Day 50.
It was Angela (keeper) and Matt, Rayna, & I (interns) today. We went to do Lions and noticed that Natasha ate her prescription cat food last night! YAY! Benji the vet thinks this will help kick-start her appetite, so hopefully she eats her meals again from now on.
We looked at the Lions for a little bit, waking them up and saying hello. When I was by Keeno's door, he huffed loudly at me, which startled me, then he rubbed the door- I guess that was a happy sound. hehe. We went into the pens to walk the fencelines- I sprayed perfume and rearranged toys in Tau & Sarabi's pen. I set a toy up in a tree with a stick holding it in place. Tau liked when I did that another time, so I hoped he'd like it again. While the Lions were waiting they did some caroling. Sarabi also turned at the door and peed- it sprayed out at us! But we dodged. :) It would have been a good time to collect a sample for the vet, but we didn't think of it in time and didn't have a sterile cup anyway- we should get one! We released the Lions then: Keeno batted at Natasha for taking so long (but we were trying to get her to eat her medicine meat chunk so it wasn't her fault), but they were fine afterward and happy to go out; Tau went and sniffed my toy set up! but he didn't play with it. Although we did go back later in the day and see that he'd knocked the stick down, but the toy had stayed in the tree. :) While we were watching Tau, Sarabi noticed us and charged at the hut (which we were in, looking out the fence window) and batted at us a little. It would have been an entertaining video if we'd caught it. Oh well!
We looked at the Lions for a little bit, waking them up and saying hello. When I was by Keeno's door, he huffed loudly at me, which startled me, then he rubbed the door- I guess that was a happy sound. hehe. We went into the pens to walk the fencelines- I sprayed perfume and rearranged toys in Tau & Sarabi's pen. I set a toy up in a tree with a stick holding it in place. Tau liked when I did that another time, so I hoped he'd like it again. While the Lions were waiting they did some caroling. Sarabi also turned at the door and peed- it sprayed out at us! But we dodged. :) It would have been a good time to collect a sample for the vet, but we didn't think of it in time and didn't have a sterile cup anyway- we should get one! We released the Lions then: Keeno batted at Natasha for taking so long (but we were trying to get her to eat her medicine meat chunk so it wasn't her fault), but they were fine afterward and happy to go out; Tau went and sniffed my toy set up! but he didn't play with it. Although we did go back later in the day and see that he'd knocked the stick down, but the toy had stayed in the tree. :) While we were watching Tau, Sarabi noticed us and charged at the hut (which we were in, looking out the fence window) and batted at us a little. It would have been an entertaining video if we'd caught it. Oh well!
On our way to Brown Bears, Desi chased us again. :) One of my favorite things- I love Desi!
In the Brown Bear hut we found 3 lazy Grizzly boys all snuggled up together. They yawned and stretched and just laid there looking at us. Oso had his head on Mak's belly and Victor leaned into the fence and rubbed against it as if we were petting him. I released the girls so they could go onto their island, but before letting the boys out I opened the hut door that leads into the pen and sprayed off the porch there. Angela went into the empty outer yard and looked at the cave that they'd dug- she was impressed with their work! Sometimes we see them go in there and disappear! We can't even see their butts sticking out. I had the chore of walking the perimeter of the whole Brown Bear exhibit to check the fencelines. I took a rake with me in case the Bison came by- they hang out around that area a lot. It was pretty cool to walk around where the Bison walk! ^_^ I did see them when I was almost finished, but not too near me to be alarmed. I took some pics of them, then went back inside the Bear hut to release the boys into their yard.
In the Brown Bear hut we found 3 lazy Grizzly boys all snuggled up together. They yawned and stretched and just laid there looking at us. Oso had his head on Mak's belly and Victor leaned into the fence and rubbed against it as if we were petting him. I released the girls so they could go onto their island, but before letting the boys out I opened the hut door that leads into the pen and sprayed off the porch there. Angela went into the empty outer yard and looked at the cave that they'd dug- she was impressed with their work! Sometimes we see them go in there and disappear! We can't even see their butts sticking out. I had the chore of walking the perimeter of the whole Brown Bear exhibit to check the fencelines. I took a rake with me in case the Bison came by- they hang out around that area a lot. It was pretty cool to walk around where the Bison walk! ^_^ I did see them when I was almost finished, but not too near me to be alarmed. I took some pics of them, then went back inside the Bear hut to release the boys into their yard.
After the Bears were all out in the yards Angela & I started to clean the hut until Rayna & Matt returned and we passed the job off to them. Angela & I headed to Black Bears to toss a snack over the fences to them. While we were there, I saw Little Boy humping Little Girl, which noted that it was breeding season! haha. All the boy Bears are fixed though as there is an overpopulation of Bears in zoos due to so many orphans in the wild. Angela trained Donna while I gave a bit of the snack to Takoda & Chochmo (we were waiting to throw the whole thing until Donna was done). I tossed quarter apples and pears to the boys. I took a few pears and pushed them onto the fence and let Takoda grab them off with his lips.
When we finished there, we were getting in the truck and noticed something special! The Black Bears end the "America" portion of the safari, so we were in "Africa". There, out in the field, was a mix of a herd laying in the grass together: Eland, one Giraffe, Watusi Cattle, and Zebra! It was beautiful! We also spotted the new baby Zebra (Christina) a few times- she's hard to spot since she blends into her mother!
Next we all did a Big Bear encounter together- my duty was to drive the Giraffe truck with all the people in the back caged area. This was a pretty large group and half of them were kids. They had lots of fun. :) When we took these people back we got a call that one person had paid a bunch of money to have her own private Big Bear encounter. Angela & I went back out to Brown Bears to meet her. Angela did the talking and I did the training. All 3 Grizzly boys ended up doing it for me. :) Good boys! Afterward, we said goodbye to the lady and then prepared some little boxes with peanut butter and hot sauce to throw to each Brown Bear. The boys liked both flavors, but Claire sniffed my hot sauce box and walked right away! She did like the peanut butter one though. Russel ate the peanut butter one first, then really went after the hot sauce one! YAY! She liked mine! When we were driving away I saw Russel still laying by the fence and she turned her head to look away while reaching out a paw to touch the hotwire!! It gave her a shock and she walked away quickly, but then went back to lay in that spot again. Weird! Angela said she does that sometimes and they think she's testing the hotwire..
After all of that, it was lunchtime! I enjoyed my little meal and listened to two other interns talk and giggle a lot- they couldn't stop! haha. It was a fun and relaxing lunch. When I finished I met up with Matt at QB to help him finish the Bear dinners by weighing out some meat for them. That was the last thing to do for those, so then I was told to go back to the entrance and do a Big Bear all by myself! I was actually excited because I'm confident in doing this now. I had to pick up some donated meat first and Jaime (who does encounter sign-ups) helped me carry the bags to my Carnivore car. :) So nice. Then I went to greet my guests and drove them up in the Giraffe truck, pointing some animals out along the way. I didn't see the baby Zebra which was disappointing because I really wanted to show her to the guests. There were a lot of kids in this group and they really enjoyed throwing the apples to all the Bears. I actually had a hard time getting the boys to come out to do the encounter, but the people enjoyed my remarks to the Bears while I was asking them to come up. :) I finally got one boy to do it and told him he was the star of the show- the other boys got jealous for donuts and came out too, so they all ended up doing it. I spoke loudly too, so that the whole group could hear me saying my presentation. Sometimes it's hard to hear the person talking, so I want to make sure it's not that way when I am the presenter. I drove them back and thanked them all for coming and said "I hope you had fun!". One young boy answered that he DID have fun! :) Everyone was happy.
I parked the Giraffe truck per Jamie's request and headed back to QB with the donated meat. That went into the freezer and I started loading the Brown Bear dinners to go set up the huts, but Angela called that she was on her way and to wait for her. She dropped Matt off to set up the hut dinners and took me on the Lion 101 encounter. This was nice because a family from the Big Bear was who was going on this encounter, so we said hello again! On the drive to Lions, the dad said something and paused for me to fill in with my name, but instead of saying "Ashley" I said "Big Bear" because that's where I'd met them. haha. I corrected myself, but he said they will probably just call me "Big Bear" when they tell the stories of the park. hehe. It was a fun encounter with just this little family- Dad, Mom, 5ish boy, 3ish girl in a fuchsia dress. The little boy asked a lot of good questions. Angela talked and trained and I distracted the other Lion. When we'd finished with Tau & Sarabi, Tau turned around and lifted his tail- we said "WATCH OUT!" The little boy didn't move, so I stood in front of him- sacrificing myself to the pee, but his mom moved him in time and we all escaped the spray! We went over to introduce them to Keeno & Natasha, and Keeno did some training. When we'd finished, guess what? Keeno turned around and lifted his tail! He was actually aimed right at the little boy too! Wonder if they smelled something on him that made them both take aim at him. lol! The whole family dispersed, the little boy running further, but still in the path of the spray. He narrowly escaped this time, then said he'd stay on that side of the road for the rest of it. ha! We were done anyway, so we all went back to the van laughing about it.
I parked the Giraffe truck per Jamie's request and headed back to QB with the donated meat. That went into the freezer and I started loading the Brown Bear dinners to go set up the huts, but Angela called that she was on her way and to wait for her. She dropped Matt off to set up the hut dinners and took me on the Lion 101 encounter. This was nice because a family from the Big Bear was who was going on this encounter, so we said hello again! On the drive to Lions, the dad said something and paused for me to fill in with my name, but instead of saying "Ashley" I said "Big Bear" because that's where I'd met them. haha. I corrected myself, but he said they will probably just call me "Big Bear" when they tell the stories of the park. hehe. It was a fun encounter with just this little family- Dad, Mom, 5ish boy, 3ish girl in a fuchsia dress. The little boy asked a lot of good questions. Angela talked and trained and I distracted the other Lion. When we'd finished with Tau & Sarabi, Tau turned around and lifted his tail- we said "WATCH OUT!" The little boy didn't move, so I stood in front of him- sacrificing myself to the pee, but his mom moved him in time and we all escaped the spray! We went over to introduce them to Keeno & Natasha, and Keeno did some training. When we'd finished, guess what? Keeno turned around and lifted his tail! He was actually aimed right at the little boy too! Wonder if they smelled something on him that made them both take aim at him. lol! The whole family dispersed, the little boy running further, but still in the path of the spray. He narrowly escaped this time, then said he'd stay on that side of the road for the rest of it. ha! We were done anyway, so we all went back to the van laughing about it.
Right after we came back it was time to meet up with another guest for a Lion Feed! I volunteered to meet up with him and walk him to the Lion hut. I love talking with guests. :) He said he used to work for a circus and got to go in with large cats, free contact! I told him we do protective contact here (fence between us and them), but it's still cool to be so close! It had been years since he worked there and his family thought it'd be a good birthday present to send him on the Lion Feed and be close to Lions again. :) Matt did the presentation of the Lions. The man pushed all their dinners through the proper chutes and watched them all be let into their own rooms and eat. We got a good caroling session too- it echoes and vibrates off of the concrete floors and walls. SOOO COOOOL! Matt & I were sent to start closing the park gates, so I said goodbye to the man. I took the bronco since I'm supposed to "become one with the bronco". I stalled it a couple times, but that was on hills, so I think I'm getting pretty good with it. I even switched gears this time! I also had spare time to go in reverse and take an extra loop just to get more practice with it.
Matt & I stopped at Brown Bears and waited there for Angela to have finished the Lion Feed and give Natasha her medicine. It took a while since Natasha is stubborn about medicine. While we waited we talked to the Grizzly boys- there is a fenceline by where we parked. They had gotten excited when we pulled up- must have been hungry! But we had to wait for Angela since a keeper needs to be with us to let them in. We sat on rocks outside the hut while we waited. I actually sat near the fenceline and all 3 boys lumbered over and sat in front of me, just hanging out. :) It was 10 or 15 minutes before Angela made it up there. I enjoyed relaxing with my boys. ^_^
The Bears all went into the hut quickly since they'd been waiting! Matt & I went in the bronco again to finish closing the park gates. I stopped a couple times to get pics of animals who were being cute. It was a fun time and a nice way to end the day.
Bye for now...
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