A few days ago, I set off from the building around 9:00 am to go train the red ruffed lemurs in Explore The Wild (ETW). I decided to take a camera so that I could take pictures of some of our animals along the way. I first stopped off in the farmyard and was greeted by the two nigerian dwarf goats, Patches and Rocky. They are brothers and both like a good head and neck scratch from keepers and visitors alike, but thisRead more
Posts filed in: Lemurs
You are now free to Explore the Wild
This past Wednesday was my scheduled day to be checked off by Sherry in Explore the Wild. Last week Marilyn (my trainer) checked me off but before I can work alone in the Lemur, Wolf, and Bear exhibits- I have to spend a day working with Sherry out there. Now my very lovely co-workers like to get me anxious and nervous before things like getting checked off in an area, my first day alone in an area, and my first emergency training. Read more
Shake, Pull, and Push
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 theRead more
A morning in ETW
Sherry is always trying to remind me to take the camera out with me in the morning before heading to Explore the Wild. After all, you never know what sorts of interesting things you could find to blog about! Well, a couple of Thursdays ago, I finally remembered to take the camera! So this is what mine and Mikey’s morning looked like… It started with one of our vehicles being broken, so we had to share a vehicle with theRead more
Kiwi and Craisins
Well, it’s been a couple of weeks since Keeper Cassidy has left, and I’ve taken over training (for the time being) the red ruffed lemurs. They are really neat to work closely with– such different personalities from the more hyper ringtails! It took a few weeks for Cassidy to transfer the lemurs over to me. First, I just stood there while she trained and watched her hand cues, listened to her verbals cues, and made sure I was noting exactlyRead more
Lemur Physicals
Last week Dr. Vanderford was here for vet rounds. The ring tailed lemurs got their physicals. Cassandra had her brush with death over the summer, and is doing AMAZINGLY WELL- you would never know there were any issues! A couple photos below from Dr. Vanderford cleaning Casandra’s teeth. All three ring tailed lemurs were checked out and are doing well. It’s no huge surprise that Lycus, our oldest and 25 year old ring tailed lemur, has some teeth worn down.Read more