Day 3 - The Real Work Begins!

Day 3. (June 15)

I had a cereal and fruit breakfast while reading Mu's "Lady's Number 1 Detective Agency". Went in to the park at 9 and read the handbook on protocols for cleaning/feeding bears and lions, and info about each animal, like their name and birthday.

Sarah, the main carnivore lady, came in around 11:30 and said that since my drug test results hadn't come in, that I would just go on a bunch of "encounters" today. I joined a family on the elephant encounter where a keeper showed us some supplies they use and then we met George and his trainer. He is an African Elephant and he did a few "tricks" for us like playing a tambourine on his knees, blowing "Happy Birthday" (not really) on a harmonica, laying down, etc. We all got to feed him 2 pieces of carrot. His trunk was slobbery/snotty and had long, course whiskers on it- felt very weird! I also got to pet his trunk. :)

After that I had a lunch break and came back to go on a giraffe feeding! I got into the vehicle, but someone came to tell me plans had changed cuz my test results had come back- now I would be taking over a shift in the bear tower! The girl drove me over to it and I climbed up the tall ladder and met Ron & Kathy, an older couple who volunteer at many things, the Wildlife Safari every Tuesday. They showed me how to do a few things, but mostly told stories of what they'd seen the bears do on different days and that the bears were the most fun tower to be in cuz there wasn't as much activity from the lions or the cheetahs. I asked them some questions about the bear pen layouts, they asked about where I was staying- saying they hoped it wasn't the dorms! They'd heard bad things about how crappy it was- I confirmed that the kitchen situation is not ideal for germ-a-phobes! Then the guy asked if I would feel comfortable coming to their house for dinner some time! ^_^ I said ya! They left soon after that, but the wife told me if I wasn't totally comfortable I could invite another intern along with me when I come over. I just have to figure out my schedule and call them to let them know when I'm available. :) (They did reassure me that THEY wash their hands before preparing meals! lol)

So then I was in bear tower alone for about 4 hours. The girl bears were pretty lazy- sleeping most of the day away. The boys slept for the first bit, but then one went in the water and another followed him and wanted to wrestle. After their ruckus, the third boy awoke and became active too. "The Carnivores" (what our group of people is called) came to do a "Bear Encounter" at about 3. They drive people up in a truck that has fencing on the bed and a bench in the middle. The boy bears got to do tricks for food and the guests got to throw them some pieces of food too. The female bears woke up at this point and seemed a little jealous, wandering over and watching the encounter. Once that was finished all of the bears stayed pretty active. The boys did a lot of swimming in the pond and a little wrestling and running. The girls didn't interact with each other too much, one wandered a lot and raked up some hay from the grass like she wanted to build a bed or a nest. The other girl walked a bit and slept a bit, on and off.

There were also some elk near my tower that I watched a little. I took lots of pictures and a couple videos, read a book that was left in the tower about a woman who raised a lion, tiger, and cougar; waved at all of the people who drove by, and chatted on my phone quite a bit. :)

After the last guest passed my area, "The Carnivores" drove up to let the bears into their huts. I came down from my tower and went into the bear area with Cailyn (keeper). She took me over to the fence by the boys and told me who each of them were- I was only 3 feet from them with only an electric fence in between us! Then we got the all clear from Matt (intern) who was in the bear hut- he had spotted where the girl bears were and so we safely entered their area and moved part of an electric fence so that their area was smaller and we could get them into the hut easier. I thought that was awesome to walk on the same ground that the bears do!!

Once the girl bears went in, the boy bears- who were in the center of the drive through loop- were led through a tunnel under the road and into the same area we had made smaller for the girls (this area leads to the huts). They took their time, but also went into their rooms. Then we closed and locked the gate to the drive through and went into the hut. It's like a barn with the "rooster window" part on a second story, so you are walking above the bears, but can see through the flooring. We looked out the window at the boys as they finally entered the hut. Then we went downstairs and walked next to the actual cages they were in! Right on the other side of a chain linked fence! They were all busy eating their dinners. :) I took some pics of this too.

After that we drove the truck along the path to make sure no guests were still there, and locked up gates as we drove through. The rheas were right near us when we locked one of the gates! Cailyn & I stood at the gate after we locked it and one of the rheas, "fluffy neck," came over and pretended she was going to snap at us. (Fluffy neck cuz hers is bald!)

Cailyn let me lock the last gate on my own and we went to the office to fill in the daily log, and that was it!

Now at the library typing this story, then I will go home and eat and read or watch a movie on my laptop. :) Start again tomorrow at 7:30am! I will do a "normal" day tomorrow, and tower watches sound like once a week, unless we need to fill in for someone. I don't mind tower- it was fun! ^_^

Love you guys!

bye for now...