Day 24: Picture Day

This morning I started the day cleaning the giant tortoise exhibit! I had family at the zoo today so while I was working in various locations, they were taking pictures of me. While I was picking up the salads, my tortoise friend came up to me again for a neck rub. I also was able to talk to another zoo worker about the tortoises and answer some of her questions. Back inside, I helped pick up the salad bowls for the building and then cleaned the black worms. After break, I cleaned some cricket tubs and made sure all the insects had food. I then did the dishes and changed the water of some animals off exhibit. I felt super productive this morning since I was the only house intern today. The other intern is out of town, but I was able to finish all of the daily tasks by myself before lunch.

After having lunch with my family, I gave them a quick tour of the exhibits in the herpetarium and gave fun facts about some of the animals. I collected a few more salad trays and then processed the cricket shipment. I cleaned the baby Alligator Snapping Turtle tanks and the McCord's Box Turtle tubs before break. Afterwards I was able to clean the inside glass for the Dumeril's Ground Boa and Black Tree Monitor exhibits. It was cool and a little strange to be in an exhibit with the animals in there too. There was another keeper at the top of the exhibit who was an extra pair of eyes for me and on the animals. This experience is just another example of how snakes are not out to get humans. The other keeper rained water on the boas at first to tell them that it was not feeding time. I was standing just a few feet from one of the boas and it just minded its own business and left me alone. It was funny because I was directly on the other side of glass from visitors who were standing close to see the animal, or maybe to watch a zookeeper in action. It was hard to tell. It was definitely fun being able to do something new! I finished cleaning the McCord's Box Turtle tubs and cleaned the Spotted Turtle tanks before taking out the trash and helping to close the building. On the way out of the zoo, I was walking next to a family and the dad said "It's the girl in the snake exhibit!" He must have been one of the people watching me clean, so I chatted with him and his family on my way out.

Black Tree Monitor

Dumeril's Ground Boa

And some pictures of me at work: