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Having fun with Bear Enrichment

Enriching the lives of our animals is a daily task for us keepers. When I have the time, I like to be a little more creative with my enrichment ideas. The other day I decided to put a table and four chairs into the bear side yard. I carefully picked out the tallest chair for Gus and the shortest chair for Yona. Mimi and Virginia received similar sized chairs. To entice them to actually check out my creation, I wroteRead more

Mimi loves Peanut Butter

Jessi and I go into the bear yard once a week (typically on Tuesdays) to scoop poop, scoop up any uneaten food and pick up old enrichment. Once we are done with that we scatter all their food for the day and we try to add an extra treat. A few weeks ago, we took in several jars of peanut butter and smeared it all over rocks, trees and anything else we could. I decided to smear some on theRead more
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Keeper Antics

Since Keeper Jessi and I work the same schedule it means that someone has to cover ETW when we are on our weekend. Most recently, this person is Keeper Kent.  In the bear house, we have large troughs which hold the bear’s water. You can only fill these troughs up so high or else they will be WAY to heavy to empty. On several occasions, Kent has filled these troughs up to the very top. So I have to assumeRead more

A Look Back … Part 1

Let’s take a look back at some of the goings on in the Animal Department. Some of these critters have moved on to further their careers and education, some of them have retired, some of them have passed away and some of them are still with us in the Animal Department, just older and wiser now! I have 10 years worth of memories and pictures of all the happenings in the Department… here are a few of my favorites! KeepRead more