She found me!

We have been so busy since the kids have started back to school. I can't believe I forgot to post this sooner!


The first weekend in August, we went on our first real family vacation. 3 days and 2 nights in Panama City Beach, FL. We had so much fun! The weather was great and the water was very calm. Fresh seafood, putt-putt, hunting crabs, finding seashells, building sandcastles, and lots of swimming. We had planned on visiting Gulf World Aquarium, but after comparing prices we opted to go to ZooWorld.

After weaving around through the petting zoo, birds, and primates; we came to the end where the big cats are located. I immediately spotted two young tigers. One orange, one white. Of course I fell in love with the white one. She was just sitting there ignoring the people passing by. I walked over to her and I chuffed. She jumped up and chuffed back! This went on for several minutes. Every time I tried to walk away, she would follow me, whining very loudly. Finally, after what seemed like hours, my family convinced me it was time to move on and see the other animals.

We were about to leave when I saw a keeper. I stopped her and told her how much I loved the white tiger. I asked her name. "Tallulee." (Byron and I exchange curious glances) Um, are you sure its not Tallulah? "Pretty sure." How old is she? "Just over a year." (My heart races.) Did she come from Arizona, originally from Alabama? "Um, yeah." At this point the keeper has a raised eyebrow and I am crying.

It's my baby girl TALLULAH!

The keeper called over the head keeper, I tell them our story and show them pictures on my phone. They bring me a bottle so I can feed her one more time. I thought my heart was going to burst with joy. Tallulah is not in the biggest display, but it was a waterfall and pool, she is with another female her age, and the keepers love and spoil her. Perfect!

I can't wait to go see her again. My girl is only 3 hours away!

One month old

One year old

New attractions

Since I am in Alabama and summer started in May, I haven't taken any zoo pictures. It's just too hot. But it's not he heat, it's the humidity!

The zoo now has a Horse Trail. My kids love it!

Lets see - Train ride, Giraffe feeding, Pedal boats, Horse trail...
Sky Lift and Stingray touch pool COMING SOON!

Enrichment

Saturday February 19 was the first Animal Enrichment Day of 2011.  It was a huge success for the animals and the public.
 

Can you imagine never having anything different in your life? Always eating the same thing for dinner, wearing the same clothes, watching the same tv show. Life would be beyond boring. How would this effect you physically? Mentally? Spiritually?

We constantly enrich our animals. It may be new food, toys, perfume sprayed on the display, perches rearranged, puzzle feeders, anything we can think of to stimulate their senses. If properly enriched, captive animals will keep and use their wild behaviors. Instead of putting food in bowls, we will scatter the food around the display so the animals will have to forage. We can't give the lions a gazelle, but we can give them boxes that they have to rip open to get the treat inside. We want our animals to behave the way they were designed to behave. And we never want them to become listless or apathetic.

Animal Enrichment Day is a time to educate and entertain the public. We work together making items for the day's theme and we have a set schedule with times posted so the public doesn't miss anything. Saturday's "theme" was cardboard boxes and tubes. The day started at 10:00 with the Sloth Bears, who were given large cardboard tubes. The tubes were filled with treats hidden in hay and peanut butter slathered on the outside. We used boxes to make hanging puzzle feeders for the primates and had large boxes sprayed with scents set out for predators to pounce on and shred apart. We also had extra browse for hoofstock, and a few other goodies like hammocks for the Siamangs and big barrels for the Spider Monkeys and catnip for the Maned Wolves. (Yes, the wolves love catnip!)

 

Sloth Bear "Chan" eating his favorite peanut butter.

Squirrel Monkey figuring out the puzzle feeder.

Jaguar "Ciapora" loves the deer scent.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Jaguar

We now have 2 male Sumatran tigers and a new female Jaguar! Tigers and jags are my #1 and #2 favorites of the big cats. In my opinion they are by far the most beautiful. I have not had the pleasure of working with the new boys "Kami" and "Burung" yet, but I do get to work with the Jags. Our female Jag "Caipora" now has a companion "Nakita". Animal introductions are always tense. You never know how they are going to react to each other. The girls were perfect, like best friends reunited!

Now for some fun facts:

Sumatran Tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) are only found on the island of Sumatra. They are the smallest of the six tiger species. Bengals are 450-500lb, but Sumatrans are only 300lb. They are short and stocky, and have a much heavier mane/beard than the other species.

Jaguar (Panthera onca) is the third largest of the big cats and are found throughout Central and South America. To tell the difference between a jag and a leopard, look at the spots. If the "rosettes" have small spots in the centers, then it is a jag. Jags are also bigger and stockier, but usually the two are not side-by-side for a comparison.

Burung

Kami

Kami

I can't believe I don't have pictures of Nakita! I will have to work on that this week.


The Montgomery Advertiser came out recently and took pictures. LINK

Gecko Love

I work with lots of really interesting animals, but the Giant Leaf-tailed Gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus) is a favorite. They are large, with huge eyes and can be seen plastered to the wall or glass. I love their eyes. We have a female that is off display and I love pampering her, if you can pamper a gecko...

Quick Facts :
They are arboreal, nocturnal insectivores from Madagascar.
The scientific name - "ourá" meaning "tail" and "platys" meaning "flat". Fimbriatus is the Latin word for "fringed" based on their unique appearance of fringed skin.
Females can have three clutches a year, two eggs per clutch that will hatch in ~90 days.
They do not blink. Instead they will lick their eyes clean.

I did not forget you Blog! I promise to post more in 2011.

I thought of you often dear blog, but time was not my friend. My last post was in August and so much has happened.

A quick recap - I had the cubs from June until the end of October, then my husbands birthday, Halloween, the kids birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. My kids started Kindergarten in August, Auburn has dominated college football, and I was without a car for two months. "Busy" does not begin to describe the second half of 2010. I did make some awesome new friends along the way! The family is great. Husband really likes his job and the kids love school. They have both lost teeth and grew molars. And speaking of growing, they are so big! I want my babies back! Auburn football has ruled our lives this fall. We went to most of the home games, the SEC Championship in Atlanta, GA, and I am going to Glendale, AZ for the National Championship! War Eagle!

Ahh...2011. How I have needed you. A new year with new plans. My first plan is attempt a Photo A Day project. The name says it all - take a picture every day. Stay organized is my second plan. We can keep our house clean, but it only takes a couple of days before it looks like a tornado ripped through my house. I blame the kids, but I know I am also to blame. In order to organize, we have to purge. We so much useless junk that we have not nor will we ever use it. Bye-bye. The other plans are the same as every other year. Get in shape, save money, fix/remodel the house, etc.

My babies, Murphy and Tallulah. The pinnacle of my career. I was praised by the managers and the director, which literally warmed my soul to the point I was glowing. The cubs were an amazing 21 week journey. We all learned so much, not just about tigers, but about ourselves. True friendships were made and true enemies were discovered. "Enemy" is a strong word, but we found out who can and cannot trust. They left us Oct 25. We all cried. A lot. Another goal for this year is type up everything we did for future reference, and also type up my story (a personal journal/novel of sorts).

There are some big changes going on at the Zoo. We no longer have white tigers, now we have Sumatrans. They are amazing cats. The display is almost ready for them to make their debut. We have peddle boats and a giraffe feeding station, and are close to starting construction on the sky lift, parrot feeding station, and pony rides. We have a new gift shop manager. My first impression was a good one, she has some great ideas. We have a manager that is leaving, which may open an opportunity for me! Not as a manager, but maybe a Keeper II. We will see.

So 2011 - Bring it ON!

Murphy and Tallulah

On June 6, 2010 we had two tiger cubs born! The managers had to make the decision for them to be hand raised, and I became one of their caretakers. Life has not been the same since. Sleepless nights, formula stained shirts, a constant sea of laundry, it's just like having twins. And I should know!

I have been comparing the tiger cubs to my twins, and there are so many similarities. The little things like bottle feeding two at once. Every twin parent knows how to handle this, but I had to show the other keepers. It's weird for me to have just one bottle, it's unnatural like something is missing.  Fighting for attention, fighting over toys, brings back memories. :)

I have been with them since day 3, and I have loved every minute of it. Even the 4am feedings. It has been the most amazing experience of my career. (Off topic - my 11 year anniversary was July 30) I have raised a lot of animals (like deer, gazelles, monkeys, wolves, kangaroos, squirrels, you name it), but Murphy and Tallulah have been my highlight. I miss them during my weekend and can't wait to get back to work to see them.

They weighed just over 1.5 kg at birth. Now at 10 weeks old, they weigh between 10-11 kg. Their paws are already the size of my palm. They are growing so fast and it is beyond awesome to be a part of their lives.

More updates to come later!

Murphy 3 days old

Tallulah 3 days old

Murphy 4.5 weeks old

Tallulah 4.5 weeks old

Murphy 10 weeks old

Tallulah 10 weeks old