Animal Training Adventures

Summer semester is about to start, the 2nd years graduated last week and we’re on our own to run the zoo until the new group gets here in August and we officially become second years! yay!

I don’t think I was quite prepared for how busy the Spring semester was going to be. It started out really good and a lot calmer than I though but then once February hit, things started getting busy and just got busier from there. Most of us have not had a single day off since the beginning of March.

In February, we got to submit our top picks for animals we would start training. The way it works is we had to choose 5 animals in each of the 4 categories: birds, carnivores, herbivores and primates. Then staff went over them and started assigning people to the animals based on how many points we had. (Points are an accumulation of our grades, attendance, and volunteer hours). Basically for those of us who have never been late, have really good grades and did all our volunteer hours (12 per semester), we had the best chance at getting the animals we wanted.  The day we found out what we were assigned to was full of excitement. We were all in the classroom and our instructor handed out folded sheets of paper to each of us. Once we all had one we were allowed to open them and they listed all the animals at the zoo and which of us were assigned to each one. There were people cheering with delight all over the room at the animals they got. Such a great day! I was one of the lucky ones who got all my first choices!

Then we started the turnovers, which is the process of the animals current trainers, basically training us on how to look after the animals, how to train them, feed them, and also for the animals to get to know us. We had to write papers on the animals, spend hours observing them and documenting it all, plus numerous sessions just watching the current trainers work with the animals and then finally we got to start working with the animals ourselves. It took a lot of time and we were going through mid terms at the time as well.

That lasted into April, which is when the second years started going away for a couple weeks at a time to do more projects at other zoos and animal facilities. We got to start taking care of our animals on our own which was extremely exciting for us. We suddenly had feeding calendars and we had to sign by a certain time that we fed the animals or we’d have points taken off.

Then in the middle of May, the second years all graduated and suddenly the zoo became ours. We went from 100 people running the zoo to only 50. We were issued our own keys to the cages, therefore gaining a whole lot more responsibility. And then…. finals came. Tension, stress, anxiety….. all came along with it. The bad news came last week: some people did not get high enough grades in one of our classes, therefore, they got kicked out of the program. Just like that. It was hard, it was a shock, it affected me more than I expected. We had all become so close as a group, being together 7 days a week. These were my friends, my classmates, my co-trainers. And now they’re gone, and I miss them.

It just goes to show that this is not easy. We work our butts off here, both physically and academically. We are all tired on a daily basis, but we love what we do and we all want to succeed.

Time is passing very quickly here at America’s Teaching Zoo. We are already into our 2nd semester and it’s also moving along quite fast.  Last semester was a little crazy, there was a huge learning curve for all of us first years, and at final exam time in December, we were all extremely stressed out. If any of our grades dropped below a C, we would get dismissed from the program, and there were lots of worried people. However, the great news is that we are all still here! (we lost one person back in October/ November but none since then.).

It’s been a very sad year here and especially the last few months as we have lost lots of animals, mostly due to old age or illness. Just since we have started in the program since August we’ve lost a caracal, sea lion, goat, 4 sheep, bobcat, raccoon, opposum, sugar glider, wolf, 2 parrots (African Grey and Blue and Gold Macaw), and wood duck. We also don’t have our 3 pigs or camel anymore as they have gone back to their owners. (some of the animals at the zoo belong to the zoo and some are on loan from other companies). It’s very sad walking by the empty enclosures, but we have been told that we will be getting more animals soon so that’s something we’re all looking forward too.

We have less classes this semester so that is awesome, but we are busy with other things now. Every year the Zoo has a giant fundraiser called Spring Spectacular, which is 3 weekends in March of family fun. There will be all kinds of things going on like animal shows, various booths of activities, food, games, etc. There is so much prep work involved in this, that there is actually an entire class devoted just to this event. We are all put on various committees for Spring Spec and that’s what we work on. Some of the committees are: Vendors, Tickets, Set Design (for the scripted plays), Costumes, Props, Sound, Kids Zone, Eye to Eye (more animal shows), Creature Feature….

I actually came to Spring Spec last year while I was out here for the Eatm meeting that all the prospective students had to attend. I really enjoyed it so I’m looking forward to it this year, and especially cause I get to be a part of it this time around.

A couple weeks ago we had to turn in our animal requests – this is a list of animals that we want to train for next semester, that we will actually get to start getting “turned over” on in March. We choose from each category and list our top 5 choices. Our grades depend on what ones we get, and also how many people want that particular animal. The categories are: Carnivores, birds, primates and herbivores. We should find out sometime in the next few weeks which animals we are assigned too – very exciting!!!!

The weather here has not been great lately and it really sucks working outside in the cold rain. It’s been raining the last few days, and honestly, it’s super hard getting out of bed when its still dark outside and pouring with rain. It’s the kind of weather where you just want to lie in a nice warm bed inside in the warmth and watch a movie while drinking hot chocolate. NOT scooping animal poop and slipping in mud while being completely soaking wet. All of us were wearing our rain jackets with hoods up today, hurrying to get all our duties done. Envious of those who got to be in Nutrition and Reptiles this week as those are indoors. It gets to a point where you’re like “ok, I’m already wet, so what’s a little more water…” and eventually stop putting the hood up when it keeps falling down. Or not caring if you get sprayed in the face by the hose, yet again. (this happens all the time, it’s inevitable that you’ll get sprayed in the face (or leg, or stomach, or…) with a hose either from yourself or someone else, more than once. ).

But this is what we signed up for right? We have no choice but to keep doing our duties rain or shine, the animals have to be cared for. They don’t like the rain anymore than we do.

I know I haven’t written in awhile but really I didn’t want to bore anyone. The day to day stuff is just that: day after day after day of doing very similar things. However, there is some really exciting stuff that gets thrown in too!

Where to start….. ok well here is the typical week of an Eatm student who is taking 21 units (or in my case 24). Everyone’s schedules vary a bit, this is just my schedule to use as an example.

Monday:  at school by 8:30am to find parking, class starts at 9. Classes all morning (Wildlife Education Lecture and Lab – this is the class where we learn how to put on animal shows in front of audiences. We do a lot of speeches in this class.).

Tuesday: at school by 8, class starts at 8:30 (Animal Anatomy). Break for a few hours, then next class starts at 1:00 (Animal Diversity). Another few hours break then Wildlife Conservation starts at 5:30, goes until 6:50. RUSH to lower campus to get to First Aid class that starts at 7 (goes until 10pm). This is not normal as all other students have already taken this class. I had to take it in my first semester here to stay in the program as the Canadian equivalent was not acceptable as my pre-req for the program (cause it couldn’t be taken at a college).

Wednesday: early early mornings start. Alarm goes off at 4:45am. At school by 6:10 in preparation for roll call at 6:30. (no one wants to be late to this as we get points deducted if we’re even seconds late). After check in, we disperse to whatever area we are assigned to for the week (it’s different each week). We clean enclosures, dump garbage, scoop poop, make animal diets, rake grounds, sweep the cement, walk the emu, the dog, the mini horse, haul wheelbarrows full of stuff, clean drains, and the list goes on and on (of course duties vary on the different areas). We start off in the dark and watch the sun rise as we work. Usually by the time we are done, it’s already warmed up so much outside that all our hoodies and fleeces are taken off.  We are done at 8:20 am. Class starts at 9, then in classes until noon. 2 hour break, then Day Watch from 2-4. Day Watch is time spent at the zoo at the same time each week to do various duties such as answering phones, entering info into the database, picking up produce from Whole Foods, doing rounds (checking all animals every hour), etc. At 4, rush to check in for PM area. This is where we go to the same area we were in, in the morning to do closing duties. We are dismissed at 4:50pm.

Thursday: same as Wednesday – up super early, at the zoo by 6:10am, same morning duties, but class starts at 8:3o today. 2 hour break late morning then next class at 1. In classes until 3:45, then rush to PM area for check in, area duties until 4:50. Next class starts at 5:30. Class dismissed at 6:50pm.

Friday: Same as previous day but classes only until 1:00pm. Check in at 4pm for PM area and dismissed at 4:50.

Saturday: at school by 7:40 for AM area check in at 8:00am. Morning area duties until 10:45am. Usually we will be scheduled in some shows so we need to stick around. It’s usually 2 shows per person per day.

Sunday: We may or may not be scheduled for All Day Area which means we’re at the zoo from 9:45am until 5:00pm, rotating our duties each hour. (various things such as: phones, rounds, ticket sales, nutrition, trash, primate watch, Galapagos tortoise watch, etc). We are usually scheduled for 2 all day areas per month. Sometimes just one.

The zoo is open to the public on the weekends so we put on 4 shows each day, plus there is sometimes an extra show if there is a private birthday party scheduled. The various positions we can be scheduled for are: show Emcee, show supervisor, sound booth, handler (means you come out on stage with certain animals). The 4 shows are at 12, 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00. usually if there is a special show scheduled, it will be at 10:30 and it will be a longer show than the others.

So with that above schedule, there was a lot I left out. In between all those classes and areas, there are also the extra stuff. We have to complete 12 volunteer hours during this semester to get some of our final points. AND we have been learning how to care-take on certain animals for when the 2nd year students will be away. There were away all last week so the few weeks prior to that, we were working closely with the trainers of the animals we were assigned to, to learn how to properly feed them, and with some of the animals, how to continue with their training behaviors. A lot of the animals, we were still not allowed to touch : (

So amongst our regular schedule, we had to put in a lot of extra time with these trainers, and then last week while they were away, it was a little crazy rushing around feeding the animals we were care-taking on. Some of them we have to make their diets, others are made in the AM area by whoever is in Nutrition that week. A lot of the animals get medications added to their food which the care-takers had to do. Feedings must be done within a certain time frame, and then signed off in the office or we get points off. I do have to say that I think the first years did an awesome job last week!! Oh and I forgot to mention we have constant assignments, animal observations, and tests each week. There is hours of homework to be done each day.

The second years are back now but just for one week, then they are gone again next week. We are all assigned to different animals this time, so this week is crazy busy with all of us learning how to care-take for a completely new set of animals. It’s so very cool though!

So last week while they were away, we had a very sad thing happen. Eatm’s star animal, Schmoo the Sea Lion, had to be put down. She was very old and quite sick. There is an article about it here

Days are really starting to blend together….they are long but the weeks go by fast. It’s a little hard to believe its already September!

We have already completed our first week on “area” which means that we spend from 6:30am-8:20am cleaning a certain section of the zoo, and then again from 4-5pm. Each week we rotate into a different area. I loved the area I was in this week – it was a great start to the whole area thing. It’s also rather nice right now cleaning so early in the morning cause its still cool out. And when I say cool, I really mean warm – but not hot. Nice enough to get away with wearing just a tshirt but some people wear a sweatshirt for the first little while. I always say its like the perfect temperature at that time in the morning, but by 8am – it’s HOT already! All the various areas have different duties and different animals. Some of the enclosures we go into – with the animals, and some we don’t. Some only the trainers go into. Some of the animals in my area this week were: the giant 86 year old Galapagos turtle who weighs almost 500 pounds, a blue heron, a trio of sugar gliders, a bunny, an opposum, a miniture horse, a goat, a porcupine, 2 capuchin monkeys, 2 baboons, a beaver, a stork, 2 squirrel monkeys, a fox, and 2 coatis. Yeah, a pretty random mixture of animals! I went right into the beaver’s cage and into his pool to clean it – this gets done everyday – so having rubber boots is very important here. I just love this beaver – he is adorable!! And I’m also in love with one of the Baboons, which I got to accompany on one of her walks. There was about 9 of us on the walk with her and it was awesome! She is amazing. This is all amazing.

Next week I start in Nutrition which is where we will be putting together all the diets for the animals. Things are getting a lot busier and a lot harder. Classes are getting tougher. We have more projects, assignments and quizzes. I have 5 different test/ quizzes coming up this week plus assignments that are due. My biggest piece of advice for anyone who wants to get into this program- is to take as many of the classes you can ahead of time. This is probably only possible if you live in this area and can get into the college. I’m maxed out right now with 24 semester units and its tough. You have to maintain at least a C average in all classes or you get kicked out of the program. Oh the pressure!

Time is passing by real quick – even though days are long, they are going by way too fast! I don’t even know where this week went!

We have learned all about Animal Attacks and what to do if you do happen to get attacked by various animals. Definitely some good information to know.

The best part of this week so far was getting to hold 2 of the owls on our arms. We all learned how to tie a Falconry knot and we got to demonstrate today using a real live owl! 2 of them actually. A Great Horned Owl and a Barn Owl. SO COOL!!!

Yep, that’s probably the most exciting thing I’ve done so far, haha. Walking with an Emu. It’s super hard not being able to talk to or touch any of the animals. So when we were able to all go out on one of the Emu’s walks, that was fun. Lots of the animals come out for walks at various parts of the day, most of them with their trainers and staff members. Throughout the day, we hears various calls such as “Camel here!” “Emu coming around the corner!” “Bird here!” announcing which animal is out in the area.

I started my morning and afternoon areas on Wednesday. This is the 4 days where we have to be at the zoo by 6:30am to start cleaning and feeding and we’re here for 2 hours. Then we come back in the late afternoon from 4-5 to close down the zoo. We cannot be late – as in never – or we get docked points. Most of us are here in the morning by 6:15 so we have plenty of time before roll call begins. Some mornings start off really cool so we’re all in our fleeces and sweatshirts but then by afternoon it’s scorching out! I usually come home at some point in the middle of the day, which is great cause then I can change into shorts before going back. We are outdoors A LOT, in the sun A LOT. Sunscreen is a must here.

Today was a Saturday morning area which we have to be there from 8-11am. We learned how to transfer the large carnivors from their cages to the Arena (a really large enclosure that each carn gets to go into twice a week for exercise). It’s quite the procedure which involves about 4 people and several doors. Taj, the tiger, spent last night in the Arena, so we watched them open it up and she walked through the door, down a corridor and into the door to her cage. All the doors behind her slid closed and were locked securely.  on Saturdays, the arena gets fully cleaned so there was no other animal going in it today. We then all got a turn to practice pulling the lever that pulls the guillotine door up from the arena to the corridor – that thing was HEAVY!! We also learned the whole procedure, who says what and who closes which doors. It was basically a series of: “Ready?” “Ready!” “Ready!” ” Guillotine door going up!” “Animal in corridor!” “Slider door closing!”

I think the coolest thing was just being in the “Carns” section for that time, all of us being watched by the coyote, the mountain lion , the wolf and the lion (who is so incredibly BIG in person!) and hearing her roar was pretty awesome too! Then when I was over in another section practicing how to slide one of the big doors across, I was standing right beside the Hyena’s cage. He was pacing back and forth, literally about 2 feet away from me – he is so gorgeous – another of my favorite animals there!

So now I am done until Monday morning and that means I have the whole day off tomorrow! It’s going to be spent studying and doing homework – we already have assignments and tests this week.

Week 1 is officially over!

After getting our pigeon ordeal over and done with for the time being, the following day was exciting as we got to pick up our uniforms! We have to wear our uniforms at all times when at the zoo or in classes at the zoo. It has also been recommended to us that we have a couple changes of clothes in our cars at all times as you never know when an animal will spray you. Our uniform consists of a navy blue or black polo shirt, or a navy or white tshirt and khaki pants, khaki shorts, black pants or jeans. The pants/shorts we can buy anywhere but our tops all have to have the EATM logo on them. We also have eatm fleece jackets, sweatshirts and raincoats.  I’ll admit – it was pretty exciting wearing the uniform for the first time! haha

We then were put into groups and we went around the zoo learning to do “rounds”. These are done on the hour where everything in the zoo is checked. Temperatures in certain areas and enclosures, all animals are checked to make sure they are ok, they have water, their cages are locked and that there isn’t anything in their cages that’s not supposed to be there. All info is recorded. It takes almost an hour to do a full round.

The rest of the day consisted of more talks such as equipment, tools and dress code. Then we finished off the day with more team building games.

Friday was an all day workday which meant that we had to wear clothes that we knew were going to get really dirty. This is the day where all the students work together to really give the zoo a big clean/overhaul and get stuff done that needs to be done. I think I was pretty lucky with the group I got: there were 3 of us first years with 2 second year students. We cleaned and re-organized the back of the stage area. (which is a really large area actually!). There are a bunch of holding cages for the animals before they go out on stage during a show, lots of props, etc.

Other groups had to do things like painting, building new enclosures, scrubbing bars and railings, and a whole bunch of other random things that had to be done. It was a long and tiring day..

Classes all happen Monday – Friday and then we are all separated into 2 groups for “area” which is like general cleaning/feeding. The first group come to the zoo Sunday- Wednesday early mornings. We have to be there from 8-11 on Sundays, and from 6:30-8:30am then again at 4-5pm on weekdays. The second group does Wednesday to Saturday. So sometimes we are able to get one weekend day off. Sometimes. Then we are assigned All day Area days which means that we are at the zoo from 10-5 on our supposed day off. They are sporadically scheduled though – I have 3 all day areas between now and the beginning of October. I had my first on Sunday – and the zoo is open to the public on the weekends. Every hour we are switched what we are doing. The various areas are: ticket sales at the front gate, phones/data entry, Galap watch (stationed by the giant tortoise to make sure no one reaches in at him), Primates watch (stationed by the primates to answer questions), Trash, Rounds, and Nutrition. Nutrition is the one I think I will not like so much. There is an odd smell when you walk into the big kitchen style room. This is where all the meals are prepared for the animals. It’s kept very clean and organized and the nice thing about it is that when it’s scorching hot outside, it’s usually really nice and cool in here. Or you can always go stand in the enormous walk in fridge or freezer! Which by the way are stocked with everything from fruits and veggies to mice and rats.

The last couple days for me have just consisted of going to actual classes (which are still held on the zoo compound). There is a lot of information, a lot of projects we’re going to have to do, a lot of memorization, and a lot of studying. And all that doesn’t include the actual work around the zoo we have to do still.

My early mornings don’t officially start until tomorrow which is when I will start to learn about what “morning area” entails. It all seems so overwhelming right now…

On that note, I should get some sleep as the morning will come quick. Here is a photo of one of my favorite animals at the zoo, Taj. Isn’t she gorgeous?

Yesterday was our first official day of Orientation at the zoo. With a new class of 52 students – there were lots of people milling about – some were very quiet and kept to themselves and others hovered around in their little groups of 3-5 (mostly groups of roommates). All bright eyed, excited, nervous and ready to begin this amazing journey.

We started off watching a skit performed by the 2nd year students on a “Day in the Life of an EATM student”. Well done and comical! A great opening to our day. The rest of the morning consisted of in depth tours of the zoo. Each new student was assigned a “Buddy” (a 2nd year student). Our buddies came and found us and we went on tours all over the zoo. It seems like information overload right now as there is SO MUCH to learn about. From where the tools are to the individual animal areas – where all the switches are and emergency phones and PA systems….. and that’s only the start of it. We were walking down the back side road and suddenly we came to the tigers cage. I stopped and just stared in at her – this huge beautiful animal – and I was standing right in front of her! “You have to watch out for Taj” my buddy said to me “she will spray you with little warning”. Good to know. Moving on now.

I was told about all the ins and outs of the various animals: where they came from, their temperaments, which ones are nice and which aren’t. And about other things like daily duties, stuff we have to know for classes, stuff we’re not allowed to do as first years, etc. It was all very interesting but I kept wondering how in the world was I going to learn all this stuff??

As first years we’re not allowed to talk to or touch any of the animals. If Taj the tiger chuffs at us (a tiger greeting), we are allowed to chuff back just once and then continue moving on. Soon we will be allowed to help walk the Emu, hold the rabbit, hold a few of the snakes, but that’s really it.

I was told about how violent some of the primates can be and that may have changed my mind about wanting to work with them one day. On the other hand, one of the raccoons there is incredibly smart, nice and does cool behaviors – and now I really want to work with her one day. Actually there are so many of them that I’d like to work with…

So we walked all around the large carns (carnivores) which included a lion, a couple mountain lions, a hyena (he is so cute!), a wolf, a coyote and of course the tiger. Next was Hoof Stock to see the water buffalo, the 3 pigs, a bunch of sheep, a camel, and a goat. Other animals at the zoo here are an alligator, a whole variety of beautiful exotic parrots and birds, 2 eagles (one golden and one bald), owls, a turkey vulture, a whole lot of primates, a giant tortoise, lots of reptiles and snakes, an emu… hmmm…I know I’m probably forgetting lots…

Our afternoon consisted of a bunch of team building games, such as Never Have I Ever… They were fun but we were out in the heat and direct sun so it was very draining. It’s been in the 90’s all week so quite hot. We were done for the day around 4 and once we got home, all of us (me and my 3 roommates)  fell asleep! haha

Today we were up early again (but not as early as we will soon be getting up for school) and at the zoo by 8:15 for the TB test results. Once those were done, we all gathered in the bleachers at the animal show stage for a presentation by the EATM gardener on tools and how to use them properly. This was the best part of the day! No, I’m not kidding. This guy was absolutely hilarious!!! He did tell us that we are going to be doing a lot of manual labor, which we were told about ahead of time. He said A LOT and told us it would be like a prison camp. He was joking, or at least I hope he was!!

Once our tool time talk was over, we all filed into the nicely air conditioned classroom for more discussions and also to sign up for day watch duty. This is a 2 hour block that we are required to do each week at the same time. The duties will range from answering phones to doing zoo rounds. As we were signing up for those, we were learning about more rules and regulations for us 1st years. Do not talk to or touch any of the animals, Do not run near the primates, do not smile at the primates, do not touch another person in front of the primates, do not make direct eye contact with any of the animals….

The worst part of the day came last today – a moment many of us were dreading but knew it was coming, and knew about it before we even applied to the program. It’s called Pigeon Pulling (I mistakenly called it Pigeon Popping). They warned us about this early on and told us it was a requirement to graduate from the program: we have to humanely kill a pigeon with our bare hands.  This is all about the circle of life and having to feed the pigeons to other animals. Many zoos around the country require their employees to have this skill. It is quick and the best way to humanely euthanize these birds. ugh. We only have to do one the entire time we’re here, but we HAVE to do one. They demonstrated it and then let volunteers get their awful requirement over with but there were only about 12 pigeons today. The rest of us will have to do it during the semester sometime. We all watched horrified as one of the 2nd year students demoed the procedure. One girl had tears running down her cheeks, others were gulping them back feeling ill. Many brave students volunteered to get it over with and their reactions varied. Several burst into tears as soon as they did it. I wasn’t ready to do it yet so I just sat there trying to hold back my own tears. As soon as the last one was finished, we all quietly poured out of the bleachers and headed for the gate, glad to be going home.

I know there are going to be lots of hard times, fun times, and exciting times ahead in the next couple years here. I have to keep remembering how badly I wanted to come and how lucky I am that I’m here.

One of our instructors said it best to us: “this is the place where all your childhood dreams come true. Remember when you were a kid and you kept collecting animals? Sneaking them into the house trying to hide them from your parents? That’s where it started and now you are here and this is where those dreams are going to come true.”

My good friend Alicia told me I should start a blog just to document my experiences at America’s Teaching Zoo. (EATM program: Exotic Animal Training and Management). Such an awesome idea as last August when I was researching EATM, I searched for such a blog but didn’t find one. So here it is! I will do my best to update this on a regular basis, to be completely honest, and to show as many pictures as I can.

If someone was to tell me a year ago that I would be moving to another country by myself to attend a 2 year Exotic Animal Training program, I probably would have thought they were crazy. But at the end of August last summer, I heard about the EATM program and did as much research as I could. I knew almost instantly that this was where I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. And now a lifelong dream is becoming a reality. I know the next 2 years are going to be incredibly hard, incredibly exhausting, but overall: INCREDIBLE. I can’t wait.

The entire story of how I heard of EATM and how I got to be here can be read here

Tomorrow is the first official day of Orientation week at EATM. The day I have been waiting for and hoping for, for 11 months. Today all 50 first year EATM students had to go to the college’s Health Center for complete physicals. It is mandatory that we have this done to proceed with the program. We also are required to have a TB test, certain Vaccinations (MMR, Tetanus) and Hepatitis B is recommended as well.