Day 55.
Today I got to work with the Ungulate department! (that is hoofed animals). I shadowed Anthony all day. He's very nice and Mu, Daddy, Ian, Jacob, & Alex met him when we fed Hodari the Giraffe. :) The shift was 6:30-3:30. Nice! Just a regular 8 hour work day! haha! This shift is called the "Drive-thru shift" in which we drive-thru everywhere and count all of the animals to make sure they're all accounted for and alive and well, and put hay and pellets in all the feeders for them. :)
Anthony said most important first job is to feed the Rhinos and Giraffes. We drove out and saw them conveniently at a feeder, so we stopped there. I stayed in the truck and Anthony carefully got out and dumped prepared buckets into bowls for them. Jack, the male, is nice, but you still have to be careful. Anthony can touch his horn, head, and front half of his body. He's working to be able to touch the back feet since they need filing! Taryn, the female, is aggressive, but Anthony is working with her (she's about 16 and only in the last year has somebody tried working free-contact with her). He poured her food in the bowl carefully while telling her "easy", then touched her horn a bit. He told me noone has ever seen him touch Taryn before, so it was special for me to witness. :)
We headed to feed the Giraffes next. They are kept in a barn overnight for safety (plus Hodari sneaks into other 'lands') I've never seen the Giraffe barn, it was cool. The Giraffes looked so big inside it, compared to being in the great outdoors! They each have their own section fenced off with the large fencing used for Elephant barns. The breakfast buckets were prepared first, then Anthony announced he was opening the door so the Giraffes wouldn't get startled. Mate was first. he was looking through our tiny human-sized door and drooling. Anthony did the same thing with each of them- held the bucket up to eat from while he touched their necks and front legs with a target stick. This gets them used to being touched so that blood-draws are easier if needed. Mate, then Kipande, then JT, then Hodari. They all did so well! Anthony was surprised that he didn't have any trouble from any of them- he said sometimes they don't cooperate very well- and told me I must be good luck since all 4 Giraffes were so good AND he'd been able to touch Taryn the Rhino earlier (he doesn't always get to).
We headed to feed the Giraffes next. They are kept in a barn overnight for safety (plus Hodari sneaks into other 'lands') I've never seen the Giraffe barn, it was cool. The Giraffes looked so big inside it, compared to being in the great outdoors! They each have their own section fenced off with the large fencing used for Elephant barns. The breakfast buckets were prepared first, then Anthony announced he was opening the door so the Giraffes wouldn't get startled. Mate was first. he was looking through our tiny human-sized door and drooling. Anthony did the same thing with each of them- held the bucket up to eat from while he touched their necks and front legs with a target stick. This gets them used to being touched so that blood-draws are easier if needed. Mate, then Kipande, then JT, then Hodari. They all did so well! Anthony was surprised that he didn't have any trouble from any of them- he said sometimes they don't cooperate very well- and told me I must be good luck since all 4 Giraffes were so good AND he'd been able to touch Taryn the Rhino earlier (he doesn't always get to).
Our next job was to drive through and count all of the animals. We started counting when we'd fed the Rhinos, so they were accounted for already, and Ostriches. I got to see the baby Zebra quite a few times today too! We counted the Eland, but didn't see the new baby! We'd have to look harder next time around. In "America" I finally saw more than 3 Udad (not sure on the spelling)! There are 18 of them, I think, so we looked out and found them all. We drove into "Asia" and counted the many herds there, but would have to go back to count the Sika Deer (they were all clumped up laying down) and Rhea (spread out!). We took a break next and while we were sitting there....
"Ungulates to Safari Base, we have a Code 1- Cheetah in Asia! Repeat, a Code 1- Cheetah in Asia!" Anthony & I both got big eyes and looked at each other, then ran to the truck. He went back into the office for a gun which is protocol when a dangerous animal is out of its enclosure. There was a team of people with guns just in case. We drove out, I was sandwiched between Anthony and a girl from Village. There were also others that responded: a van from Elephants, J who helps with everything, Benji the vet, us, and Patches (main Ungulate lady) in another truck. And of course the Cheetah people were all up in the Cheetah pen area. That area is right next to Asia and it turns out the Cheetah must have climbed up and squeezed through the barbed wire! So we were all sitting there, watching the Cheetah run along the Cheetah pens fenceline, attacking another Cheetah who was in the pen. I didn't see it, but apparently they were both bloody on the mouth from attacking each other. Superficial wounds though. The Cheetah keepers all walked with rakes along the fenceline towards the Cheetah to lure him that direction. Patches came from the other direction to scare him away, and someone was near the pen we wanted him in to assure he got there. That was actually Benji's truck there, which the animals are all scared of because he's a vet. I saw the White Fallow Deer and Nilgai all running away when they saw it! Poor things. So while we sat in the truck waiting for the Cheetah to be led to his pen, the Rhea were all casually walking around as if no predator was nearby. :) They never have to worry about that, so they are oblivious. But then the Cheetahs don't know how to hunt, so I guess the animals are still relatively safe anyway. They finally got him into the pen and cleared the Code 1. :) I think it was Hulets, who was one of the nicer Cheetahs and easier to work with. He didn't give the humans any trouble. Afterward Anthony was saying he'd seen the Cheetah on the fenceline but assumed it was inside the fence. It's hard to tell sometimes! Patches saw that too, but then Hulets had moved down the hill a little and she knew for sure that he was out! I saw maintenance over there later securing the fence.
WHEW! We took a short break after that.
Patches asked us to come and help her let out 3 of the Giraffes. JT was first, then Hodari chased him into the proper section and followed him out, then Mate was let out and had to be sprayed with water so he'd go into the proper section too. Kipande stayed in the little yard for the day- sometimes the others pick on him since he's smaller and younger (only 4 years old). Once they were out we went to fill all the feeders. An Emu came over to my car door while we had stepped out of the truck. Anthony came and waved him away for me, but said Emus are nothing to worry about. The 2 camels came over when we filled the next feeder. I got out to take pics while Anthony poured pellets in. The female camel is a little aggressive, so I was careful as I walked back around the truck to get in.
Next feeder, the Sika Deer and Nilgai came to see us. The Sika Deer did a squeaky noise which they are known for. I'd never heard it before, and it sounded like the alien squeak toys from Toy Story. The next feeder was the one for the ducks and swan. It's on a pulley rope in the middle, so Anthony had to pull it in to check the food level- which was good. A few of the feeders didn't have any visitors when we filled them.
Once we got to "Africa" Desi was waiting at a feeder! Anthony kept an eye on him while he got out to pour pellets. Desi was just hungry so didn't make any moves. The Watusi Cattle must have heard the sound or smelled the food because they were all coming over in a line, kicking up dust. I didn't see them walking over but suddenly there were Zebra in the feeder too! This is the closest I'd seen one! ^_^ Only 5 feet from me!! I didn't see the baby though.
At the America feeders the Bison and Elk will sometimes make it hard for Anthony to fill the troughs, but I was a good luck charm again and none of them came by when he was out of the truck. At one, the Llamas were all standing there watching us while hay was placed in there. It was funny- just standing there staring at us. Anthony said they had faces only a mother could love. haha. I took a few pics of them- it was so cute and funny to have them standing there so still. We filled another small trough and one Bison came up the hill to eat- turned out it was a pregnant one! I though it was good that she was a bit separate from the herd so she could get enough to eat. Anthony said they will separate a bit when it's almost time to give birth! :) Since other feeders were filled, the Bison herd had vacated the last one we needed to fill- so we were safe! I took pics of myself down in the ravine where this last feeder was.
Next feeder, the Sika Deer and Nilgai came to see us. The Sika Deer did a squeaky noise which they are known for. I'd never heard it before, and it sounded like the alien squeak toys from Toy Story. The next feeder was the one for the ducks and swan. It's on a pulley rope in the middle, so Anthony had to pull it in to check the food level- which was good. A few of the feeders didn't have any visitors when we filled them.
Once we got to "Africa" Desi was waiting at a feeder! Anthony kept an eye on him while he got out to pour pellets. Desi was just hungry so didn't make any moves. The Watusi Cattle must have heard the sound or smelled the food because they were all coming over in a line, kicking up dust. I didn't see them walking over but suddenly there were Zebra in the feeder too! This is the closest I'd seen one! ^_^ Only 5 feet from me!! I didn't see the baby though.
At the America feeders the Bison and Elk will sometimes make it hard for Anthony to fill the troughs, but I was a good luck charm again and none of them came by when he was out of the truck. At one, the Llamas were all standing there watching us while hay was placed in there. It was funny- just standing there staring at us. Anthony said they had faces only a mother could love. haha. I took a few pics of them- it was so cute and funny to have them standing there so still. We filled another small trough and one Bison came up the hill to eat- turned out it was a pregnant one! I though it was good that she was a bit separate from the herd so she could get enough to eat. Anthony said they will separate a bit when it's almost time to give birth! :) Since other feeders were filled, the Bison herd had vacated the last one we needed to fill- so we were safe! I took pics of myself down in the ravine where this last feeder was.
Our feeding job was done, so we went to refill everything we'd used, starting with the hay bales. I lifted a couple, but mostly just stood by while Anthony did everything. heh. There wasn't really much I could do except lift a few things for him. We had a little time, so we went over to look for the baby Eland again. Anthony used binoculars and even got out and walked up the hill where other Eland were, but we couldn't find it. There were Watusi Cattle, Zebra, and other Eland there and they ran when Anthony got close- the baby Zebra was so fast! I was told that Eland sometimes stash their babies somewhere for a while to keep them safe, so not to worry too much.
It was almost lunch time, but Patches had me cut some carrots for the Hay Ride first. Lunch was uneventful, but there was a Code 1 debriefing after that, which I saw the beginning of. They were discussing what took place and everything. I couldn't stay since I needed to help David (Ungulate keeper) do a Hay Ride encounter. I didn't really help much since I couldn't do the presentation, but it was nice to see again. The Sika Deer were as cute as ever. :) We drove over to the Hippo too, to see if he'd come out to do a few training tricks. David called to him for several minutes and tried enticing him with lettuce and a melon. Blippo (yes, that's his name) just rolled a couple times and swam near, but never came out. Poo. It was okay for me though, because earlier I gasped about him being out of the pond and Anthony drove over so I could get a picture- and he even got out and had Blippo open his mouth for a pic. :) The people enjoyed Blippo rolling around though, so it was still a good encounter.
Once we returned I found Anthony getting ready to do a Giraffe Feeding encounter, so I joined him. He found Hodari and let the people feed him, but he got to the bucket early on and didn't stay very long since the food was gone. That encounter was a bit boring to me since I was in the truck cab and didn't see much except Hodari's torso.
Once we returned I found Anthony getting ready to do a Giraffe Feeding encounter, so I joined him. He found Hodari and let the people feed him, but he got to the bucket early on and didn't stay very long since the food was gone. That encounter was a bit boring to me since I was in the truck cab and didn't see much except Hodari's torso.
The shift was almost over. We only had to go restock the truck with food for tomorrow's "Drive-thru shift" person, refill the Rhino food cans at the Boma (house), and then go home! I felt weird leaving so early, but it was also nice! :)
At home I sat in my comfy new recliner that Ian & Daddy helped move to my room, and relaxed before going to dinner and the local community college play "Peter Pan". The Lawrence's said I should see it as the Captain Hook was effeminate and AMAZING! :) A nice Shabbat going to see a play. Shabbat Shalom.
Bye for now...
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