When we aren’t busy shoveling stalls, scooping poop or making diets we occasionally get time to work on a special project or make new enrichment items. Last month, Janine, Katie and I got to build a hammock bed for our bears. It involved some wood as the frame, fire hose and lots of washers and screws.  At Janine’s past job she made plenty of these types of beds so she was showing Katie and I the ropes.

Not only is it great to offer our animals a brand new item but it was also a good team building exercise for the three of us! We rarely get to work on projects together and it was a nice change of pace. After a few weeks of the hammock being in the bear house, I finally caught Gus laying in it!  I’m not sure if the other bears have used it yet but I’ll call it an enrichment win!