keeper's aide, day 2
i got a little less quality time w/ the lemurs today, as during the morning feeding they were too busy chasing the prevost's squirrel that got moved into their exhibit yesterday. poor little guy. they don't seem to want to actually HURT him, just smack 'im. apparently squirrel-smacking is a great game (except, of course, for the squirrel).
during the afternoon feeding, however, the male (jevon, i think?) thoroughly licked all traces of banana off my fingers, despite the gloves. hee.
also, the keeper i was working with today takes care of 3 of the prehensile-tailed porcupines, although they're in a different line (i was wrong last week -- it's lines 1, 2, and 3, not tracks) (hee, tracks & lines -- good song, that). so i got to hand-feed and pet porcupines! squee! the trick, of course, is to make sure you pet DOWN, not UP. also, they have funny bulbous noses that are very soft and whiskery. (here's a picture of a baaaaaaby.)
keeper D is clicker-training them, which is a little difficult because they're nocturnal. essentially we were waking them up at what for them is like 3 am, and saying "hey! touch this target with your nose!" you can imagine the lack of enthusiasm, although once one of the girls got a taste of banana, she was pretty willing to participate. the other two gave a couple goes, but weren't willing to do anything that involved actually moving from their spots.
the crocs were definitely a good idea -- my feet still hurt like a sonofabitch, but it took longer and they're not quite AS bad.
ooh, and i finally got a good look at the leopard cat (friday). he's like 14 or 15 and has chronic renal failure, so he mostly stays in his holding cell. but he decided to come out when i put down his afternoon meal (which includes mousicles thawed baby mice). he's a beautiful boy.
so yeah, fun stuff. lots of hard work, but nothing excessive. D was impressed with how well i did making the food and so forth; i pointed out that years of petsitting got me used to following written instructions. heh.
now i'm going to have some lunch and then soak in the tub for a while. then i suspect there'll be napping. tomorrow it's down to SF's for the evening. assuming i can manage to pry the cat from my lap, of course.
during the afternoon feeding, however, the male (jevon, i think?) thoroughly licked all traces of banana off my fingers, despite the gloves. hee.
also, the keeper i was working with today takes care of 3 of the prehensile-tailed porcupines, although they're in a different line (i was wrong last week -- it's lines 1, 2, and 3, not tracks) (hee, tracks & lines -- good song, that). so i got to hand-feed and pet porcupines! squee! the trick, of course, is to make sure you pet DOWN, not UP. also, they have funny bulbous noses that are very soft and whiskery. (here's a picture of a baaaaaaby.)
keeper D is clicker-training them, which is a little difficult because they're nocturnal. essentially we were waking them up at what for them is like 3 am, and saying "hey! touch this target with your nose!" you can imagine the lack of enthusiasm, although once one of the girls got a taste of banana, she was pretty willing to participate. the other two gave a couple goes, but weren't willing to do anything that involved actually moving from their spots.
the crocs were definitely a good idea -- my feet still hurt like a sonofabitch, but it took longer and they're not quite AS bad.
ooh, and i finally got a good look at the leopard cat (friday). he's like 14 or 15 and has chronic renal failure, so he mostly stays in his holding cell. but he decided to come out when i put down his afternoon meal (which includes mousicles thawed baby mice). he's a beautiful boy.
so yeah, fun stuff. lots of hard work, but nothing excessive. D was impressed with how well i did making the food and so forth; i pointed out that years of petsitting got me used to following written instructions. heh.
now i'm going to have some lunch and then soak in the tub for a while. then i suspect there'll be napping. tomorrow it's down to SF's for the evening. assuming i can manage to pry the cat from my lap, of course.