Animals read the newspaper

Hummmm!!! The weather page says sunny and warm today.

March 8 finds the new Docents working at the Clinic with Dr Tom putting together Newspaper and wooden stakes to be put into the Animal Exhibits. This is to give the animals something different to look at and explore to keep them more interested and have a less boring life. The Papers are stapled onto the stakes and then put into the exhibits at various times during the day. The ones in with the Tigers, Gorillas, Bears, etc are done early before animals are released from their night quarters. The papers are sprayed with a scent also.

Then we watch and make a note of what the animals do and their reaction. It sometimes looks like they are reading the paper which is the intended result. The Public sometimes "gets" it but mostly asks why is the paper in there.

The Docents arrive early and set up our assembly line to get the job done. We are using the exam table in the clinic as our work area. There were more than one glitch this day with bursts of panic ,but it all worked out.

Giraffes and Gazelle spot the paper.

Wow , maybe I need glasses!!

OK, you read this one to the rest of us..

The keeper hands out treats after.

Spider Monkey seems impressed at first but then.......

pulled the stake out of ground , threw it down and walked away. I sometime want to react the same way . Later the paper and stake was in the water.

This is the Zebra keeper who was telling us about the Zebra that is expecting and what a good mother they say she is. Any day now!!

What is Black and White and "Red" all over!!!!

Answer,, Zebra reading a Newspaper....... I know , an old joke...

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Enjoy the Zoo with us

This Zebra is going to have a baby any day , so the watch is on..

Our Giraffe family is growing with babies almost every year.

Bob falls in love with Merry the new Camel. She has grown so much she tried stepping over the gate, so she is back with the adults but acts lonely and looks at us like she wants our touch again.

One of the active Spider Monkeys

Wilda [above] and Collette with a 2 year old Crocodile in the class.

Our Gorilla Family on Gorilla Island. There are 13 in the family , so much fun to watch their interaction with each other.

Look who is in a uniform and working.......

One of Bob's first jobs was working the Fish Cone booth. He sells small Ice Cream cones filled with pellet type fish food . This is for the fish , turtles , ducks, birds, but sometimes even the kids eat it, at least the cone part. Ewwww.. We tell them when pellets are gone to break up the cone and throw it into the water . This is a big hit and there is no break when the Zoo is busy. The booth made 98.00 in 2 1/2 hours today. That is almost 400 fish cones at $.25 apiece. That is a lots of pellets to be put into cones. Keeps a guy hopping. Me, I run for supplies and "patrol" the bridge area to keep the food from being thrown to the other animals on different diets, take the money and make change.

There are big,big carp, and very large turtles that come to eat. Every once in a while a water snake swims by but does not eat ,this always gets lots of attention.

A Rattlesnake skeleton that was painstakingly put together with glue and a toothpick. Lots of patience was involved.

When you see the pretty rock waterfalls around the zoo,,, well,, this is what they look like from "behind the scenes". Did you think they were natural? Pumps and pipes move the water., Will walked down the steps by the boat and took pictures. I wonder if the Public could see him through the water fall..

Dr Burchfield discussing the information from the evening class.

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Behind the Scenes Tour

Part of our training is a Behind the scenes tour , which was so interesting we talked Sergio into to giving us another tour a week after the first.

2009 Docent Class Photo


More fun photos from the training days,,

"Behind the scenes" in Brian Henley's domain we get to see Galapagos Tortoise eggs incubating in plastic boxes and.........

Rattlesnakes growing in jars



One day Docent Barb took the bubble machine over to the Gorillas and let the bubbles float across onto the Island. They all seem intrigued by the bubbles and like human children they tried to catch them.

I forgot what this big skull was from but I am sure it was a cat type creature. I know it was a Carnivore from looking at the teeth and the powerful jaw. See how much we have learned . Connie noticed the skull on shirt framed by the jaw. I never could have planed that one.

This 2 day old Turtle is shown next to my hand.

Sea food in the "walk in cooler" for the Zoo animals.Sea food in the resaca for the "freeloaders".

We watched this bird wrestle with this fish , loose him and grab the fish again. See how the Bird has got his beak through the eye? Then to our amazement about 20 people watched as he swallowed it whole. It took a while for him to get it in the position of head first because of the scales. His neck expanded as it went down.

This is Martha and she has baby Margret with her [see the little hand] . Her expression is one any mother can relate to. Write me a caption to the photo below and I will add some to the blog.

Comment from Polzin:

"Where's my baby daddy is he off with that other chimp I'll kill him"

Rick is bringing the Kangaroos in for their feeding. All animals are fed their dinner inside. This is how they get them inside for the night. If for some reason one refuses to come in , it will not be forced in, it will just get to camp out with no dinner.. Snacks are given outside in the "playground.

At the Australian exhibit we view the Kangaroo's from above. Why you ask? Well the nervous animals have no predators that come at them from above in nature, so if the Public is above and Kangaroos only have to deal with their keepers on ground level they are much calmer and easier to handle.


On one of our Behind The Scenes tours , Sergio explains the 2 door system and takes us all around the zoo to learn about the "secrets".

When we came through the Kitchen Sergio hands us carrots and tell us to take them with us , but we do not know why, lunch maybe?? After walking half way around smiling and reminding us not to loose our carrots, Sergio has us climb over the rock wall into the Tortoise yard . Oh Boy ,do we get their attention. In Tortoise speed they rush us..

The Tortoises do not have teeth but a very powerful beak . I was surprised that they do not snap but are pretty gentle when they take hold of the carrot and if you hang on tight you can feel the power when they break off a piece. The trick to this is to see how short of a carrot you are brave enough to hold on to.

When the carrots are gone it is time to "out run" the Tortoise.

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