I have officially made it passed the required 180 hours for school credit. That being said, this will be my last blog entry concerning the Racine Zoo for it has been a mad house and I simply no longer have the time. Just as the last entry I will summarize the last couple of weeks that I have missed writing down for you.
I have now worked on every routine there is at the zoo, ending with the Routine 2 (Cats, Bears, Coati, and Fossa) and Routine 1 (Primates).
It was so crazy being that close to lions; only a strong, yet thin fence between us. I watched as Katie hand fed Skins, the adult male, his 17 lbs. of meat. It was super duper exciting to even be there. I found that they like to hand feed as much of the diet as possible to the cats and bears, this provides a small relationship between trainer and animal, but no where near strong enough to even think about going in with them.
The two andrean bears are little goof balls. The male Diamond loves to play with female Haylie, but Haylie absolutely hates him. We put out little globs of honey on the trees for some enrichment for them. Andrean bears are very arboreal and it was quite a site to see them laying in the trees.
In all honesty, I was a little freaked out when it was time to move on to primates. They are such smart animals so I was way more cautious around them compared to any other routine, the spider monkeys especially. When your working with the primates you have to be extra careful that you don't bring any illnesses or harmful bacteria with you into the exhibits, or bring them out. On this routine it is required that you were latex gloves, and a face mask, both are neccessary and both contribute to the sweltering heat....seriously, I thought I was going to drown in that mask XD
I will still continue to be an intern at the zoo up until the end of August when it's time for me to drive back up to Unity. See you all there, and enjoy the rest of your summer!
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