So!
Who's interested in what I'm doing at my new zookeeper job? Well this journal's for you.
I got put in the most amazing section, it's so amazing and perfect for me. In my section I help to take care of foxes, bobcats, pumas, wolves, lions, bears, servals, and tigers.
My average day starts with feeding. The large carnivores get meat only five days a week, but the others get it every day. On feed days (when everyone gets meat), I help to feed the big cats. I seriously cannot explain how awesome this is. The lions are roaring and pacing and their eyes are so sharp! They come to their feed hole and scratch and roar and when I throw in that first piece of meat they snatch it up and rip it to shreds. It's completely amazing! It's also cool feeding every one else, especially the pumas and tigers, but the lions are the most exciting.
After feeding is cleaning time, which takes most of the day. All of the animals get their water dumped, cleaned and refilled every day. The bear and fox enclosures get completely sprayed down and cleaned. All the other cats get their waste pulled out and disposed of every day. The feed boards (where the meat is placed) get cleaned as well. Sometimes cleaning will take all day if there's only two of us. We're kind of short handed right now.
In the late afternoons, if we have time after cleaning, we work on things that need done around the compound. Sometimes that involves hours of raking (oh what fun
), sometimes we work on deep cleaning enclosures. That means partitioning off the animals and bleaching and scrubbing down the denboxes and perches and completely raking out the enclosure.
It's really absolutely the most amazing thing I've ever done. There are several times throughout the day when one lion will roar, and then another responds, and before you know it you have this chorus of lions all over the compound roaring back and forth. How fucking cool is that?
Also, I've gotten kisses from two tigers, one lioness, one ligress, and one bear. I've scratched several tigers, a huge male lion who loved it and made cute pleasure sounds (his mane was so dirty!), and a couple of pumas who purred their hearts out the whole time.
The only thing bringing me down just a touch is that I have to keep dancing for money. And there are several nights a week that I only get a few hours of sleep. That makes life a bit harder. But you know what? So totally worth it.
Who's interested in what I'm doing at my new zookeeper job? Well this journal's for you.
I got put in the most amazing section, it's so amazing and perfect for me. In my section I help to take care of foxes, bobcats, pumas, wolves, lions, bears, servals, and tigers.
My average day starts with feeding. The large carnivores get meat only five days a week, but the others get it every day. On feed days (when everyone gets meat), I help to feed the big cats. I seriously cannot explain how awesome this is. The lions are roaring and pacing and their eyes are so sharp! They come to their feed hole and scratch and roar and when I throw in that first piece of meat they snatch it up and rip it to shreds. It's completely amazing! It's also cool feeding every one else, especially the pumas and tigers, but the lions are the most exciting.
After feeding is cleaning time, which takes most of the day. All of the animals get their water dumped, cleaned and refilled every day. The bear and fox enclosures get completely sprayed down and cleaned. All the other cats get their waste pulled out and disposed of every day. The feed boards (where the meat is placed) get cleaned as well. Sometimes cleaning will take all day if there's only two of us. We're kind of short handed right now.
In the late afternoons, if we have time after cleaning, we work on things that need done around the compound. Sometimes that involves hours of raking (oh what fun
), sometimes we work on deep cleaning enclosures. That means partitioning off the animals and bleaching and scrubbing down the denboxes and perches and completely raking out the enclosure. It's really absolutely the most amazing thing I've ever done. There are several times throughout the day when one lion will roar, and then another responds, and before you know it you have this chorus of lions all over the compound roaring back and forth. How fucking cool is that?
Also, I've gotten kisses from two tigers, one lioness, one ligress, and one bear. I've scratched several tigers, a huge male lion who loved it and made cute pleasure sounds (his mane was so dirty!), and a couple of pumas who purred their hearts out the whole time.
The only thing bringing me down just a touch is that I have to keep dancing for money. And there are several nights a week that I only get a few hours of sleep. That makes life a bit harder. But you know what? So totally worth it.
VIEW 22 of 22 COMMENTS
tororo:
I wish you get lots and lots of kisses from lots and lots of interesting creatures.
it_thing_hard_on:
Things still going well for you on that front?