Barriers

Zoos have barriers to keep you safe and to keep the animals safe.

Barriers come in different forms. Fences, walls, railings, ropes, and landscaping to name a few.

There are even signs posted. "Danger Stay Back" or "Stay On The Walkway"

MANY times EVERY day I have to tell people to get down, stay on the sidewalk, stop dangling your child into the exhibit.

No joke.

Stay on the public side of the barrier.

Puzzles and Scents

Saturday February 18 is Enrichment Day. I need to make enrichment items for all my critters. Cardboard boxes and paper towel rolls are always good standbys, but I need to get more creative. I am going to make a maze for the rhino ratsnake, buy clear plastic hamster tubes for the Arizona kingsnake and the tentacled snakes, and build a jungle gym for the skinks. Others will get puzzle feeders or scent boxes. The puzzle feeders are boxes or tubes with small holes. The animal knocks it around until the food falls out of the holes. Puzzle feeders are great for any animal including domestic pets. The feeders I make will contain crickets for the frogs and monitors. Scent boxes are pure stimulation. A box with some old mouse bedding is great. And easy. The snakes will sense what smells like food and then search for it. The pond turtles will get a floating puzzle feeder made from a plastic bottle. The skinks will get new items to climb. I can make and/or buy bird toy ladders and small cargo nets. I still need something for the pancake tortoises. Oh well, back to work. Got to get started on painting some boxes!

2012

First day of work in 2012! Nothing new (except my new shiny green carabiner), but it just feels good. It could be the new cards. Every animal in the reptile house has a card to record daily events such as feedings, sheds, births, etc. The cards are practically destroyed by the end of the year. The new cards are crisp and clean. It could be knowing my goals for getting this building more organized. Some items need to be rearranged while others need to find a new home. Any where but in here. It could just be a new year means a new future. Right now options are endless and limited only by my imagination. And I love that!