Zookeeper Aide
The zookeeper aide position I held in the summer of 1999 was a very interesting and fun job. I especially enjoyed it because I was doing REAL work - I felt very fit by the end of the summer. How did I get fit? ...Several ways. My duties included
- shoveling woodchips
- moving around bales of hay and straw
- lifting bags of animal feed
- sweeping barn floors
- chasing chickens
- disciplining pigs
- coddling goats
- protecting sheep
- comforting a cow
- wheelbarrowing everything everywhere...
Essentially, every morning I got to the zoo at 7 a.m. and headed up to the Red Barn which housed the animals that John Ball Zoo uses for animal demostrations and a petting corral. I cleaned up and fed most of the demo animals including a blue and gold macaw (Morgan), three opossums, a Patagonian conure (It), an African grey parrot, and another parrot. I then headed downstairs to feed the farm animals - seven goats, two pigs, two sheep, a bunch of chickens, and a cow. I would let them eat as I finished upstairs and then would return to let the barn animals out into the corral. I then raked and swept up all of their straw bedding (and uneated hay...) and tossed it into a big pickup truck and took it to the compost pile.
I learned early on that the raking, sweeping, and composting required a lot of turning and twisting, and this applied directly to my abs! So, in the end, this job really helped shape my abdominal muscles and reminded me of the value of a broom...
Throughout the rest of the day, I spent time patrolling the corral where kids (and grown-ups) could come in and pet the animals. Some days were really hot. Some days were really cold. Some days the pigs didn't want to come into the "pet me" area. Some days this was bad. Some days this was VERY good...!! I didn't particularly enjoy working with the kids - they often could be very obnoxious or at most non-responsive to the rules of the petting corral, but I tried not to hold it against them and instead sneered at their parents, assuming they were around.
If I was not in the corral, I was helping the other zookeepers with some other task. I got to do a lot of stuff in the aquarium and the kitchen, and I also helped out with cleaning up the pens of various hooved animals. I made a lot of good friends - both animal and human - and learned a great deal. This was a wonderful summer experience!
