Rainy Days

Today was a pretty rainy day, so that means a bad beach day, so therefore a busy day at the zoo. When it rains, we have to do our animal presentations at our covered stage area which is a lot smaller than our normal stage area that can seat a lot more people. When it is busy and we use the covered stage it is always difficult because everyone tries to cram under the covered area and crowd all around me. I always feel like people can't hear me as well in there too. It's a bit stressful.

Anyways, today I got to meet a falconer who lives in MA, and she helped us make new perches for a bunch of our birds. We just got a falcon yesterday. He is gorgeous!!! He is half peregrine, half gyrfalcon, and his name is Denver. He originally comes from Colorado, so the name is fitting.

I have always wanted to work with animals, and a few years ago I couldn't decide if I wanted to work with different animals everyday that were out in the wild and observe them from a distance, or if I wanted to work with the same animals everyday at a zoo. After thinking about it and starting to volunteer at ZooQuarium I quickly decided that I wanted to be able to work with animals that I could interact with, even if that meant taking care of the same animals day after day. I would rather be able to bond with animals like I can at ZooQuarium because it is one of the best feelings in the world when an animal approaches you because they know you and trust you, and most of all understands that you're the hand that feeds them. :)

Also, teaching the public is a great joy as well. I love teaching people everyday about the animals I love and care for so much. Today after my hawk show, a bunch of little kids were buying little stuffed red tailed hawks from our gift shop. That definitely put a smile on my face to know that I had that much of an impact on those kids.

Working with animals and even being on a stage in front of an audience with an animal just comes so natural to me. There is nothing else I would rather do for the rest of my life then to work with wonderful animals and help give other people a better appreciation and understanding for them as well.