I asked my fellow animal keepers this question awhile ago, thinking I’d come up with a funny blog to post.

I got a bunch of answers:

Kent –  Mottled Rock Snake

Sherry-  Eagle

Katy-  Elephant

Jill-  vegetarian Polar Bear

Kristen-  Giraffe

Aaron-  Killer Whale

Sarah-  Atlantic Puffin

Marilyn-  Spectacled Bear

Mikey-  Stegosaurus

Me-  Clark’s Grebe

While all of these are great answers, it wasn’t really as funny as I’d hope it would have been.

Insert Interns—

As you may have read recently we had two wonderful interns for the last four months.  As their parting gift to us keepers, they came up with a list of their own.

If the keepers were animals at the Museum of Life and Science who would they be and why?

• Sherry – Cassandra (ring-tailed lemur)

Cassandra is the head honcho of the ring tails. She takes care of her troop, looks out for them, and grooms them. There is no question of her authority and the group functions well this way. Sherry is the curator of the animal department. Her knowledge, leadership abilities and experience mirrors Cassandra.

• Kent – Gus (black bear)

Gus is a big bear. Up close he can be intimidating with his big canines and huge paws. But one look at him playing with the other bears, it’s clear that Gus is a big baby. Kent, likewise, is intimidating at first. Once you get to know him, he’s a big ole teddy bear!

• Mikey – Auggie (pot bellied pig)

Auggie  is very vocal when surrounded by a crowd. He is very smart. Because he is so charismatic it’s ok that he talks so much. Auggie gets pushed around by Miss Piggy all the time. If Auggie could speak, he would say, “Yes dear.” Everyone likes Auggie!

• Kimberly – Yona (black bear)

Who doesn’t love Yona the youngest of the five black bears? She is so free-spirited and always happy. A day of an unhappy Yona is like a day without Kimberly smiling – it just doesn’t happen!

• Jill – Henry (wood chuck)

Henry is a tough nut to crack. Is he happy to see you or not? Hard to tell, he seems stoic. But that chatter is just so cute! You just have to take time to get to know Henry and then, even if he does bite you, you still like him. Just re-read this and insert Jill’s name.

• Sarah – Rocky (goat)

Rocky is underappreciated. Don’t assume anything by meeting him just once. He is confident and secure. He knows more than you think. He doesn’t always come up to the fence to greet you but be assured that when he does he is the sweetest goat ever! Get her on a topic she likes and Sarah is a talker!

• Marilyn – Christopher (owl)

He doesn’t show it right away but there’s a lot of processing going on in that brain. Ever patient and the symbol of wisdom, Christopher sits back and takes it all in. You wouldn’t know he was there if you weren’t looking for him. Marilyn has a plethora of knowledge that she is happy to share if you can catch a rare glimpse of her during the day.

• Katy – Ursula (black bear)

You won’t see her much but we are always glad when we do. It just wouldn’t be the same if she wasn’t a part of the group. She likes to keep to herself. They say she is cranky but we have never seen that side of her. They say the same things about Ursula too…

• Aaron – Lighting (donkey)

Lighting appears to be just a sweet little, humble donkey. And then when you least expect it he bites you! But, for some reason, you like him anyways. He is always redeeming himself somehow. Kind of similar to how Aaron likes to scare certain interns when they are de-legging crickets or have just seen a really scary movie. The interns still like him.

• Kristen – female red wolf

Well the most obvious reason is that both of these ladies can gracefully climb up the hill in the wolf enclosure while being very pregnant. Both are moving or have been moved due to babies. That is where the similarities end as Kristen is not shy and did a very good job of adding to intern training.