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
Posts tagged: #bears
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
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
Watermelons!
For Memorial Day, six watermelons were donated for our bears to celebrate the holiday. Below are a few pictures of them enjoying their tasty treat! Read more
What is in the traffic cone?
What do you think is in the traffic cone that Gus is playing with in the bear side yard? He really liked it and did not want to leave the bear house until he was finished. Read more
Behind the Scenes Programs
About once, sometimes twice, each month we do special behind the scenes programs. These programs are really fun to do- spending extra time with some of the animals and some of our members is a special experience for everyone involved. A couple weeks ago at the bear behind the scenes program I challenged some adults to tattoo themselves and send me the photos. Thanks to Courtney (and Ro), below, for being my first takers. We had a fun night makingRead more