Volunteer Keeper Week 20

Ugh. "Boo at the Zoo" (Our annual Halloween human event) means that Hamadryas Baboons and Mandrills don't go on exhibit becuase people in certain costumes can spook them. No telling what these primates are capable of as far as escape routes if they are provoked enough. Because of this, Phx Zoo protocol requires that they remain in the nighthouse for the duration of "Boo".

Staying in the night house stalls all day and being shifted from one stall to the next so keepers can clean results in very stressed out animals. I happened to have the camera with me and was able to capture a few of the tense moments. This turned out to be a very educational day though, a great learning experience.



...Had to put my beautiful Ankavia picture on first. She is the big bully of the female lemurs and I can't stand how she beats up on poor Comet - still her and I seem to be building quite a friendship when I'm out on the island. She is a lovely animal.


Hehe, and of course one of the timid boys (blue ear tag, don't know his name yet) hangin out on the branch looking for banana handouts. Please excuse the cheesy photoshop effects - the product of two beers and a little boredom.


Above, is our male Mandrill, Spock. He has complete control over the two females (Wucaria and Pearl). His disposition is unpleasant at best. He would just as soon maul you as look at you and threatens to do so every chance he gets - even after you give him a bannana and think you have appealed to his gentler side. That's just not the case, primates such as these don't mess around with such things. Dominance and their social order is everything to them.

Going into one night house stall with Spock just behind a flimsy metal door (pounding said door with all of his strength every so often just to remind us he's still there...) is a frightening experience to say the least. Not a pleasant animal, but I do feel sorry for him - the only reason he is that way is because in his early days, he was terribly mistreated due mostly to lack of knowledge on how to properly care for non-human primates. He is also extremely sexually frustrated right now since niether of the females are in estrus. Several times he has been observed, ahem...taking care of things by himself while on exhibit in front of impressionable children. Heh, the things animals do.



Above is Wucaria. She recently turned 31...very old for a Mandrill. In the wild they typically only live 15 to 20 years.


Wucaria


Debbie is giving Wucaria prune juice to try and make her feel better because she has spondalosis
(a degenerative spinal chord condition).


One of the Hamadryas girls, I still have't learned to tell them apart yet so I don't know for sure which one this is. Sort of a symbolic pic of her though, sitting in there with that pumkin...she doesn't look very happy :-(


Kenny. Male Hamadryas Baboon. You can see all the papers and boxes they tore up.



Some Cownose Rays swim by. We have 40 of them this year at Stingray Bay, along with some Nurse and Bamboo Sharks.


One of the Southern Stingray girls :-) Beautiful.

Wyland Clean Water Challenge 2007 - Phoenix

The Wyland "Clean Water Challenge" tour stopped in Phoenix this October.



Okay, had to put this one first...yeah, that's me, Wyland and Lindsay.


This was the first thing I saw when I pulled into the parking lot at 7a.m. Orcas!....WYLAND ORCAS!!! Can life get any better?


The Humpback Whale side of Wyland's "Every Drop Counts" Truck. We took a tour of it and were part of the filming of a documentary for the Discovery Channel that will air next year.


Helping Wyland Paint! So awesome.




My first Wyland appointed job of the day was "ladder girl".


Heh, Mike was called up to do an impromptu presentation on native Arizona wildlife inhabiting lakes and rivers of the Desert. Surprise - we ended up mostly getting a bird-talk ;-) but everyone loved it...he did a great job keeping everyone interested. The man holds it together under pressure, that's for sure! :-)




Malia stirring paint for the kids.

Volunteer Keeper Week 19

Stingrays are back! :-) :-) :-) Spent the latter half of the day feeding them and learning about them from keepers before the exhibit opens to the public... will be helping out at Stingray Bay this winter. Life is good.

Nurse Sharks: the largest, darker colored one's name is Rosie
Rays: small one with lots of scratches named Scrapper
Southern Stingrays: JoJo, Dot, Dusty

Volunteer Keeper Week 18

Well, I pretty much took care of lemur island all on my own today, the red ruffs are really starting to recognize and trust me, which I find incredibly gratifying. Not just for the fact that they are highly endangered animals and I'm lucky to even be working with them, but because I have truly (and somewhat surprisingly) come to care a great deal for each one of them. They all have such distinct personalities and roles to play in their social group. I'm starting to gain a profuound understanding of the connection these keepers have with their animals, and I only see them once a week! Imagine being there every day - they would be like my family - my kids! I don't think I'd be able to go home without wondering and worrying how each one was doing while I was gone. It's definitely more than a job. I can clearly see that caring for animals in this capacity becomes not only your life's work, but your passion as well. And truly - only certain people are cut out for it. Wether or not I am one of them remains to be seen, but at this point in the journey, and more than ever, I'm absolutely in love with the idea that I could be.

Made a RRL screensaver when I got home. Yeah, I get a little obsessed ;-)

click for larger version

Other exciting and notable events of the day:

Congrats mama Kima!!! She gave birth to a little baby otter girl on Wednesday, October 3rd!!! Biko and Hasasni are on exhibit now by themselves (mama and baby are in the nighthouse/den) so dad and son had better behave themselves. I can't wait to see the new pup's progress!

REUNITED!! Kelly the spider monkey had surgery last week to remove an ovarian tumor. All went well, and as of yesterday she was ready to get back to the island and to her species-mate, Debbie. We went up to AC, got her in the crate and transported her home. There were a couple of tense moments at first, but Debbie ended up greeting Kelly with a big hug - literally, I'm not kidding, these two monkeys put their arms out, around each other, and hugged! It was freakin adorable and incredible to watch.

Didn't find this out until last night around 8 when I was already home, but apparently our salt water inhabiting, friendly finned visitors are back for the season. It hasn't been officially announced yet though, which is why I am not at liberty to divulge any more details at the present moment. In fact I've probably already said too much. All I can really say about it is...
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) I'm doing a happy dance :-) :-) :-) :-)

Volunteer Keeper Week 17

I am posting this late, I volunteered last Sunday which was September 30th. Due to the quarterly Family Get Together along with my work schedule, I wasn't able to post until now.



Basically, I got passed around to all the keepers who needed help - yup I was pimped out at the Zoo. Started on Baboon string with Debbie since LeiLani and Denise were out for the National AAZK Conference. Most of the day was actually spent helping Amy on Orangutan and Uco/AZ strings. I got to help with the Bear barn which I must say, had me a tad bit nervous for a few moments, only because I'm not very familiar with their night houses - and they are very large, intimidating animals who won't hesitate to demonstrate their strength to a puny human -especially if they sense fear. All went well though, and I had a very educational experience yet again. It's so great to be a part of all this :-)

.
...cute but I don't think I'd want one upset with me for being the stranger, poking around in his living quarters.