pictures!

I finally got some pictures of the animals under my care. Enjoy!

I usually start my day with the elk. Aspen is the big guy with the antlers, Rosie and Sweet Pea are the ladies, and little Spite is the baby of the bunch.

Next comes the Canada lynx. I am amazed every day at how stunningly beautiful Chayne is.

farm friends! barnyard buddies!

donkeys, Hank and Alex (Alex is the one with the shaggy face)

These donkeys are quite fat and incredibly impatient. They will scream at me until I feed them.

goats in coats!

Tommy:

Oreo:

The alpacas are very shy and skittish. I spoil them with treats and they are ever so slowly coming around.

Jack and Jill are Guinea hogs and complete brats (I mean that in the most loving way possible). They really like to stand right where you need to be working and get very offended when asked to move. But they are cute, so I'll allow it.

The bears are lazy this time of year. They don't exactly hibernate, but they slow down considerably. Most of their time is spent sleeping in their dens. This is especially true for Fleur. She is such a lazy bum. Most days Roswell is the only one willing to go to the other side of holding for food, so he eats all the fruit before Fleur decides to get off her butt.

Rozzy bear is a big boy:

Occasionally Fleur will come eat while I am still there and I am always amazed at how tiny she is, especially when she is right next to Roz. She is maybe half his size.

Most of the time, this is all I see of Miss Fleur:

Right now we have a baby cougar/puma/mountain lion in quarantine right outside the administration building (which is where our cubbies, kitchen, staff lounge, etc. are). As often as I can, I go outside and say hi to him. We also play peek-a-boo and he practices his stalking and pouncing on me (don't worry, there is always a fence between us).

Just look at the adorable-ness that I have to deal with every day:

I just love these babies!

a day in the life

The job of a zookeeper is never dull. There is always something that comes up to keep you on your toes. Some days I have to deliver hay from the hay barn to the farm, sometimes I get to help other people with their sections, animals need vet care, exhibits need to be maintained. There is honestly no such thing as a "normal" day. However, in case anyone is interested, here is roughly my most normal daily routine.

8:00 am- clock in, get radio, check keeper log, grab pig diets, head to the gator!

8:10 am- elk: lock elk out of barn, rake barn, feed grain & hay, change water, let 'em back in

8:40 am- lynx: check exhibit, break ice/change water on exhibit, shift Chayne out, clean holding

9:00 am- check Bald Eagle exhibit & aviary, make sure everyone is alive & well

9:05 am- farm: feed pigs, clean stalls, replace shavings, feed & water everyone, clean up

10:10 am- pick up compost from bobcat & wolf

10:20 am- bear: shift bears to dens, break ice/change water, pick up compost

10:30 am- help out weasel keeper if necessary, dump compost

11:00 am- wash dishes, take 15 minute break

11:15 am- prepare diets for all exhibit animals, pull frozen diets for next day

12:30 pm- lunch time!

1:40 pm- gather up diets and head out to feed out

1:50 pm- feed bears: shift to dens, feed, give them access & watch Roswell eat all the fruit

2:10 pm- feed farm: throw hay to everyone

2:30 pm- Bald Eagle exhibit: feed Duncan, Ichabod, and ravens; pick up compost

2:45 pm- aviary: feed ravens, turkeys, barn & barred owls; pick up compost

3:10 pm- close farm: turn off lights, lock up barn

3:20 pm- feed bobcat: feed Shadow & Sinew, lock them into holding

3:35 pm- feed lynx: feed Chayne, try to make her love me...

3:45 pm- help other keepers feed out if necessary

4:00 pm- dishes, write in keeper log, sweep & mop floors, take out trash

5:00 pm- turn in radio and clock out!

So that is my day, in a nutshell. Of course, it almost never actually turns out that way, but you get the picture. I'm kind of tired just thinking about it. There you have it!

I'm a keeper!

I did it! I made it through my first week as a keeper at the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park in Watertown, NY. I hope to use this blog to let all my people back at home what I am up to up here in the tundra. I will probably blog a bit about my life, my penchant for sewing and crafts, and a whole lot about my job and experiences at the zoo.

Speaking of the zoo... In the coming days I hope to chronicle my super exciting daily routine and introduce the world outside upstate NY to the amazing animals in my care. Every day (well, Thursday through Monday) I get to hang out with 1.2.1 Roosevelt elk (1 male, 2 females, and 1 juvenile) named Aspen, Rosie, Sweet Pea, and Spite. Then there are the farm animals, 1.1 miniature donkeys named Hank and Alex, 2.0 goats named Tommy and Oreo, 1.1 Guinea Hogs named Jack and Jill, and 3.0 Alpacas named Warrior, Valiant, and RJ. I am in charge of 1.1 black bears, Roswell and Fleur, as well as a bald eagle (Duncan), a turkey vulture (Ichabod), 4 ravens, 3 barred owls, 1 barn owl, and 5 turkeys. Last but certainly not least is (my favorite...) the Canada lynx, my girl Chayne.

So that is the summary of the animals I take care of at the zoo. This particular zoo is a pretty tiny one, with only 4 full time keepers exhibiting animals native to North America, specifically New York state. Since it is so small, I get to be involved with most aspects of the zoo. I make diets and help out with cleaning and feeding of other animals. I am really excited to start doing more enrichment with the animals once I get into the routine of how things work on a day to day basis.

And that is my life up here, in a nutshell. Seriously, all I do is work and sleep. But that is okay with me, at least for now. Stay tuned, folks, for more on all these precious babies and hopefully pictures in the near future!