How many times have you been on your way to work and all of the sudden you think- “Did I lock the front door?”  For Animal Keepers this is a daily fear.  So we all use different methods to ensure that we did in fact LOCK the door.  Some keepers check the locks two or three times before leaving the area.  When we work together as teams, we double check each others locks.  I have adopted what I call the shake, pull, and push method- especially in the bear and lemur house.  I shake the lock, pull the handle, and push the door- if it still doesn’t open- it’s locked.  This week Marilyn and I spray painted the bear door locks, just for added safety.  The goal was to color code the locks so that it is easier to visually check them.   The first thing we do before entering the bear house (while still in the keeper space) is visually check that all of the doors are locked properly.  With the bright new colors this should be a bit easier.

Now you can clearly see the difference, but I think I’ll still use my shake, pull, and push method- for my own peace of mind.