Day 51 - Ending the day with a BBQ!

Day 51.

On my drive to work today I looked out at the pretty horses and cows while listening to 30 Seconds to Mars. Niiiiice. ^_^ When I got there and we were driving to the Lion hut, I heard "California Girls" by Katy Perry. haha. :) I also noticed a peacock preening itself.

At Lions we woke them up and Sarabi was standing on the "window" chewing her dewclaw- looked like she was sucking her thumb. Natasha ate half her meal and took her meds! YAY! We went into the pens to spread enrichment and check fencelines- I sprinkled poppy seed and garlic in Keeno & Natasha's pen. I also rearranged some toys, but they usually don't play with them anyway. We went back in the hut to release all of them, then went into Natasha's room and looked out the window at Tau & Sarabi. Sarabi saw us, stared, charged at the window, jumped up and pawed at the chain-link while growling. It was pretty cool! Angela got a video of it.


Rayna & I were then told to go to Lion Tower to fill out any breeding notes about Tau & Sarabi. On the way, we saw the Rhino laying on the hilltop and one had a bird on its head! At Lion Tower, Rayna filled out the log while I unlocked the gates and watched Tau & Sarabi playing. Tau ran at the fence towards me in a playful manner. When Rayna had finished we were about to get in the car and noticed Desi had followed us over! I climbed the ladder of the Tower to get out of his path, waited for him to move far enough away, then got into the car with Rayna. whew! and cool!

We met up with Angela & Matt at the Brown Bear hut. All 3 boys were cuddled up together again. Makes you want to just sit in the midst of them and snuggle. :) The girls were already pacing around and ready to go out. After checking on them we went into the yards to throw out their breakfasts of bread and nuts. The girls were let out and crossed through the tunnel, but before we could let the boys out a goose had flown into the yard! We walked into the yard to shoo it away, but it flew away on its own before we reached it. Since we were already in the yard we took the opportunity to check out the cave the Bears have all been digging. It was excellent! The roof was very sturdy and the cave was pretty deep! Sometimes we see two of them disappear into it! Angela & I were both happy to get to see the cave. haha. Then we finally let the boys out into their yard. :)

Rayna & I stayed to clean the hut. I sprayed while she scrubbed. The boys heard us cleaning and I could hear them outside the big metal door so I sprayed the hose through the crack. They bit the stream and batted at it, having fun with me. :) I loved it too! When we finished cleaning we headed to QB to make Bear dinners. While getting the buckets to put the food in, Rayna yelled and dropped one, saying there was something on it! We both peered at the floor and saw the tiniest little frog! SOO CUUUUTE! About as small as your pinky print! Rayna gently scooped it up and took it outside to the tree area. We put together the Brown Bear midday enrichments- jerky and frozen jello! (We froze it cuz it didn't solidify very well) They LOVED the jello! ^_^ So happy cuz I created it for them! We put some chopped fruit into old boxes for the Black Bears which they loved! They tore open the boxes and nom nomed everything.

Lunchtime! On the way to go to lunch there was a long line of White Fallow Deer. Looked so cool. I spent part of my lunch going to the house to grab some clothes since there was to be a cookout at the park for the workers. I spent the rest of lunch reading my book while eating.

We went back to QB to finish making the dinners- I was quickly unwrapping some donated meat for the Bears. We also saw some little kittens that one of the barn cats had! SO CUTE! About a month old. :) We try to catch them and fix them, but this mom was good at getting away so she had babies.. There was a little cream one I got a picture of.

Next I drove to Bear Tower cuz the afternoon shift couldn't make it, so I got to stay there for 3.5 hours! YAY! On the way there I saw Little Boy (Black Bear) in his pool. :) At the Tower, I watched the Bears play, read my book, took my boots off and put my feet in front of the fan! I had to go to the restroom at one point- there is a porta-potty area under the Tower. When I came out 2 of the boys were at the fence next to me! haha! I got my camera and came back down to hang out with them a little bit. We enjoyed each others company for a few minutes, then they started wrestling around. Oso joined them and they wrestled and ran around the yard for about half an hour before it was time to go in. :) Then Matt & I closed the park gates.

Work was done, but the party was started! Us girls changed in the office and sprayed a bit of body spray to cover the sweat smell, then went to join everyone. We said hello to Benji, the vet, who had planned the party. I looked over and saw a red portable grill and paused... I recognized that grill! I looked closer at the people standing over the grill and realized it was the Lawrence's!!! I put my arms around both of them and said hello, and they laughed in delight and hugged me. Apparently Ron was the cook for the party. The food was really good and I ate four different desserts! I even had a Mike's Hard Pomegranate Lemonade, but my belly was so full it didn't affect me. I made a plan to see the Lawrence's on my day off and visited with a few different people. We left around 8:30. Very nice hang out with everyone.

When I got back to the house I saw Sarah the white cat and pet her a little bit. She rolled over so I gently poked at her belly and she tried to playfully grab my hand- she accidentally scratched me tho! I cleaned it with peroxide and put neosporin and donned one of the Safari band-aids that Mu had bought me! Finally, a reason to wear one! I even got a compliment on how cute it was! haha! They asked if I was just wearing it or if I needed it. :P

I sat down to write this blog and post my pictures on Facebook. I use my phone internet tether which makes a bubble around me of internet. Someone looked over and asked if I was online and I told them about my phone. Her eyes got big and I saw a couple of other stares around the room. I offered to share the bubble and they all ran to get their laptops. haha! Another girl walked in and asked what someone was doing and she said "We discovered there's a wireless hotspot around Ashley", so she ran to get her laptop too. And I am pleasantly surprised to announce that the speed is fine even with 6 people on it!

Bye for now...