Visit to Washington!

Yesterday was a great day. 

I woke up early, got my obligatory Kaldi’s coffee and headed out West to Washington, Missouri for my library visit!

I shared Bubbles’ story with about fifty people–parents and kids ranging from 8 months-6 years old. Little guys! 

They were an excitable group, all very eager to share with me whether or not they did or did not like bears (most did). But they settled down nicely for story time and afterward we made really fun Bubbles masks (courtesy of librarian Ruth McInnis) and played with real bubbles (the soap, that is, not the cow)!

The library in Washington was revamped in 2012. To borrow a phrase from one of my favorite Australians, “crikey, she’s a beauty!” This is one very nice library. From the gorgeous stonework, to the mural of Missouri wildlife, every corner was simply a perfect homage to learning and reading. 

After I left the library I explored a bit of the Washington downtown. I got myself some cherry iced tea and went antique shopping! Found a quilt rack for a special quilt my mom made me last Christmas and even picked up some “made in Washington” animal fat free soap that smells like pink grapefruits. 

Of course, no summer trip to a small town would be complete without candy sticks! So, I stocked up on those as well. 

Washington is only about a 45 minute drive from St. Louis. I’d highly recommend it for a day trip. 

Hopefully, next summer I will be back, with (hopefully!) a new book in tow!

Check out a few snapshots from the day below:

q&a with eugene field elementary.

The summer school kids of Eugene Field Elementary School recently emailed me a (very fun!) list of questions about animals and the Zoo. 

When I worked in Guest Services, the only question visitors ever asked me was, “where’s the closest bathroom?”.

Now that I’m in Carnivore, I usually get “where the bears at?”. 

A tip of the hat to Eugene Field’s students. These questions are much, much better. 

What made you decide to write a book about Bubbles?

I wanted to write a book about an animal in our Children’s Zoo. I thought that Bubbles would make a cute story because of her real life friendship with Xavier, the goat. My boss at the Zoo agreed!

How does the female of animals get pregnant to have baby snakes?

It is very similar to how mammals reproduce! The male snake inserts in organ (called a hemipenis) into an opening in the female (called a cloaca) and the female’s eggs are fertilized with the male’s reproductive cells. Some snakes give birth to live babies (called viviparous) while others lay eggs (called oviparous). 

How do you know when an animal is pregnant?

At the Zoo, if we think an animal may be pregnant we closely monitor the levels of her Progesterone hormones. These hormones tell us if the animal is pregnant and how close to delivery she is. We can also observe the animal’s size and behavior for clues. That being said, sometimes even at the Zoo we do have a few surprises! This baby Anteater Sabia was a BIG surprise! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx_E10KLM_k

What other unique animals are at the zoo?

We have over 18,000 animals at the St. Louis Zoo! All are VERY unique. From the burying beetle who lays its eggs into other animals poop or the sheltopusik (a legless lizard!) you can find crazy animals all over the Zoo. One of my favorite unique animals is the Naked Mole Rat. People always think they are babies but ours in St. Louis are 12 years old and they can live to almost 25! 

How many animals eat their own poop?

It is pretty common for animals to eat their own poop. You may have even seen your dog or cat do it! Why? Well, poop is nothing but digested food stuff and sometimes animals don’t want to waste any potential nutrients….let’s just say it happens. 

How long have you been a zookeeper?

I have been a Zookeeper for four years. 

Have you ever heard of weird animal names?

Of course! Sometimes normal names sound weird for an animal. Our lion girl, Imani, has a new mate named John. John just doesn’t seem to fit a lion! Our Naked Mole Rats are named Snausages, Oscar, Meyer and Mr. Teeth to name a few. The addax all have “ella” names i.e. Portabella, Nutella, Mirabella, Cinderella etc. We had a guinea pig named Oops. Usually keepers make up the names, so, yes, sometimes they are weird. 

Why did you take pictures of poop?

I didn’t! I googled those pictures. But if anyone wants to grow up to be a Zookeeper it is certainly important to know how to identify different types of poop!

How many animals play with their own poop?

Most animals are fairly clean and don’t like to walk through or play with their own poop. Many poop in one area and do not go into that area for any other reason. Pigs, for example, are very clean with their bathroom habits. Apes, however, are well known to play with their own poop, even throwing it at people they don’t like very much!

What education/schooling/training is needed to be a zookeeper?

Most Zookeepers have a Bachelor’s Degree in either Biology, Zoology or Animal Science. Some have Masters degrees. The field is becoming more competitive, so in the last 10-15 years a degree has certainly been a requirement. I was very lucky because I got this job with a Creative Writing degree. Many Zoos also look for prior animal care experience (i.e. volunteer work at a Zoo/humane society/barn etc)

How many animals are there at the zoo?

There are over 18,000 individual animals at the Saint Louis Zoo! Though these include ALL of the insects in the insectarium and our many, many newly hatched endangered hellbenders. 

How long has the St. Louis Zoo been open?

The Saint Louis Zoo has been open for 103 years. Since 1910!

What is your favorite animal at the zoo?

Such a hard question. I’ll give you my top five.

1. Gilbert the Macaw I trained in the Children’s Zoo.

2. Daisy the Sloth Bear

3. Mtai and Serafina the lion cubs

4. Hannah the Children’s Zoo dog who I got to take home with me last summer. 

5. The entire elephant herd (they are such a cool family!)

How much can an elephant weigh?

African elephants are the larger of the species (we have Asian at the STL Zoo) and males can be up to 12,000 pounds, females 8,000-11,000. Baby elephants are born around 200-300 pounds. Raja is our biggest elephant in St. Louis and he is around 10,000 pounds. 

How long have you had Jake the snake?

I have had Jake the snake for about a year. He has travelled thousands of miles around Missouri visiting schools like yours! He loves his road trips!

What is the most aggressive animal at the zoo?

The most aggressive/dangerous animal is probably Tazon the black jaguar. He is an old man (he just turned 20) but jaguars are pound for pound the strongest big cat in the world and let’s just say Tazon is quite the predator. 

How much can an elephant drink in one day?

A lot! They can suck up about 15 liters in their trunk in one go. They generally consume about 100 liters of water a day. 

lovely evening in forest park. 

I think the long blogging break deserves a few photo montages…

This one–Celebrating Bears! They are the best!

Whoa, it is now June 11 and my last written blog post was May 7. Blog fail. 

But, in my defense A LOT has happened in the last month. 

Here’s a little May/June-so-far recap:

1. I GOT DIVE CERTIFIED!

After many long days of classes in St. Charles and a fantastic trip to Mermet Springs I am now ready to start diving in Sea Lion Sound this summer!

2. DID ME SOME JURY DUTY

Quite an interesting day. More to come on that…

3. BOWLED FOR RHINOS

Our STL AAZK chapter raised over $8,000 for rhino conservation at this year’s event! My good friend and fellow Keeper, Sarah Riffle, won this stuffed naked mole rat below. 

4. WENT TO AN ORDINATION PARTY

That was a first. It was a lot like a wedding, but not exactly. A lot of fun catching up with friends and the after party was at the Zoo! Fun to be a guest there for once too. 

5. RESCUED A KITTEN

This adorable little guy was found on the side of the highway en route to Arkansas, near Poplar Bluff, Missouri. John and I took him to Jonesboro, got him all fixed up and then drove him back to St. Louis where he has found a forever home with another Keeper from the Zoo. His name is Drogo!

6. SURPRISE WEEK!

This past week I had five surprises, five secrets to keep. Dear lord, it was tough. The first one was my cousin, Katie, coming from Arkansas to surprise her mom (my Aunt Regina) for her birthday. Then we had a surprise baby shower for a fellow Keeper at work. Aaaandd a surprise birthday party for that same Aunt Regina. And the biggest, craziest surprise…

We had to plan/pull off a surprise engagement for Katie because her boyfriend, Markus, was flying in to surprise her from Salzburg! Phew! Lots of surprises!

7. WEDDING SEASON, OF COURSE

Then, on Saturday I got to celebrate the marriage of my dear friends, Sarah Boehm and Jeff Devero. The weather was perfect and it was So. Much. Fun. 

8. PLUS!

I tallied it up this evening (you know, tax stuff) and realized I have thus far in 2013 travelled 1,128 miles to schools all over Missouri with “Bubbles.” That is a lot of early mornings, a lot of Kaldis and a lot of cornfields! I hope to do many MO school visits in the fall (get it, cause MO=Missouri? haha)! 

All of that stuff on top of the regular, ol’ forty hours was a lot! I am looking forward to settling into my summer routine now that I can check all of those events off of the calendar. 

That means (hopefully!) better blogging, more writing (getting a good start on that next book) and much, much more sleep. Maybe. 

Can’t wait to share more about my adventures with bears! Happy Summer everyone!