Sherry just bought a new camera for the Animal Department (I was thinking about starting this post by saying, “I totally talked Sherry into buying a new camera for the Animal Department”, because I totally did, but I won’t). It’s pretty fabulous and quite perfect because it’s shockproof up to 5 feet and waterproof up to 10 feet. Not water resistant, but waterproof. Meaning I could hop right into the muskrat exhibit and take an underwater picture with him. One of those ones where I hold it out at arms length and we say cheese. But I haven’t actually gotten up the nerve to put a digital camera underwater yet (because that would be crazy). And the 5 feet shockproof spec is perfect for the 5′ 2″ keeper holding it right at eye level! Boy! I haven’t been this excited since the bike trailer! (It’s been a very exciting month)
Then Gus mans up (um, sort of):
Then Gus feels insecure about being afraid of the basket when the girls weren’t, so makes himself feel better by wrestling a full grown bear (Mimi):
Then it’s off to the wolf exhibit. An unexpected visitor in the side cage (a toad):
Then I go back to the building to find a cute ‘possum sleeping (Beaker):
And then since I’ve kept it in my pocket all day, I forgot it was in there and bring it home and take a cute picture of my dog (Cocoa):
Today I’ve actually used it for work purposes–while I had the exhibit salamanders out feeding them, I took new identification pictures that I’ll use to make a better, more updated identification sheet. When I was taking one of them out of their water dish, its tail splashed my eye and camera with water. Not a problem for the camera (more of a problem for my eye)!
Is Gus named after Gus in Lonesome Dove?
Wendy, I think it's because he came from Augusta County in VA.Great videos Erin! My dog has the same scared response to new things as Gus. Must be the young male thing.
Is Gus typically a big ol' scaredy bear?
Beck-Gus really is special: he doesn't back down from other real bears, but when it comes to baskets, vehicles, stuffed animal bears, and numerous other silly things, he is very tentative and runs away!
Love your blog! We've started one at our Museum but haven't gotten the keepers to write much. We've got to get them a camera to keep around. Keep writing!Melissa at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregonour blog:http://www.highdesertmusings.com/
Melissa,Thanks for the comment! I enjoyed checking your blog out. Good luck with your keeper motivation! Let us know if we can help (the camera definitely does)!