One way that the Animal Keepers keep track of an animal’s health is to monitor its weight. So, how would you get a barred owl to sit still on a scale? Keeper Sarah demonstrates her method. Note: these photos are a composite showing the steps, but with different individuals of our 4 barred owls. Do you see any difference between the owls? Of course, not all our owls are as large as our barred owls. Keeper Marilyn shows how sheRead more
Posts tagged: #keepers
Sheep and Waffles
It’s time to say goodbye to our wonderful interns, Casey and Jessica. They have worked as keepers, with us, 3 days a week for 4 months- we will miss them! Casey and Jessica are in the Zoo and Aquarium Science Program at Davidson County Community College. On top of working and classes, the interns had to present an enrichment project. They choose to create a teepee tree for the lemurs. The goal of their creation was to increase social interactionRead more
New Year’s Resolutions – 2011
Well, it’s tradition now ( 2010 Resolutions, 2009 Resolutions). Here are our Animal Department goals for 2011! 1. Graciously accept help when it’s offered! Try new foods. Work hard… Play hard… Sleep hard. Buy organic. 5. Get out and enjoy nature. Life changes fast. Appreciate the time you have with the team you belong to!Read 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
A wet and wild slip n’ slide
You may have noticed that it rained a lot last week. I think it actually rained every day, as I worked outside in it quite a bit. I don’t know about you, but when it rains that much, I try and think of all the good things that will come from it, instead of just focusing on the fact that I can’t seem to dry out. And while it’s good to think of these benefits to the rain, sometimes thereRead more
Lightning training update
Well it looks like our newest keeper, Sarah, has officially become Lightning’s new primary trainer! The three of us (Sarah, Lightning and I) took several walks together over the last few weeks to get her transitioned and for Lightning to learn that she is now one of his trainers. Lightning has made great strides with his behaviors recently, including doing things that he would never do before. One of these things is walking over unfamiliar objects or substrates. For instance,Read more