Day 64 - Wasps!

Day 64.

Back from my trip. :) It's always sad coming home from a fun trip, and I'm also leaving the internship soon, so this was a very sad morning for me. I cried a little in front of Amanda (who'd also gone on the trip), but she didn't mind cuz she understood. She said it was nice that I loved the internship so much to cry over it when I leave. :)

Angela had all three of us interns today: Rayna, Matt, & I. Rayna & I went to pick up morning enrichment for the Bears & Lions, then met up with Angela & Matt at the Lion hut. They had already checked the fencelines, so Rayna & I started on a project- getting rid of wasp nests!!! There were TONS of them around the roof of the hut. Rayna sprayed and I just held the ladder for her and hid from the spray and falling wasps. One fell on her shirt and got her in the arm, so I let her wear my hoodie for protection- she's slightly allergic to stings! We got most of the nests down while Angela was letting the Lions into their pens.

We then made our way to Brown Bears to let them out. First we woke them up. :) I said hello to the girls who were already pacing around, then went to see the snuggly boys. They were as cute as ever! Still sleepy. They had a bit more time to relax though. We all went outside to clean their yards and throw out their enrichment breakfasts. The cove cave was demolished by maintenance. :( I'm sure the Bears will dig new caves though. Once the yards were ready I was sent into the hut to release the Bears! They all ran out right away and enjoyed their chicken breakfasts. (ew.)

Rayna & Matt stayed to clean the hut; Angela & I went to finish off the wasp nests at the Lion hut. While we were in the back area pens, Tau came up the the fenceline to see what we were doing. :) He's so curious. I sat near the fence and took a pic with him. hehe. We ran over to QB to make up some midday enrichment for all of the Bears. We decided on peanut butter in boxes and some little fruitsicles. The peanut butter smelled SO GOOD! I also got to blow some bubbles for Donna- she's the only one who really likes them. They kept blowing back at my own face though. A few of them blew at her and she sniffed them, but she could already smell the peanut butter box beside me so I just threw it in for her. :)

Angela & I took a group to do a Big Bear encounter. I got to do the training while she talked. Victor & Mak did very well! Oso didn't come over since he was still working on this morning's chicken...

Lunchtime!!! It was good, but sometimes an hour seems too long to sit there at the tables. I was also getting sad again, so wanted to go ahead and do more work. Angela suggested going to look at the kittens who were staying in Desiree's trailer. I told her that was a good idea since kittens bring happiness. :) Also, when I was driving to give Bear Tower a break, I called Benji the vet and made a date, so that made me happy too! ^_^ He'll also hang out with Nick & I, when Nick comes to get me, which will be fun!

After my stint in Bear Tower, I worked on preparing Bear dinners with Angela. I had to unwrap a bunch of donated meats. We were so fast- such a good team, she and I. A Lion 101 encounter was next. I picked up the people and started the presentation - telling them about Tau & Sarabi. Angela met up with me and trained while I distracted. It's always fun to distract. Whenever I sit down to get another meat chunk, the Lion lays down, and it's like we're hanging out together sitting side by side. :) After we dropped the group back off at the entrance, we went to hurry and feed the Black Bears (I'd already set up the Brown hut earlier with dinners). I had to also scrub one of the pools and pick up poo in their hut. My glove broke during this......... O.O It was okay though, because I was going to QB next to wash dishes, so I could scrub the poo off very well too!

I finished the dishes, cut some meat chunks for tomorrow's Lion encounters, prepared a bucket for tomorrow's Big Bear encounter, and sat to wait on a ride. It took a little while as we had a Lion/Bear Feed, and the others were showing the guests the Lions being put up and fed. Finally, Amanda came and picked me up and we closed some gates. We also had to go turn off the waters at Black Bears from when I'd scrubbed the pools earlier. Then we waited for the guests to enjoy the Brown Bears and take pics before we could close the rest of the gates behind them.We enjoyed the baby Zebra while we waited. ^_^

That was it for the work day! A very nice day- I kept busy (thanks to Angela), so didn't get sad.......until nighttime! boohoo. I'll miss this place and the people.I still have 5 days left though.

Bye for now...