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| Melissa and her mentor, Lindy, Kelly and her mentor, Linda. |
DO YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC TO WORK AT THE ZOO?
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| Cascade is a female mountain lion. Her and her sister, Canyon, were rescued at about four weeks old after their mother was killed. They were hand-raised and imprinted on humans. Photo by Kelly Mount. |
Today at the zoo, Melissa and I interacted with the public for over an hour. Melissa and I spoke with the guests while we were doing our bio facts work. We mostly talked to kids that were interested in the felid skulls. Felids are cats, such as mountain lions, bobcats, and snow leopards. We were able to learn where some guests were from and they learned more about the animals.
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| Cyrus is male snowy owl. He was rescued in in 2007. He can not return to the wild because he had a major wing injury, which led to his wing being amputated. Photo by Kelly Mount |
We also watched the zookeepers and interns give presentations. We watched a presentation on the
snow leopards. Summer, the lead zookeeper at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, and Kat, an intern, gave the
presentation. They answered questions and gave information, but they didn’t
just throw facts at you. Everything was very fluid, and they both knew what
they were talking about. I hope that I can become that good at speaking and
make it part of my future career.
Kelly Mount
ENRICHMENT ALLOWS ANIMALS TO DISPLAY NATURAL BEHAVIORS
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| Shakespeare is a male bobcat that was born in 2012 and was rescued from two dogs who trapped him in a yard. Photo by Melissa Ellis |
My amazing day today consisted of making enrichment boxes
for many of the animals. Enrichment boxes are very useful in zoos because it
allows the animal to display natural behaviors that they would perform in the wild. It also lets them problem solve. Problem solving with these boxes includes the animals
being able to think of ways to open the box to get to the food, and allows them
to use foraging skills and their sense of smell along with other natural
behaviors.
I had the opportunity to make these boxes for two of the raccoons and
the black bears along with helping with coyotes and big cat enrichment boxes. Today was
the most fun day I’ve had so far this week with all of the hands-on activities
I was able to experience.
Melissa Ellis |
| Barbie is a female Great Horned Owl who was rescued in 1997, with a wing damaged by barbed wire. Photo by Melissa Ellis |
Thank you to Gaby's Latin Flavors for providing lunch to the students, mentors and staff.
3 comments:
So excited for all the learning that is going on for everyone involved-the Pictures are awesome!
The photos are wonderful, and the observations are so interesting. It's amazing how much the girls have done in just 3 days. I love listening to Kelly & Melissa explain to guests what they are doing with the zoo keepers and why. I wish I had an opportunity like this when I was in high school. Everyone at the zoo is so gracious and even I am learning so much following the girls around.
This is such an exciting experience for Kelly and Melissa. They are learning so many things about these wild animals - be they never thought about enrichment boxes before this week.
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