Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, dear readers!

The zoo is currently enjoying intercession, two and a half class-free weeks with nothing but zoo work to keep us all occupied. I still have to be at the zoo to open and close half the week, but I have three days off a week to spend however the heck I want!

So far I've been spending those days getting things done that desperately need to be done.  Laundry, cleaning cages and tanks, etc. The biggest thing I checked off my to do list last week was selling my car! I am very very sad to say goodbye. The "Bitchmobile" has seen me through some pretty great milestones. She took me reliably to and from college for two years, carried me on my first road trip, and kept on trucking long enough to deliver me and all my belongings safely to California to start my new life.  We have been through a lot together, and she was my very first car, so I was definitely a little teary when I sat in her and said goodbye for the last time.

So, from now until I graduate, I will be getting around on... *drumroll*...

MY NEW FULLY FUNCTIONAL SCOOTER!

I bought this baby in mid October for 400 bucks, and it has been in the shop for almost two months getting almost every single part removed shined buffed and replaced. It's been a very long wait but I am FINALLY able to ride "Scootie Blue." It is so. freaking. fun. Next step is to take the driving test at the DMV to finally get my motorcycle license which will allow me to ride her at night (and with passengers if they can fit on that tiny thing! :) )

It has been sad to spend the holidays alone. I miss everyone back home and it was heartbreaking not to be able to spend Christmas and Wigilia with my family, and I'm looking at a New Years away from my friends as well. Only two more months until my family (minus David) comes to visit, and six or seven more months until I can come home!!

My Christmas Dinner. I managed to recreate Mom's barszcz and what I have affectionately dubbed "pseuduszka!"

This has been going around my college blog platform lately, and I thought I would use it to gather my thoughts for this blog update:

Work: Not making money, of course, but loving every day. My muscles are sore and I come home dirty and wet and usually covered in some combination of food and poop, but I wouldn't trade a single day of it. I hope I never lose the sense of amazement I have - I hope petting coatis and feeding lemurs and ocelots and playing with goats never gets old.

Money: I have none. It's a little scary.

Personal responsibility: Chores like laundry and cleaning tend to fall behind more important things like homework and sleep, but I try to keep up enough so that I always have clean clothes and clean dishes to use. Our house gets a little untidy sometimes but for the most part the common areas like the kitchen and living room stay pretty neat. I pay my credit card bill and rent and utilities (usually) on time. My priority, though, is always the zoo. If it's a choice between zoo work and house work, the zoo comes first. 

Health: Surprisingly good! I think being around all these animals has strengthened my immune system. I've been threatened with the hint of a sore throat once or twice, but I have not been really sick ONCE since I arrived in California! (knock on wood!)

Friendships: Could be better. I like my roommates, and I have a few people in this program that I'm friendly with, but nothing that compares to the friendships I left back home. Thank God for technology, because I miss relationships like that - having people to rely so strongly on, people you can talk to about anything, people you are always so in tune with. 

Family: Miss them every single day! I am so gosh darn lucky to have such an incredible, supportive network at home. I can't wait until they come visit in March because I am in SERIOUS Johnston withdrawal.  I call them every other day or more, but I think the thing I miss most is hugs.

Love life: Going well. Ben and I broke up because of the distance, but eventually figured out that being apart wasn't working for either of us. In a few days, he is leaving Chicago and moving to Austin, Texas to live with his best friend for a few months. He's planning on starting his own dog walking business (check it out at dogsfirst.webs.com!), doing some writing, and padding his creative portfolio before taking a leaf out of my book and moving here to California to follow his own dreams. 

Mental health: Aside from being incredibly lonely and missing everyone I love, I'm doing really well. I am still so happy to be here and totally convinced that this is where I belong. I'm finally on the right path. I'm motivated and working hard. 

In other news, next month we finally get to pick our animal assignments for the summer!! Choices are assigned based on a points system. 2 points for volunteer hours, 1 point if you received no U3s, 1 point for perfect attendance, and 4 points for your GPA. Those with 8 points usually get all their first choice animals.  I am so proud to say that I finished this semester with perfect attendance, all my volunteer hours completed, no U3 points, and a 4.0 GPA!! It's so nice to see all my hard work pay off in a real, tangible way. I'm still doing some thinking about which animals I'm going to ask for, since this is the semester we have to ask for year-long assignments (such as primates and other animals that require a year-long relationship as opposed to a semester-long).

More updates will come later, but for now, here are some pictures to tide you over!

Lemur!

Our ring-tailed lemurs sunning themselves. 

Rocky the Boa out for a show!

Clarence getting some love from visitors.

Happy gator.

This is what happens when one attempts to clean a goat enclosure. That's my broom they are eating.

Smiley goat.

I kind of love them.

For our Arctic Lights event, we brought in real snow for the kids to play in. Some of our animals got to play too!

The cutest coati in the whole wide world.

Did I mention we got to pet baby tigers???

This was the first show I emceed!

And, of course, I can't forget about my very own critters! This was Zazu's first time on the maze I will have to train her to run. She was more interested in what Mommy was holding :)

FINALLY!

Hello again faithful readers!

This post is going to be a doozy, so hang in there! I'll try to jam it chock-full of pictures to break up the wall of text.

First of all, the last day of Davis care-taking was this past Saturday. The previous week all the second years had been on a week-long field trip in Davis, leaving us to care for the zoo and the animals in their absence.  I was in charge of the duties that go along with maintaining the Reptiles area, meaning every morning I was there at 6:30 to clean enclosures, switch water, feed out area-made diets, and offer water to our prehensile-tailed skink, Luke Skinkwalker. Prehensile-tailed skinks in the wild get their water from moisture dripping off of leaves, so he won't drink from his water bowl. Instead, we have to drip water from the heavy duty mister we use so he can lap it up like a hamster. Super cute! We also have a blind bearded dragon named Spike whom I have taken under my wing. He is my special project. Because of his visual impairment, which he has been afflicted with since birth, he is unable to hunt or find food on his own. Part of area feeding responsibility is to hand-feed Spike his diet. Spike does not like this process. He's never quite sure what's going on, and is always reluctant to let you shove strange things in his mouth. Because of this, he usually eats about half his food at MOST. I decided that all Spike needed was a patient and loving touch. I took my time with him, being extra gentle and encouraging, and from my second feeding on got him to eat his entire diet ever single time. My lead was super impressed!

On top of the normal area duties, I was also responsible for six individual animals. There were the two Abyssinian Ground Hornbills, Beaker and Wilhelmina, who needed to be fed every morning and afternoon. Wilhelmina came to us from the San Diego Wild Animal Park after she was injured in an accident involving a stampeding rhino. She's currently the oldest female hornbill in captivity! Beaker likes to try and steal Wilhelmina's food, so while one trainer feeds Wilhelmina one piece at a time, the other has to try and distract Beaker by asking him to perform a variety of behaviors. This doesn't always work, as Beaker always has one eye on Wilhelmina and will often swoop in to snap up the guts that Willa shakes out of her mice. On top of a greedy Beaker, when feeding the hornbills you are always faced with the danger of being locked in the enclosure! Their door is connected to another enclosure, so you have to enter that one in order to get in with the Hornbills. This other enclosure happens to belong to Clarence, our 500 pound Galapagos tortoise. Clarence views every moment he's not getting his neck rubbed as a moment wasted, and if you're not paying attention, he will meander over to the Hornbills' door and plant himself right in front of it, quite effectively blocking you in until someone comes to tempt him away with his favorite treats. Clarence loooooves his massages. He stretches his neck out as far as it will go and raises himself up as high as possible on his stubby little legs, and become absolutely frozen in place. Even when you end the massage and go on about your business, he will remain in that stretched out position for several minutes, hoping you will come back. This is why, when feeding the Hornbills, it's important to remember to first paralyze the tortoise.

Beaker thinks people are other hornbills. He likes to bring everyone mating gifts. 

Paralyzing the tortoise.

In addition to the Hornbills, I was also in charge of Diego the Red Tailed Hawk and Nova the Great Horned Owl. Every day, Diego needed to be taken from his overnight mew to an outdoor perch. Nova was also perched out, but only every other day since he shares a perch with our Barn Owl. I also had to prepare diets for both birds and feed them in the afternoon.

The only reptile on my list of assigned animals was Brutus, a black throated monitor who is ten pounds of pure muscle with a long, formidable tail he likes to whip at anyone who annoys him. He is young and small for a monitor, as he will eventually be six feet long and weigh 50 pounds! Wrestling him out of his enclosure to meet the public was definitely a challenge, but a rewarding one!

And last but CERTAINLY not least, I had my wonderful, hilarious, sweet, petulant, crazy, manipulative, psychopath of a Lory to care for. He was amazing during Davis. He never gave me a spot of trouble, and I learned that he LOVES to sing and dance along to music. Watching him play and interact with his world always fascinates me and brings a smile to my day. I can't wait to spend time with him again during Projects week!

Speaking of which, Projects is only a week away ALREADY. I'm in Parrots this time, and aside from Cain I am responsible for Hollywood the blue fronted Amazon, Ebony the raven, and Peaches the crazy cockatoo. Davis was beyond exhausting, but I am still excited for what Projects week will have in store. Hopefully with four animals instead of six to care for my workload will be a little lighter, but I have to admit I think I'll miss the challenge :)

Ebony with a treat.

Holly wood came over to say  hi when I went to get his picture!

Peaches looking particularly fluffed!

That's all I have time for right now and I don't want to overload my dear readers with info, so stay tuned for a Boo at the Zoo update next time!

Love and Bellyrubs,

Christy

I'm Still Alive!

Hello faithful readers! I know I haven't posted in a super long time, and I feel bad for leaving you all hanging.

I can't give you a substantial update yet, because I am so busy I barely have time to feed myself.

In the meantime, though, here is a preview of what is going on right now:

1. Davis Week! The zoo is OURS!

2. Our big Boo at the Zoo event is Sunday and student council is scrambling to get all the last minute details taken care of. Wish us luck!

3. I still love my classes and am learning all sorts of amazing things.

More next week when I have more time!

Love and bellyrubs,

Christy

Tooting My Own Horn

Excuse the brag, but I am just bursting with pride today!

I may have mentioned that I had a Very Scary Diversity Exam last Monday. I busted my butt studying, terrified of the D-average last year's class pulled in. Gary's classes are notorious for being responsible for most of the dropouts (or fail-outs.) Everyone is scared of Diversity. It didn't help that on the same day as this first exam we ALSO had two quizzes in the lab portion of Diversity.

However, I am so so so proud to say that we got our first exams back and I got an A!!! Straight A's will put me at the top of the queue for picking animal assignments and manager positions, so I am beyond excited about this grade. Not only that, I totally aced both the lab quizzes. 21/20 points on the slide quiz! I am so good at memorizing incomprehensible latin ;)

Just wanted to share why I am super elated tonight. I am more motivated than I've ever been and working the hardest I've ever had to work, but the prize I have in my eyes is so worth it!


Love and bellyrubs,

Christy

Updates on EATM Life

Hey all! Sorry it's been a while since my last post. We had our first big Diversity exam the same day as our first Wildlife Ed exam AND our slide and lab quizzes. Not only did I have to memorize 30+ more species, I also had to cram 14 chapters worth of information in my already crowded brain. I have never worked so hard before a test that wasn't a final or a midterm. However, I'm happy to say that I feel alright about how it went and best of all I learned how to study for a Gary test. Next one will hopefully be a little less stressful now that I know what to expect!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I was elected into Student Council! My fellow members and I have started a merchandise and food table on the weekends to raise money for our class. We're also in charge of planning our Boo at the Zoo event at the end of October. Things are going great so far, we work well together and have been getting a lot done. I'll post more updates about Boo as the event gets closer.

The most exciting thing on the first years' minds right now is the week before Boo at the Zoo. This is known as "Davis Week" to the second years, who will be embarking on a week long field trip. However, for us firsties it is caretaking week. The second years will have left the zoo (and the animals!) completely in our hands.

I volunteered to take on some special assignment animals, ones with special behavioral or medical needs who need extra turnover time. I was assigned to Cain, the chattering lory. I've shadowed his trainers twice already and I am in LOVE. He is such a hoot! He definitely lives up to his name. He has learned all his cues and will repeat them constantly. Circle! Target! Achoo! When Cain is upset and doesn't like what is happening, he will drop his voice and yell "NO." When student have animals out they need a backup, and one of the jobs of the backup is to announce the animal's presence to passerby. During high traffic walk times the Zoo is a chorus of "Emu here!" "Baboon here!" "Horse here!" "Mountain lion here!" Cain has learned from this, and loves to yell "BIRD HERE!" before our backup gets a chance to open her mouth.

Cain also loves tipping over water bottles and playing with casino cups. We gave him a cup in Zoo 2 yesterday and he tackled it, grabbed it with one foot and sprinted about two feet, threw it away from him, and then dove into it so hard it slid forward. No description could possibly convey exactly how hilarious this is to watch, so I'll try to get a video during my time with him. Everyone in the classroom was collapsing with laughter.

Today for Conservation we're going to Point Mugu in Malibu to do a beach cleanup! I still can't believe this is my life.

Till next time,

Christy

All Day Area

This Saturday two of my roommates and I had our first "ADA": All Day Area. During the weekends, only a few of the students are required to be at the zoo to keep things running while the public are here. We are still required to be here for morning Area every week (this morning we cleaned for the Lemurs, Samantha the gibbon, and the Capuchin troop again) but only have to come in for the full day roughly once a month.

The first hour of ADA is always what we call "projects." These are tasks that occasionally need to be done around the zoo, and often include things like repairs and maintenance. For example, one of the projects for Saturday morning involved cleaning out the inside and outside of one of the zoo vans. Projects hour usually wraps up around the time that the public is arriving at 11. Usually each station is only assigned one student, but since the first years are learning the ropes we were shadowing the second years in pairs.

After projects hour, my group headed over to Primate Watch. We stood in the blazing sun, trying not to collapse in the humidity, smiling at guests and making sure the kids didn't get to rowdy around Malay, our temperamental Siamang. Primate etiquette says that you should never stare or point at the primates, as they can interpret it as a sign of aggression. They can also get extremely riled up if people are running, shouting, or rough housing. Primate Watch exists to make sure these rules are followed and that all our animals and guests are happy.

After Primate Watch, we headed inside to the refreshingly air conditioned Zoo 2 classroom for a long lunch before our second year left to man the ticket booth and my fellow first year and I sat down at the computer lab to be trained on Dailies. Because a zoo relies so much upon good communication and meticulous record keeping, everything is written down on daily reports. Leftovers, medications, diets, positive checks (making sure the nocturnal animals are still alive and well), and any abnormal health concerns. We also record all behavior enrichment or training activity. These enormous piles of paperwork then need to be entered into a very primitive computer program so that they are easily accessible at all times, and this is where the training comes in. There were a lot of very particular rules and requirements about the way the information needed to be entered, but we got the hang of it all pretty quickly and headed out to join our second year in Tickets ten minutes early.

After our hour in the ticket booth (my favorite - it allows lots of time to catch up on studying and the booth is air conditioned) we headed out for a Round. Since my fellow first year had never attempted one before, my second year let me lead for the half of the zoo that I was familiar with. I felt pretty confident with the procedure, and it was definitely satisfying to check off the seemingly endless list of checks and tasks with barely any help.

We ended our day at Clarence's enclosure for Galap Watch, making sure the guests kept their fingers away from the 90-year-old 500-pound tortoise's mouth. Part of Galap Watch at the end of the day also involves making sure Clarence puts himself to bed, and closing him off in his shed. However, the shed was 117 degrees yesterday and Clarence was having none of that, so we closed the flaps of the shed without him and let him chill in the shade.

At the end of Galap watch we went around the zoo collecting all the Dailies, which we then brought back to Zoo 2 to check. We made sure all the animals had been signed for in the feeding log and that all of them had gotten the correct medication at the correct times, and then we headed home after a long and exhausting day to study until we dropped.



Working here is a bag of such insanely mixed feelings and emotions. I can hardly believe all the amazing things I'm doing and experiencing.  This morning I was closing off the capuchin bedroom and one of them reached out and tried to pull my hair. A monkey tried to pull my hair! I'm feeding bananas to lemurs and navigating out of reach of Samantha the gibbon's very long arms, and all of it is so cool I just want to look around and say did anyone see that?? Of course they did, but as we're all experiencing the same things together no one else seems to think it's as cool as I do. One of the hardest things about being here is not being able to share these experiences with my family as effectively as I want to. I wish everyone from home could see this, could follow me around for the day and experience what I experience. I wish you could hear the cacophony of noise the primates make as we arrive in area in the mornings, starting slow with Sam's high pitched squeak of a chatter and building as the Siamangs join in with their booming yells. I wish I could accurately convey what it feels like to walk to school at 6:30 in the morning and hear a lioness's deafening roar. I wish you could hear the emus drumming or see Scout the coati excitedly emerge from her hammock when she hears her name or understand how funny it is when Cain the lory repeatedly chatters "Bird here! Bird here!"

Of all the insanely difficult things about this program - the long hours, the manual labor, the impossible amounts of homework and studying, the terrifying lack of money - I think the hardest of them all is being here alone. There are days I wish I could hop on a plane and fly home to what is comfortable and familiar and safe. But if I really think about it, I know I belong with these animals. As hard as the next two years will be (and as insanely expensive...) I know I'm heading towards a prize that is beyond what most people could ever dream of.  And somehow, all of this will be worth it in the end.

That's all for today. Don't forget to send me any questions you have!

Love and bellyrubs,

Christy

First Official Week (and then some)

Hello faithful readers! This entry will be jam packed with information so hang in there! Here are the highlights:

"Area:" This is what we call opening and closing the zoo. Half of our class, including my roommates and me, are responsible for Area Sundays through Wednesdays. The other half is responsible for Wednesday through Saturday.  Up until yesterday, my side of the week had been shadowing different Areas, or sections of the zoo, learning what is involved in working in each one. This morning we had our Area quiz on all the things to remember about day to day life in the zoo. Which animals are possessive of their enclosures, which are trainer responsibility only, which require heaters plugged in and at what temperatures, how to go about checking locks in Primates vs the other areas, and the list goes on and on and on. It is quite a lot to remember.

After taking our quiz this morning (at 6:30 a.m. I might add...) we dispersed into the zoo to join our second years for our first official day on Area! Each week we are assigned somewhere new. Today and all of next week, I am assigned to Primates. This morning we cleaned the Capuchin Troop's enclosure! I stay on Primates Sunday through Wednesday next week, then I have the rest of the week off of Area before starting in Nutrition the following Sunday, prepping diets for the animals.

"Daywatch:" As part of our Zoo Skills class, which doesn't actually have a meeting time, we have to do something called Daywatch. This refers to a two hour chunk of time every week that we are assigned to come to the Zoo and do chores and projects. I am assigned to the Tuesday 2-4 shift. Last week I spent half the time manning the phones and the other half doing a Round. Rounds occur every hour, and they involve doing a thorough walkabout of the zoo and checking each animal for the four L's: Life, Lock, Liquid, and Looks. At each enclosure we must assure that the lock is secure, that the animal is alive and present, that the enclosure is in order and nothing is out of place or potentially harmful, and that the animal has adequate water. Rounds also involves filling water dishes if necessary, checking and recording temperatures, misting some of the reptiles, and putting ice bottles in with some of the smaller mammals if it is too hot. My friend Ashley and I attempted a Round for the first time yesterday without a second year to supervise. We didn't make it all the way through the zoo, but it felt pretty awesome to be out helping the zoo run by ourselves!

Classes: Classes this semester include -
Care and Handling Lab (this is where Area happens in the mornings and afternoons, and where we learn things like how to tie a falconry knot and how to walk the emus or Nick the mini-horse)
Care and Handling Lecture
Animal Diversity Lab and Lecture (notorious for requiring students to memorize the latin classification of over 30 species per week - Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. I am proud to say that I now know that a Salmon Crested Cockatoo is Phylum Chordata, Class Aves, Order Psittaciformes, Family Cacatuidae, scientific name cacatua moluccensis. I can also do that with 31 other species so far!)
Health and Safety (where we learn about proper zoo safety guidelines and zoonotic diseases)
Conservation
Wildlife Education and Lab (where we learn about how to do shows in the zoo and practice our public speaking skills)
Anatomy and Physiology of Mammals.

So far I really like all my classes. It's a LOT of information to absorb very quickly - we had three tests so far this week and we've only had a few classes so far - but I feel like I am learning so much.

Cool things I did this week:

~ Learned how to walk Nick the mini-pony and got to clean his hooves.
~ Went to the LA zoo with a bunch of our friends:

At the entrance to the Zoo

~Adopted a new two year old corn snake named Pandora!

And the most exciting part of my week, yesterday I was tested on the falconry knot and got to handle the birds of prey for the first time!! Check out the awesome pics:

That's all the updates I have for today.


One more note: Sometime in the next couple of weeks I would like to dedicate a blog post to answering any questions that readers may have about the program, my life out here, or anything about animals or me in general! Leave your questions in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.  


Thanks for reading!

Love and bellyrubs,

Christy

Orientation

As of Friday, the class of 2015 has officially made it through our orientation week!


As of this morning, most of us have been to the zoo as official students.


Orientation week was a whole lot of scattered information thrown at us with many promises of "you'll learn more about that later." We learned how to do rounds, which means walking around the zoo and checking every single enclosure for the four L's - Life, Liquid, Lock, and Looks.  Rounds happen every single hour, and especially as first years it will probably take us more than an hour to get through the whole zoo.

We also learned about Daywatch, a two hour shift once a week when we will be assigned to the zoo and given a list of tasks to split up.

We received a lot of helpful advice from our not-always-older but definitely wiser second years.

We met a lot of the staff and our teachers for the first time.

Friday, we had our first "work day," which is a bit of a confusing moniker because every day is a work day at the zoo. In this case, however, work days are days in which the whole zoo gets together in our grubbiest street clothes and tackles a huge list of big projects all day. There are three "work days" per year: one at the end of orientation week and two around the time of Spring Spectacular (more on that later.) Of course, projects are still being done year round, but these three days are special times for the whole zoo to come together and tackle a whole lot at once. My roommate and I were assigned to Parrots. I spent the first two hours of our day sifting through shovelfuls of dirt, pouring it through strainers to remove the big rocks so it could be safely put in the bottom of the enclosures. All in the hot, merciless sun. Meanwhile, Carrie and one of our second years were weeding, organizing and cleaning shelves, and putting WD-40 on all the locks. We also re-did the rock borders of the walkways, took down an old fence and put up a new one, trimmed an overgrown bush, and hauled the half-ton bin of sifted dirt up the hill. It was hot and exhausting, and my muscles still hurt, but there is a definite sense of pride that comes with completing a day full of manual labor like that. And the area, if I do say so myself, looks pretty dang good.

Saturday I had a day off, so I decided to use it to get some MORE work done! I woke up early and right away started tackling my to-do list. Two loads of laundry hummed away while I removed everything from our huge rat cage, cleaned it off, and rearranged the shelves and hammocks in different spots to give our rats a nice little change. I also started stringing wire through the top of the cage, hoping to keep Miss Zazu from crawling out quite so frequently. She is a sweet little thing, though. I hadn't quite finished with the project by the time we decided to walk down the hill for some ice cream, but Carrie and I decided to leave them in their big cage while we were gone as a sort of trial run. When I got home, Zazu was happily perched on top of the cage, waiting for her Mama. I walked over to her and she scampered up to perch on my shoulder, then curled up behind my neck under my hair - her favorite spot. What a sweetie.

Today, we all dressed in our official EATM uniforms for the very first time and reported to the zoo at 7:45 am. This was our very first class - Animal Care & Handling. After going over the syllabus, we headed to Carns to learn how to move an animal into the Arena. The arena is basically a super huge enclosure where the carnivores get to have some extra space to explore and play. We didn't actually move anyone today, but we did practice as if we would be moving Kiara. After a few practice rounds of opening the arena door and pretending to open Kiara's enclosure, she began to clue into what was going on and got super excited, thinking she was going to get to play. She was pacing back and forth, bouncing around excitedly, and making her moan-y lion noises. At one point, I was leaning towards her enclosure to see more clearly what was going on on the other side, and suddenly I looked down and saw that Kiara had paused next to me and was looking straight into my eyes, her enormous head less than two inches away from my elbow.

I couldn't say anything to the gorgeous lioness herself, so all I could do was turn to my roommate and mouth "wow." It is a truly incredible feeling to be so close to such a powerful animal, and it was the moment all of this suddenly seemed very real. Over the course of our two years, each student is allowed to work with only one of the big carns - Savuti the hyena, Spirit the mountain lion, or Kiara the lioness. I had made up my mind early on that I wanted Spirit. He is the only one out of the big three that is able to leave his enclosure and go on walks with his trainers. Kiara and Savuti are both protected-contact animals meaning that there must be a barrier between you and the animal at all times. However, looking straight into Kiara's eyes today, I got the feeling that she could change my mind.

Tomorrow is a big day - Care & Handling starting at 6:30 am and classes all day until 5. Despite the intimidating schedule, however, I have never been so excited to go to school.

More updates later!

Love and bellyrubs,

Christy

New Babies!!

My roommate Carrie and I picked up our new baby rats today! One of our first projects involves teaching these little guys to run a maze. Right now they are only a couple months old and SUPER sweet.

This is Zazu. She's one of my rats. She has slightly wavy fur, curly whiskers, and a lightning bolt on her forehead. She looks like she stuck her paw in an electrical socket :)

This is Ziggy, my other rat. She's a little more mellow than Zazu. I love the line of spots down her back.

Zazu is a crazy girl. She loves exploring and climbing and trying new things, so I think she will be more enthusiastic about tackling the different obstacles in the maze. However, I'm a little concerned her independence will make her less likely to take direction. 

They are both very affectionate and are quickly bonding with me. Whenever I go up to their cage they run over to say hi and nibble my fingers. 

Zazu being a troublemaker. The black rat and the one with the brown hood are Carrie's rats - Chester and Chewy. 

Chester and Ziggy

Zazu exploring

Their super awesome big house! They're still too little to live here full time since they can slip through the bars, but within another month or so they'll be too big to do that. In the meantime, they play here under supervision and hang out in their small houses overnight and when we're not around. 

The gals cuddling in one of their smaller houses.

Closeup of Zazu's lightning bolt. Her curly whiskers don't really show up in pictures but they are pretty darn cute.

Cuddle pile.

Biiiiiiig stretch!

I am having so much fun with these guys. I haven't had small mammals as pets in a long, long time and I just love watching them and seeing how smart and social they are. It really is true what they say - rats are a lot like mini dogs. They all have such different personalities already.  My girls like to curl up in the hood of my sweatshirt, play with my hair, and nibble my ear :)

I have already decided on a whole list of things I want to teach them. Aside from their maze, I want to teach them to circle, stand up, play fetch, come to my hand on command, give kisses, use a litter box, and recognize their names.  It's going to be a fun time with these little guys!!