We have so many volunteers helping us, but none have been here longer than Judi. Judi started volunteering back in 1993, at least that’s when I think she started!

Judi has an incredible eye for detail: it’s one of the things that makes her a great animal caregiver. In the photo she is preparing food for our owls, which includes adding their Cosequin dose (yup, owls can take Glucosamine and Chondroitin supplements too!) Most of the time Judi helps with our aquatic tanks. These are not the usual tasks we have for our volunteers, but Judi is no ordinary volunteer.

She was such a great volunteer when she first started, that we hired her and she was an Animal Keeper here for many years, before returning once again to being an outstanding volunteer.

Every week Judi comes in and makes sure our fish and turtle tanks are running properly, and that they are clean where they should be clean and “dirty” where they should be “dirty” (this good dirty stuff is important to the functioning of the system, providing natural biological filtration for the tanks).

Because Judi used to be a Keeper here, she helps out in so many other ways too, and is a great resource for all the current Keepers. Without Judi, we would be missing an important part of our team: we’re really lucky to have her!