Week 9 - Last Week

This was the last week of my internship.  I worked 5 days this week instead of the usual 4 to make up for missing a day last week.  Thursday was interesting because we had 5 total interns and one keeper, so most of the normal routine was done early.  We all watched the keeper do training with the black lemurs in the morning, and got done with everything else so it was a pretty relaxing and easy going day.  Friday was normal, and on Saturday, in the morning I got to help my keeper with feeding the western pond turtles that the zoo is raising as part of a recovery program.  On Sunday, we had our intern behind the scenes tour in the morning with otters before they were sent outside for the day, and our intern class on animal capture and restraint in the afternoon.  Also in the afternoon, I got to get a behind the scenes with the elephants and learn about them and see some of the behaviors the elephants are trained to do to help the keepers to care for them.  I also got to hand-feed one elephant some bananas.  Monday was my last day.  I spent most of the morning watching the cats outside to make sure they didn't go where they weren't supposed to.  In the afternoon, I got to go feed the squirrel monkeys snails that I had picked up from the lemur exhibit that morning.  It was a very fun experience watching the monkeys rubbing the snails on things and trying to get the snail out of its shell.  A little bit later in the afternoon I got to do some goat training with one of the pygmy goats, Ashes, she is a very smart goat and learns new behaviors very quickly.  After that I helped to close up and that was the end of my last day at the Oakland Zoo.  I very much enjoyed my internship here and will miss it greatly.

Ring Tailed Lemur soaking up some sun

Ring Tailed Lemurs getting a drink right after I gave them fresh water

Ashes, the pygmy goat I did training with

Week 8

This week was normal other than that I did not work on Friday because I was not feeling well.  On Saturday, I helped weigh the rabbits, since they have a new diet and the keeper wanted to check their current weight before starting it.  I also got to feed the lemurs meal-worms, which they really enjoyed, including the blue-eyed black lemurs who didn't use to like them at all.  The intern class on Sunday was about more training this week and was more in depth about different parts.  Our tour this week was of tortoises.  On Monday morning I got to help out with some lemur training.  I also spent a lot of time Monday morning and afternoon doing lemur observations. 

Ring tail lemur relaxing

ring tail lemur sleeping up on a platform

Scarlet resting after a long day

Week 7

This was an interesting week.  On Friday, my whole day was spent following my keeper around timing him doing all the daily jobs on the string.  This was because it is wanted to know how long it takes the keepers to do everything.  So I didn't get to do any actual work on this day but what I was doing was still very important.  Saturday was back to a normal routine day, as was Sunday.  The intern class this week was about training and we got a do a little bit of goat training and then had a tour of one of the aviarys at the zoo.  Monday, we wound up with a lemur not feeling well.  I cut up some extra watermelon for him and then sat with him outside, keeping an eye on him, while the keeper went to get a crate to bring him inside.  I found out later that day that the vets did not find anything seriously wrong with him. 

Jason, the guinea hog, cooling off in the mud

                                      

Ring Tail Lemur looking for food

Paulie, the pot bellied pig, resting in the shade

Week 6

This week was again mostly normal.  The cats are now allowed out almost everyday to roam around, but have to have someone keeping an eye on them making sure they do not go by gators or pigs.  If they do, they are picked up and carried back to their room and placed there as a reset, the intent being that they will learn if they go past certain points they will have to start all over again making it a waste of their energy.  Sunday was the intern class again, and this week it was about enrichment and during the class we all designed small enrichment items that we could give to an animal of our choosing if we wanted, I made mine for the lemurs.  We also had a behind the scenes tour of part of String 8, the hyena, vervet monkey, and meerkat nighthouses.  The keeper called these animals into their nighthouses while we were there so that we could see them.  On Monday I did more lemur observations for my intern project.

Billy, complaining about having to be inside for the night.

Ring tail lemur with enrichment I made at intern class

Ring tail lemur with enrichment I made at intern class

Week 5

 This was an interesting week.  Friday was normal, but the rest of the week wasn't.  Saturday, the zoo was closed during the day due to the Walk in the Wild program at night.  So it was a very quiet day with no visitors running around, and was very relaxing for the goats and sheep who completely enjoyed their day off.  On Sunday I spent a couple hours watching Jason and Sara, the guinea hogs waiting to collect a urine sample because I thought I had noticed bloody urine on the ground.  I also had my second intern class which was on observing animal behavior.  Monday, I spent most of the first half of the day continuing to watch Jason and Sara for urine samples as I was unable to get them the day before.  I finally got them and they were both normal.  Most of the second half of my day on Monday was spent doing lemur observations for about 40 minutes before their lunch and about an hour after.  This is in preparation for my intern project which will include lemur enrichment and how it effects their behavior.

Blue-eyed black lemur waiting for food

Sara, the guinea hog, grazing

Ring tail lemur after lunch social groom session

Week 4

 Friday this week was normal and nothing special happened.  Saturday was the hottest day since I've been working here and in the afternoon, I worked with a keeper and did some goat training with our newest pygmy goat, Ashes. Sunday was the first day of the intern classes that I have to take during my internship.  First we had a lesson on public interaction and then walked around the zoo a for a little while interacting with the guests.  After that we had a lesson on different emergencies in the zoo, Code Yellow, Code Pink, Code Red, and Non-Code Red, what the differences are between them, what is done when they are called, and who does what as well as what interns are supposed to do when one of them is called.  After the intern class I went over to the tortoise exhibit to cut down some plum browse to bring to the goats and sheep.  On Monday, a new intern started on String 7, so I spent a most of the day showing her how to do all the things that have to get done there everyday as well as teaching her how to tell some of the animals apart.

Ashes, the goat I did training with

Bob getting his special grain, water, and salt meal

Christina, one of the ring tails, eating lunch

Week 3

A lot of this week was routine again.  Bob, the pygmy goat with kidney issues, now get fed 1/4 cup of his food mixed with water and salt 2-3 times a day to help him to drink water.  He eats the whole thing with all the water happily.  When feeding out lemur lunch we usually try to hand feed the two male ring tails some fruit because the females are higher ranked then them and tend to push them off the food.  I also got to prepare a lot of diets by myself this week, now that I know what to do for them. On Friday, another dog, Macy, was also there to visit.  She is one of Lily's friends and used to be there every Friday but hasn't been there for a while.  Saturday was an interesting day.  First, in the morning, the other intern and I found a hummingbird hanging from the rafters in the barn tangled in cobwebs.  The other intern got it down and started to untangle it outside while I got some sugar water for it, however, by the time I got outside with the sugar water, the bird had already flown off.  Shortly after that we discovered that we had a sick lemur, Anthony, one of the blue-eyed black lemurs was very lethargic and vomiting a lot.  The vets came down to look at him and then took him up to the Veterinary Care Center.  Later in the day we were told that he had gallstones.  He is now on medications, both an antibiotic and a analgesic, pain reliever, and is kept inside with Eugine, the other blue-eyed black lemur during the day.  Toward the end of the day, I picked up some weeds along the side of the driveway that the keeper had cut using the weed-whacker, which included some wild catnip, and a while later when I went in the cat room, one of the cats, Cali, hugged my side and kept rubbing her face on me because of the scent of the catnip, so we decided to get some of the catnip and bring it in to the cats. On Monday I spent most of the morning helping out in the contact yard.  It was a very hot day and there were not too many people there and only a few medium sized school groups came. 

Macy, Lily's friend

Lily lying on top of the bales of hay

Eugine looking for food

Billy and Scarlet playing with wild catnip

Duke, finally shedding, he also got his neck shorn

Week two

  This week was much the same as last, except for on Friday I also helped to clean one of the large stalls in the goat barn, and on Saturday I got to hand feed the lemurs meal worms.  The ring tails loved them but the black lemurs turned away and refused to eat them. Sunday and Monday were also a little bit different.  On Sunday I was given a few projects to complete towards the end of the day which included: weeding a little bit in the rabbits inclosure, brushing the cats, and sorting/untangling a bucket full of rope and string. On Monday, the keeper did not show up until later in the day due to an emergency.  So I was told to do the normal morning things like cleaning the cat room and feeding the goats and sheep.  Then a volunteer showed up to help clean the pig yard, rabbit night house, and feed lemurs.  After all that was done we helped out in the contact yard for a while.  It was also a rainy morning, an extremely rare occurrence this time of year in California, so it was a very quiet day at the zoo.  I got to brush the guinea hogs, who really enjoyed it and rolled over for a belly scratch as well.  Later in the afternoon we let the cats wander around outside so I got to relax a bit while keeping an eye on the two that wandered outside of the yard.  After a while of exploring they came running back wanting attention.  

Me feeding ring tail lemurs meal worms - they really love them

Fizz, one of our pygmy goats, hiding inside from the rain

Cali, one of our cats, right after I brushed her

Ring tail lemur licking its hand after eating some fruit

Ring tail lemur with enrichment

Sara the guinea hog after being brushed

Jason the guinea hog after being brushed

Carl, one of the sheep hoping to get some food

Max, our beor goat investigating Billy the cat hiding in the plants on the other side of the fence

First Week

This was my first week here at the Oakland Zoo.  I work Fridays and Saturdays with keeper Alan and Sundays and Mondays with keeper Liz. My first day was Friday, May 25th.  The day started out with me following one of the pygmy goats, Bob, around in the stalls, waiting for him to urinate so I could collect a sample as he had been having some issues with his kidneys.  Luckily it was normal and Bob seems to be doing better.  He gets a bit of special treatment and gets popcorn mixed with some of his grain and extra salt a couple times a day to get him to drink more water, he also now gets his grain in the morning mixed with water.  Other things that I do everyday are clean out the cat room, this includes either vacuuming or sweeping along with cleaning the litter box and giving fresh food and water.  Feeding the goats and sheep in the morning, depending on which keep I am working with the sheep are brushed while they are eating to help them shed their wool.  Pigs are fed grain and produce 3 times everyday, morning, right after lunch, and right before close.  The pot belly pig, Paulie, also gets two medications on her food every morning.  Lemurs are also fed 3 times everyday, morning, 1:30pm and right before close.  They have a set lunch time at 1:30pm when they get fruit along with enrichment.  This is posted around the zoo so that they public can watch them eating.  The pig yards are also cleaned in the morning, this includes picking up poop from outside, emptying, rinsing and refilling water dishes, and sweeping the inside part of their enclosures.  This is also done with the outside of the lemur enclosure everyday.  The rabbit night houses, both for the main rabbits and the two that live in the pot belly pig enclosure, are spot cleaned everyday, this includes cleaning food and water dishes and raking up all wet bedding and leftover food from the night before.  Their food is placed in containers in the night house for the night keepers to put out for them when the rabbits are brought in for the night. Morning diets are prepared each morning, and diets for the rest of the day are usually prepared right before lunch.  The other thing I do almost everyday is work in the contact yard, telling kids and parents where the brushes are and of the rules, no running, no screaming, no petting on heads or horns. 

Following Bob around my first day

Blue-eyed black lemurs with enrichment

Ring tail lemur with enrichment

Ring tail lemur with enrichment

Contact yard

Contact yard

Blue-eyed black lemur with enrichment

There were a couple of things besides the routine things that happened this week.  On Saturday afternoon I brought one of the cats out into the contact yard for people to pet.  On Sunday morning I accompanied a trip to the vet with one of the rabbits who was in need of a check up.  On Monday morning I watch lemur training.  I also completely gutted and cleaned the main rabbits night house on Monday afternoon. 

Where I work

Location of Children's Zoo - areas I work circled in red

 I work in part of the Children’s Zoo at Oakland Zoo in Oakland California.  I care for the 7 domestic rabbits, located in the upper right end of the children’s zoo; 2 blue-eyed black lemurs and 5 ring tail lemurs located at the lower right end of the children’s zoo; the pot belly pig with 2 domestic rabbits, and  2 guinea hogs are on the upper left end of the children’s zoo; and the sheep and goat barn, with 4 sheep and 11 goats located in the lower left end of the children’s zoo.  The sheep and goats are part of the contact yard, which is a petting zoo that is open to the public everyday, where people can pet and brush the animals.  Also located in the barn are 3 domestic cats, and Lily, the zoo dog ambassador, a golden retriever is usually down at the barn everyday as well.

Cat room in goat barn

Inside goat and sheep barn

Contact yard outside goat barn

Domestic rabbit enclosure

Lemur enclosure

Pot belly pig enclosure

Guinea hog enclosure