Week 7: Carns Carnival

Yea alliteration! There was some super crazy stuff this week, and some super awesome moments for myself too. The first thing that went down was a trainer on the siamangs was bit and had to go to the hospital. She and the animal are OK, however, she has not yet returned to school as she's dealing with some good infection. Now, before you go freaking out about this, let me tell you: this stuff happens. We are working with essentially wild animals, and you can't always read what they're about to do. This is an inherent risk all animal caretakers assume, especially when you are in a free-contact setting with the animal. It is most likely that at some point I, myself, will be sent to a hospital for stitches or even something more serious. I am OK with this, so don't go sending me every article you find about maimed/dead zookeepers/animal trainers. I know it happens, I got over it a long time ago, I suggest you do the same if you plan on staying around me. This is not to say that I or others are doing this in an unsafe manner, it's just what happens. It's the same thing for police officers or fire fighters. They run risks of getting shot, smoke inhalation, and all sorts of nasty, potentially lethal things happening to them on a daily basis! Mine just makes for a more interesting story! I'm stepping off my soap box now...
Now some good news! Davis week quickly approaches. This is a week where all the second years leave on a super cool field trip, so all us first years must care for the animals! The animals you get assigned to is largely dependant on what area you are in that week, however, a few other animals need a more special relationship (primates) and those were assigned early for those who were interested. I was lucky enough to get assigned to the vervet monkeys (look it up!). We have three: two girls and a boy. They are housed separately by gender. They are pretty dangerous, but there's no real contact with them so we're in no real danger. I'm really looking forward to getting to know these guys and maybe actually finding another primate I'd like to work with besides our ring-tailed lemurs. More details will be forthcoming as this story progresses...
This week, I was working the carns area. That's short for carnivores. This is where all our large, truly dangerous animals are (i.e. tiger, lion, wolf, hyena, mountain lions). I was looking forward to being here, and I was not let down! Most mornings Taj (tiger) chuffed at me, and for those who don't know, that's a happy sound. I really loved watching her play around in her pool and splash people! She really is a silly kitty sometimes! A silly kitty that would totally kill you if given the chance... I also witnesses Savuti (hyena) devour the bottom end of a femur in the span of thirty minutes. This was definately a rewarding week overall and I can't wait to be back in carns!