Introduction to My World

So, I am pretty sure everyone who would possibly read this blog already knows, but I am going to give some background information about me anyways. I am twenty-three years old and have always been passionate about animals. I was the kid that decided they wanted to be a veterinarian at about five, and stuck with it. I even went to an Agricultural high school majoring in Veterinary Sciences. It was during high school I began debating on whether or not I actually wanted to ebcome a vet, but I continued on to college as a Pre-vet major. Well after struggling through chemistry I decided I was not going to put myself through more difficult science classes when I wasn't sure I really wanted to be a vet, and I switched to Animal Science. It was aorund then when I started thinking about zookeeping, as I had always been interested in wild and exotic animals. Even when I was thinking of vet work I had been thinking of doing exotic animals. So I began looking into becoming a zookeeper. I finished college with a Bachelors Degree in Animal Science and went through a long period of time applying for internships. To get a job in this field you pretty much have to have two or three internships under your belt, and nearly all of them out there are unpaid. I managed to get accepted as a Carnivore intern at Wildlife Safari somewhat as a fluke. I actually applied to the cheetah internship and was denied, but the carnivore deoartments intern left early. The cheetah deoartment then said "hey we really liked this girl you should hire her" and they did. So I spent two months as a Carnivore intern, and then I managed to stay on as a Cheetah intern. I never would have been able to afford it without the help of my Auntie, but she did help me, so I managed the five months unpaid. After that I was lucky and a temporary position opened up in the carnivore department. Basically I was filling in until the keeper they actually hired could make it out there. But then, as luck would have it again, (for me anyways, maybe not the department since it left them scrambling a bit) another keeper got a job elsewhere and left. So then I was promoted form temp, to full time. Now I have been working at Wildlife Safari as a Carnivore keeper for five months now, and I am loving every minute of it!! I work with four African lions, five North American black bears, and five brown bears (two of which are Alaskan Coastals, and three grizzly bears). On this blog I will share with you the ins and outs of work, and some of my favorite pictures of these animals. I take pictures pretty much every day I work so I need a good place to show them to you all.

Right now the most recent development in our department is that the brown bears have all been kept inside for hibernation. We induce hibernation in our brown bears by slowly reducing their diet, and then we bring them into their rooms on Halloween, which they are used to going into at night, and keep them inside. Once they are going to the bathroom less, usually about two or three days afterwards, we will put 8 bales of hay in their rooms, which they make into nests. Currently the girls, our two Alaskan Coastal bears Russel and Claire, are pretty much sleeping and no longer going to the bathroom, while our three five-year-old grizzly boys Victor, Mak, and Oso, our still a little up and down. They are still going to the bathroom  and we are still offering them some dog food. We will continue offering them food as long as they are going to the bathroom and continue to be interested in eating. It is a little sad to have them in this state as we have to limit are interaction with them. But they are really cute all snuggled up in their hay, and this process of hibernation is good for them as they will come out of it at a very healthy body weight and with brand new paw pads. I think I have rambled on enough for this first post, so to wrap you up I will leave you with some adorable sleepy bears pics. Hope you enjoy! Feel freee to leave any questions you may have in the comments :)

The three boys when we first put their hay in on 11/03/10. They had fun digging around. They have since dragged hay into their two other rooms as well.

Russel, who is 22 years old, snuggled up on 11/08/10
Russel and Claire have to be separated into two separate rooms because Russ will steal all the hay and make a big nest for herself leaving Claire only a little bit. But they still have a window so they can see each other during the whole hibernation.

 Claire, who is 21 years old, snuggled on 11/08/10

Russel 11/09/10

Hope you all enjoyed this :)