes we went to the kitchen and I started on the tortoise diets while she was ordering stuff and on the phone and all kinds of weird stuff. When I finished up the tortoise diets I put sunflower seeds and peanuts into little bags, I don't know why, and then filled up the containers of food.
Then we took the delivery of worms and crickets out of the boxes and put them in their places. Playing with worms is interesting to say the least. Then she had me help her a little bit with putting the bear diets together, and then I made the bucket of elephant treats for the training, which I saw Saturday so that was kind of neat to make the stuff that I saw being used earlier this week. Once we finished that up we went to the city storage area which is right across the street behind the right field wall of Hi Corbett. There's a store and maintenance yard and all kinds of weird stuff that she showed me, and it's all behind right field which is even weirder. And that was the end of the day. Exciting, right? At least Saturdays are awesome....
And I don't know what I'm supposed to do so I sit down and cry too. But don't let her see
Started off with a keeper meeting where they talked about when and where certain trees are getting cut down over the next week. Sounds like quite the project. Then me and Stacey sat there while we waited for everything in the kitchen to settle down.
After a few minutes we went to the kitchen and I started on the tortoise diets while she was ordering stuff and on the phone and all kinds of weird stuff. When I finished up the tortoise diets I put sunflower seeds and peanuts into little bags, I don't know why, and then filled up the containers of food.
Then we took the delivery of worms and crickets out of the boxes and put them in their places. Playing with worms is interesting to say the least. Then she had me help her a little bit with putting the bear diets together, and then I made the bucket of elephant treats for the training, which I saw Saturday so that was kind of neat to make the stuff that I saw being used earlier this week. Once we finished that up we went to the city storage area which is right across the street behind the right field wall of Hi Corbett. There's a store and maintenance yard and all kinds of weird stuff that she showed me, and it's all behind right field which is even weirder. And that was the end of the day. Exciting, right? At least Saturdays are awesome....
And I don't know what I'm supposed to do so I sit down and cry too. But don't let her see
Saturday, January 23, 2010
I Gotta Feelin
Yep, back to song names as titles for these ;)
Sooooo, Saturdays at the zoo are way cooler than Tuesdays. Today started off exactly like last week, except way less intimidating. I kind of had an idea of what I was doing, and I knew where I was going. Started off with my keeper telling me to find some extra rubber boots that were big enough for me because the entire zoo was a swamp after all the rain that we had this week. So I found some, luckily, and then we were off to start the day. She had to go check on the tortoises to make sure they weren't too wet, so I mixed the vitamins and medicine into the rhino and zebra food while she did that, and then we loaded up the cart with all the other food and we were off.
First up is the rhinos. I took their two food containers in and she brought the grain and pellets. I fed the male one first since he was already in the barn and Susie started cleaning out his eye while the female came in and then I fed her. Feeding them this week was way faster than last week, and of course, got some petting in while I could.
The next animals that get food are the ostriches and the zebras. Ostriches are weird. They just look and act dumb. The entire back area was puddles from all the rain, so the animals weren't really moving around too much. After the ostriches got their food the zebras got theirs, all in their separate areas, and the really old female getting a different diet from the other two. The pregnant zebra looked fatter this week compared to last week, so that baby is coming and it's coming quick! So excited for when that actually happens.
Next thing on the to do list is to clean out the zebra/ostrich exhibit. I started this while Susie went and fed the gazelle and carnivore birds (I always forget what they're actually called). Cleaning exhibits is interesting when there are lakes in the middle of them. Everything looks so much more disgusting. Some of the wooden border decorations had fallen off too, so there was a couple gaps in the fence today. After this we cleaned out the rhino exhibit. That was even more disgusting. The only place they poop in the exhibit was covered by water, so all their poop was underwater and we had to kind of muck it out. But it turned out to be alright cuz we didn't have to get all of it.
This next part was the highlight of the day. We left the big cart over between the rhinos and zebras, got in a fresh cart and went over to the elephant area! I didn't know I was allowed to even go anywhere near that area, but my keeper and the other one that was on elephants today let me in, so of course I went in. To get to the place where they clean the elephants' feet, you have to go through the night barn and out to the kind of quarantine area, where they more the elephants into this little barred off cage where the gates are automatic and open and close to move the elephant through and keep them still while the keepers are doing stuff. Kind of like an airlock I guess. The two keepers told me exactly where they wanted me to stand as they brought the first of the two out, the Asian elephant. This one is shorter but thicker than the African elephant, and apparently meaner because they wanted me to stand as still as possible, and my keeper Susie can't touch him because he doesn't like her very much, but she could use this whistle that they use to tell the elephant when it can put its feet back down when they're done cleaning it. When he was done, they let him out into the exhibit and brought the taller African elephant out. She's apparently nicer, so they were both doing stuff and then when they started doing her back feet they brought me around and let me touch her feet and scrape off some of the sand. That was awesome. I touched an elephant's foot! And then, if that wasn't enough, they did some kind of tail training and wanted me to be an extra person to touch it for the elephant's training. So I touched its tail too! Its tail hairs are really hard, kind of like a wire brush thing. It was incredible to do that though.
When we went back to the main hoofstock area, we took the tortoises their food and then cleaned out the rhino, gazelle and that bird yards. Then Susie had to go back and do other stuff with the elephants, so I started cleaning the zebra area while she was doing that, and then when she came back she bleached the girl zebra barn (girl zebras poop in their barn but the guy zebra doesn't, guys are obviously cleaner). When we were done cleaning out the zebra area, she put the females out on exhibit and brought the male back in and that was the end of my day.
So, obviously, the most exciting part was the elephant part. Hopefully that happens more often than not haha. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it and hopefully next week we'll get everything done even faster.
I know that we'll have a ball if we get down go out and just lose it all
Sooooo, Saturdays at the zoo are way cooler than Tuesdays. Today started off exactly like last week, except way less intimidating. I kind of had an idea of what I was doing, and I knew where I was going. Started off with my keeper telling me to find some extra rubber boots that were big enough for me because the entire zoo was a swamp after all the rain that we had this week. So I found some, luckily, and then we were off to start the day. She had to go check on the tortoises to make sure they weren't too wet, so I mixed the vitamins and medicine into the rhino and zebra food while she did that, and then we loaded up the cart with all the other food and we were off.
First up is the rhinos. I took their two food containers in and she brought the grain and pellets. I fed the male one first since he was already in the barn and Susie started cleaning out his eye while the female came in and then I fed her. Feeding them this week was way faster than last week, and of course, got some petting in while I could.
The next animals that get food are the ostriches and the zebras. Ostriches are weird. They just look and act dumb. The entire back area was puddles from all the rain, so the animals weren't really moving around too much. After the ostriches got their food the zebras got theirs, all in their separate areas, and the really old female getting a different diet from the other two. The pregnant zebra looked fatter this week compared to last week, so that baby is coming and it's coming quick! So excited for when that actually happens.
Next thing on the to do list is to clean out the zebra/ostrich exhibit. I started this while Susie went and fed the gazelle and carnivore birds (I always forget what they're actually called). Cleaning exhibits is interesting when there are lakes in the middle of them. Everything looks so much more disgusting. Some of the wooden border decorations had fallen off too, so there was a couple gaps in the fence today. After this we cleaned out the rhino exhibit. That was even more disgusting. The only place they poop in the exhibit was covered by water, so all their poop was underwater and we had to kind of muck it out. But it turned out to be alright cuz we didn't have to get all of it.
This next part was the highlight of the day. We left the big cart over between the rhinos and zebras, got in a fresh cart and went over to the elephant area! I didn't know I was allowed to even go anywhere near that area, but my keeper and the other one that was on elephants today let me in, so of course I went in. To get to the place where they clean the elephants' feet, you have to go through the night barn and out to the kind of quarantine area, where they more the elephants into this little barred off cage where the gates are automatic and open and close to move the elephant through and keep them still while the keepers are doing stuff. Kind of like an airlock I guess. The two keepers told me exactly where they wanted me to stand as they brought the first of the two out, the Asian elephant. This one is shorter but thicker than the African elephant, and apparently meaner because they wanted me to stand as still as possible, and my keeper Susie can't touch him because he doesn't like her very much, but she could use this whistle that they use to tell the elephant when it can put its feet back down when they're done cleaning it. When he was done, they let him out into the exhibit and brought the taller African elephant out. She's apparently nicer, so they were both doing stuff and then when they started doing her back feet they brought me around and let me touch her feet and scrape off some of the sand. That was awesome. I touched an elephant's foot! And then, if that wasn't enough, they did some kind of tail training and wanted me to be an extra person to touch it for the elephant's training. So I touched its tail too! Its tail hairs are really hard, kind of like a wire brush thing. It was incredible to do that though.
When we went back to the main hoofstock area, we took the tortoises their food and then cleaned out the rhino, gazelle and that bird yards. Then Susie had to go back and do other stuff with the elephants, so I started cleaning the zebra area while she was doing that, and then when she came back she bleached the girl zebra barn (girl zebras poop in their barn but the guy zebra doesn't, guys are obviously cleaner). When we were done cleaning out the zebra area, she put the females out on exhibit and brought the male back in and that was the end of my day.
So, obviously, the most exciting part was the elephant part. Hopefully that happens more often than not haha. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it and hopefully next week we'll get everything done even faster.
I know that we'll have a ball if we get down go out and just lose it all
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