3rd Week at ZooQuarium

So, I finished my third week at ZooQuarium this past week. The zoo has not been very busy lately but last Sunday we had a ton of people, which was really nice. I was able to do a couple animal presentations at our "Zoorific Theater" stage. I did one on African Animals so I brought out Madagascar hissing cockroaches and an African pygmy hedgehog. Then I did a presentation with Lily the skunk for a Native Wildlife show.

This past week I have had a lot of progress with our red-tailed hawk, Jasper, who I have been working with. I have slowly been getting him used to me being in his enclosure and getting used to the glove that I will be feeding him and handling him with. The first step was to leave his food on the glove everyday, so he would finally learn to take the food from it without being afraid, and I would also spend time talking to him everyday as well. Then I would start waiting for him to eat. At first he would not take his food till I had left his enclosure, but this weekend I managed to get him to eat while I sat on the floor of his cage. It took him a while to trust me, but once he did, it was the best feeling in the world! The next day I also sat in his enclosure but a little bit closer, and he did not take as much time as he did the previous day, so we are making good progress even though it takes time.

Last week I also finished a project I had been working on for our "Walk in the Woods" section of the zoo. We have some spring peepers that I set up an exhibit for. I have been working on it since I got here, and I finally got it the way I like it so that the frogs are happy and zoo guests can still see them as well. I also came up with an enrichment idea for our albino chipmunk in "Walk in the Woods" as well. I took a paper towel tube and lined the inside with peanut butter. Then I put Cheerios, rodent blocks, corn, and some cut up apple inside and stuck it to the peanut butter. He really seemed to enjoy it!