Week 70: San Diego Trip! Semester 4=Over

Somewhat bright and early we left the zoo on Sunday headed for San Diego. On Sunday, we hit a couple of outreach companies in the area that are run by some graduates. They were both very different companies but they work together a lot on things. It wasn't really anything new or special to me. We then found our nice and fancy resort hotel at a steal of a price and made camp.
On Monday, we went to the fantastic San Diego zoo and got to see some great shows and listen to some interesting and very important people. Bird/animal trainer extraordinaire, Steve Martin, of Natural Encounters Inc. is running a contract show there and we got to talk to him for quite a while and it was rather enlightening. Despite my general dislike of birds, I would deal with it if I could work with him. His company also does a lot of consultations with zoos and other organizations, so the work would eventually not be limited to birds. The new Elephant Odyssey Exhibit at the zoo is fantastic and we got a little behind the scenes look (not that there's much you can't see anyways) at how they run and a good talk with a keeper about their whole operations. Still an awesome zoo to see if you haven't yet!
Tuesday brought us to the San Diego zoo's wild animal park. Here they have a training compound where they run their cheetahs and you can currently pay a fee to see this as well. Look out though because in about a year, they are going to start offering it daily and for free! We got a good talk with all the trainers there about cheetahs and all the other wacky animals they work with. We then went on a tram ride to see the unique multi-species Africa exhibit where the animals are just mingling as they would in the wild (minus the predator factor). After that we found the new mule ride area and talked to the wranglers there. The mule ride takes visitors near the Africa exhibit, but then goes on a longer trail through the hills nearby. During the ride, they talk about the animals in the exhibit as well as the local landscapes and very endangered habitat they ride through. They are contracted to the zoo through Zoo to You, a company run by some of our grads. After our talk, I stayed and talked to the wranglers for a bit and I think they would have offered me a job on the spot had they not just hired. Still, it's a good prospect for a summer job if I can't find one.
Finally, Wednesday came and we got to go to Sea World! I've never been to one before so I was a little excited to see how this went. We got the royal treatment in the morning and were whisked around from stadium to stadium to talk to trainers about the sea lions, belugas, polar bears, otters, dolphins, and of course, the killer whales. After that, they gave us the afternoon to enjoy the park. We saw all the shows, of course, and it was really neat, despite the extreme cheese factor. I got to see the Anheiser-Bush clydesdales on their last day. The park was recently sold to another company, so the clydesdales had to go. It was a pretty good day, and I got to pet a dolphin for the first time! I found it all interesting, however, I also know none of that is for me as swimming/water creatures are not my thing.
On Thursday, we checked out of our hotel and hit the road. We made a detour to see Have Trunk, Will Travel, a most excellent elephant company. Any elephant you have seen in movies/TV/advertising or any elephant rides you see on the west coast area, it's them. Their facility is gorgeous and I would give my right arm to work there! The people were very nice and the elephants were cared for with the utmost precision and you could see it in everything they do.
We got home and then I had one somewhat normal day at the zoo. Since the semester is over now, I didn't have much to do besides some feedings now. The weekend brought our holiday event again, "Arctic Lights". The snow and everything happened just fine, just would have been nice to have more people... (Pictures from Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom: Saw fish, walrus, and sea lion)

Week 69: Seriously?

Finals this week. We have every final happening this week since next week is the much anticipated trip to San Diego! Not a lot going on besides lots of people studying and freaking out about it all. There it was though, on Friday, we took our last Gary final ever. Pretty nice. The only written tests we have left to take in the program will be for vet classes next semester.
However, again on Friday, we were all left a little saddened and scratching our heads at the sheer number of losses we've seen as a class. During morning area, Decoy, our wood duck, was found deceased. Cause is yet to be determined, but we are certain he was also quite old. Later that day, one of our blue and gold macaws, Rio, was taken to the vet so they could get a check on how some polyps in her digestive tract were doing, never woke up from the anesthesia. That's two in one day. I wasn't really attached to either of the animals, so it didn't hit me particularly hard, but it's still sad to know that we continue to lose animals at such a rapid rate and we haven't really gained anything to replace them with. Our shrinking collection is really quite sad and we are all holding our breaths that something else doesn't leave us while we're on our field trip. (Pics: a wood duck [not Decoy], Rio, Dolphins from Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom)

Week 68: Tripple the Sadness

This week many people began prepping and seriously focusing on the impending finals. We already had our training finals going on, and mine was this week as well. I did pretty well, getting an A on Mau and a B on Bwana. On Tuesday, we had a vaccine clinic for our vet lab where people associated with or in the program could bring their dogs or cats to receive some core vaccines (not rabies) at a cheap price and we administered them as some what of a practical exam. It was pretty fun and interesting to see some peoples' pets, and I even stuck a super adorable kitten that didn't seem to notice anything was happening. About halfway through the clinic, Dr. S got a call that she was needed on the zoo and went rushing in. I found out it was Darwin, our old sugar glider, being unresponsive. I went to the zoo and found them in the treatment room, trying to help him out, but after a bit I could see he was already mentally checked out. If you'll recall, I am a sugar glider trainer now, so I was needed as good emotional support for my co-trainer that was dealing with this alone since the other one was home sick. We sat with him for a bit until he was gone. It was quite sad, but he was also quite old. Possibly 12 or 15. Seeing the necropsy the next day, it was shocking to see all that was wrong. He either had cancer or a massive internal infection, we'll have to wait for the lab results. Sad, but definately his time. Crazily, this very same day (Wednesday), at the end of the day, I saw Wendell, our goat, out for a walk doing his normal thing. I find out not five minutes later that he keeled over and died. Initial necropsy reslults told us it was a brain anurism that killed him instantly, nothing to be done. Again, incredibly shocking and sad, but he was also incredibly old.
On Thursday, I had a zoo day in Santa Barbara, so I was praying that something else didn't die while I was gone. It was an OK day, just doing the reptile string, so boring for me, but not necessarily bad. I came back to learn that on Thursday, Forrest, the camel, was taken back by the company that owns him. We knew this was happening, but they never told us when they were coming, so it was sad and unexpectedly sudden to the trainers. While he didn't die, he is still another loss to the zoo. It's really just been an outrageously crazy week... (Pics: Me & Darwin, Wendell, and Forrest)

Week 67: Thanksgiving!

This was a really great and short week with the holiday. Classes were a little bit lighter, although we are trying to hurry and cram in a lot to our vet class since we're a bit behind. Our big paper was due this week in vet class that next semester we have to make a power point presentation about. My topic was chronic wasting disease. It's pretty interesting, feel free to look it up if you want to know more about it, or you can ask me since I just finished making myself a mini-authority on it. A very exciting thing happened this week as I had my very last ever PM area! All these "lasts" are starting to happen now, and it's kind of sad, but mostly really exciting! The new area schedule was posted and I also learned that I never have all day area again! That was excellent news!
I managed to get Thanksgiving day off this year with no area and no animals to feed. Hubby and I had a wonderful time making our own meal and stuffing ourselves silly. Just the one day though! On Friday, I was back at the zoo. It felt good to know that these should maybe, hopefully, be some of the last ones I spend with out family. That all depends on where I end up after this of course, but I'm still hopeful. (Pictures: San Francisco zoo, polar bear, lion, and me feeding a giraffe)

Week 66: Peggy!

After several months of anticipation and preparation, Peggy, our new, 3-legged opossum, arrived at the zoo! She is pretty small still and quite cuddly. So far she has an amazing temperament, perfect for being a handler animal. We plan to keep her that way so she stays friendly. Peggy is definitely no good at walking (missing your left front leg is kind of a big deal as an opossum) so she needs our help to get out and around to see things. Her favorite activities so far include sleeping and smelling everything. We look forward to seeing her grow more and helping her out in life.
Another big happening this week was an escape drill. We safety managers had been planning this out for a few weeks. We decided to have two trainers play their animals, one was Ozz the Geoffory's tamarin, and the other was Buddy the raccoon. Since I was a lead that morning in area, I didn't get to do much in the actual drill, but planning it was fun and it went off really well. No one got "bit" and both animals were dealt with quickly and successfully. One of the trainers even managed to squeeze himself into a crate! It was a great learning experience over all and we were proud of how well everyone functioned.
On Friday, we had a guest speaker: a studio trainer from Birds and Animals Unltd. came and he brought the capuchin he works frequently with. She is the capuchin featured in "Night at the Museum" and has done several other movies (I just can't remember, but if it's a monkey, it was probably her...). He also brought a dog with him and the dog was in "Hotel for Dogs" most recently, a super cute border collie. He discussed what it was like to be studio trainer and all the ins and outs of that side of the business. It was good to hear that it was all the same things that I had picked up on my project with Hollywood Animals. (Pictures: Peggy and I.)

Week 65: Final Assignments!

(Sorry for the lack of updating. Sadly, the posts will suffer and likely not be too detailed because it's all a blur.) Not a whole lot exciting at the zoo. Now that we're back, we all have to get back on track with our training behaviors. Finials are less than a month away! Traveling and trying to work on training just doesn't happen well, so this whole semester of training is sort of silly. Big highlight this week was having my last LA zoo day this semester on the Indian rhino string. I had a great time, the rhino and the hippo are really awesome! However, it was full of pain and disaster as well. When cleaning the hippo pool, I managed to fall and scrape up my hands pretty good (don't worry, the pool was empty and I had just finished cleaning it!), but it could have been much worse. Later that day, I managed to destroy my ankles as well when I fell carrying a 50 lb. bag of feed. Always look where you step! I'm fine, and no doctors were needed or lawyers for that matter...
This week we also got a few of our last animal assignments posted! I got Buddy, the raccoon, and one of the sugar gliders, Chip. I'm super excited about each of them, but it was a little weird to be added to the sugars since they are supposed to be year-long assignments. The good news is that their trainers and I get along swimmingly, so they are actually excited too. I can't wait to be out there in Spring Spec, jumping those little guys around! Not sure what extras I will or won't ask for though so we'll see if that's it or I might add one more. (Pictures: Golden Gate bridge, San Francisco Zoo bears)