I adore the Bears! Day 19.

Day 19. July 1.

It was just Valerie & I today, so we had to be efficient. First thing was to go and wake the lions. Keeno looked good (after his medical procedure the other day). Valerie tried to feed him some breakfast, but he didn't seem interested. (I guess he did end up eating it later though.) We went out to the pens to check the fence lines- I spread some Caesar dressing, then checked the hot wire voltages (I was very careful!). Time to let the lions out! Tau & Sarabi were anxious after having spent the night in the wrong rooms! (They were all reorganized so that Keeno had a special "recovery room".) They seemed confused on the way out too, hesitating at all the doors. Keeno was happy to go out, after his full 1.5 days inside. He, and his beautiful brushed out mane!

Second course of action was Brown Bears. We went inside the hut to wake them, then into the exhibit area to go spread enrichment. Valerie had me go in the hut to let bears out. I am now a fully capable intern! I had to go into Bear tower for a few minutes to relieve the lady who was needed as a tour guide somewhere. Phil (Cheetah/Tiger keeper) came to relieve ME, then I was left to clean the Bear hut alone (I'm good at this!)

Valerie came to pick me up just as I was finishing the hut cleaning. We were to go and watch Chochmo & Takoda with their newly built climbing structure. About 7 other keepers, interns, vet staff came out to see them too. After some pics and watching them, everyone left but me as I had "first watch" to make sure they did okay on it and didn't hurt themselves. I took one of their logs to sit on, took pics of them on the structure, read my book, ate a snack. About 30 min in, the bears came and hung out by me. We sat this way for the next hour. Takoda took a dip in his pool, and Chochmo was trying to grab a sprig of grass with his claw under the fence. They stayed in a 10 foot vicinity of me. It was like sitting on the beach with your pals, relaxing in companionable silence. Very enjoyable!

Claire came to relieve my watch, and I took a quick lunch since it was just Valerie & I. I met her at QB to help finish making diets. I set up Grizzly boys room with their food while Valerie did the girls' room. We suddenly had a last minute sign up for a Lion 101 (it was actually too late, but Guest Services let them!), so we had to rush and meet them. I drove the people out to the Lion area. A man & his two small sons (under 6). I was going to do this encounter presentation, but the kids were not very interested and the man was very busy watching them and answering their questions. So Valerie & I didn't really relay much information to them. They liked the training, but the boys asked for crazy tricks like having the lion flip! ugh.

Finally were able to feed Black Bears (they'd seen us drive past with their food, but we had to do that last minute encounter..) Claire (vet intern) had taken over watch of Chochmo & Takoda, so she was there to help us spread out their dinners. She & I threw out Little Boy's & Ricky's food, and both agreed how fun it was to toss everything, especially the walnuts. :) Little Girl had come out of her "cave", so we tossed her food to her on the other side of the pen (so fat Ricky couldn't steal it!) She was able to eat a lot of it. :) Valerie had thrown the food for Chochmo, Takoda, & Donna. Claire's shift was over, but she decided to stay with us to help out, so we took her to do dishes!! HAHA! It was pretty helpful to have her though. :) She didn't mind the dishes, and all our closing experiences she said was worth it!

A young couple had signed up for a Lion/Bear feed. This is where they go with us to put lions in and feed them, then drive to Brown bears to let them in and watch them eat. They both had large cameras around their necks! Claire had never done any encounters before, so this was special for her too! The couple was so amazed at how large the lions were up close and how handsome Keeno was with his brushed out mane (hehe). We let them throw the meat into the rooms- they took pics of each other holding the big hunks of meat near the chutes. (yes, they had gloves on!) Once all the lions were in their specific rooms and fed, they started carolling (roaring)- even Natasha joined in (she usually doesn't bother). I thought Natasha's roar sounded funny, more of a cough than a roar. :) Claire & I walked the couple back out to their car, and along the way Desi (the Ostrich) followed us along the fenceline. He did his dance as well! :) They liked that.

They got into their car and followed us into the closed park. Desi ran next to our truck for almost the whole way down to the lion area! He usually stops halfway, but didn't! Claire & I were sitting in the back of the truck, so it was pretty amazing, and scary, to have him run beside us! Claire loved it.

I took the couple into the bear hut so they could watch me let the bears in. Valerie was outside to control the gates there. I was supposed to do the presentation again, but the couple mostly just liked to watch and just BE there. :) They asked a couple questions, so I did get to talk a bit to them, and I think I did well. I let the girls in and we watched them eat from our vantage point upstairs. When Valerie had everything outside all set, I let the boys in. We ring a cowbell to signal that it's dinner time. heh. The boys all came in pretty quickly, Mak sliding under the half-open door to get to the food faster. Then I took the couple downstairs so we could more easily watch the bears eat. Valerie met up with us and talked a little more about the bears. When asked if they had anymore questions, the lady said she just liked being there to experience this so close! We stayed for about 15 min, then said goodbye to the couple.

It was time to close all the remaining gates. Claire got to help me, which she enjoyed. When we reached the tiger area, we helped Phil (Cheetah/Tiger keeper) put the tigers in to bed. What a treat, as always, but especially for Claire who doesn't get that close to many animals!

That was it!

bye for now.... (TTFN, Alex!)