Hopefully, all of you were safe and warm at home on December 26 during the snow. As for my team and I, we were up early making our way into the park to care for the animals. The penguins still wanted their fish, the parrots were demanding their peanuts and the Clydesdales and Scottish Blackface Sheep needed their hay.
Jen Brown and her team were responsible for making sure the Clydesdales, Scottish Blackface Sheep and Border collies were cleaned and fed for the day. It’s kind of hard to make sure Dakota and Dustin, two of our Clydesdales, get their grain when they won’t come out of the snow. Molly and Katie the border collies were happy to eat, but then were determined to spend time romping around in the snow.
When Jennifer Lafountain let the eagles out in the snow, they were eager to explore the white stuff. Liberty jumped right in not realizing just how deep it actually was. She began to flap her wings to jump out and made some very lovely snow angels. Too cold for these birds? No way. They immediately went straight to the water fall to take a wintery bath in the pool.
The animals that I mainly care for are a little more reluctant to head out in the cold weather. I spend my days with animals that normally live in Africa and South America. Since they were not interested in going out in the snow, I brought the outside in. The parrots got some treats hidden in some snow, but the Opossum and Sloth refused to touch the white stuff. The one animal I knew I could count on to enjoy the snow as much as I did was Mtoro our African Serval. I walked him outside and he immediately jumped in. He chased snowballs and dug in the snow to find anything hidden underneath. The only thing that seemed to puzzle him was my big red winter hat.
It has been a fun couple of snow days for the animals and their trainers. The snow day didn’t end for us when we left work though. Jen, Jennifer and I all had to go home and play in the snow with our own dogs, too.
