Group 8 met with Leigh, a keeper at LCS, at the Squirrel monkey exhibit. She came loaded with supplies for our enrichment. We took little plastic easter eggs and filled them with worms and raisin and then hid them in burlap sacks. She then took them into the exhibit and we watched as the monkeys fell into the big bags looking for the treats. They'd pull themselves out of the bags only to find it was difficult to open the eggs. Well that is the whole point..to make them do a little work like they would do in the wild. One of the monkey's was pregnant and her belly was looking pretty large. We then headed over to look at the Spider monkeys. We had treats for them too...fennel. It was neat because they like to rub it all over their bodies because it has a nice smell. We tried to throw it over to their islands, but none of our throwing arms were good enough. So Leigh was nice enough to take the paddel boat out to give it to them. It was awesome watching them go wild over it!


Laura, a keeper, met Group 8 at the end of Gir Forrest and we went on a Safari to find Ostriches. It wasnt very hard since they were just around the corner. She brought with her a recently laid ostrich egg. It was huge and very heavy. The yolk equals about 24 chicken eggs and is supposedly good to eat. It was hard to imagine an ostrich being born from somethign so small! We saw both males and females. The difference is in their coloring-- the males have black feathers with white tips and the females are a brown/gray. They have hideous feet with one large toe and sharp toenail and a small toe which looks like a fat worm. Oscar, a familiar figure at LCS, came over to visit and peck at our van. We all loved it and it gave us a good look at their eyes, eyelashes, and big beaks and throats. One cool fact is their eyes are larger than their brain. Maybe that is why when they peck at the windoes they think they are actually getting food. And perhaps we get the phrase bird brain from the ostrich!


We met Kathy, an education assistant, in the Animal Theatre with Clymber, a prehensile tailed skink. Their tail is very strong and can be used as a 5th limb. Clymber is one of my favorite education animals. They have island specific coloring, which means each island has a slightly different coloring to fit that islands plant coloring, but they all have a dark green and a light green coloring. They have long sharp nails, so gloves always have to be worn when handeling Clymber. We are lucky to have this skink to use, as they are normally very agressive. We also have 6 skinks in our reptile moat, but they aren't friendly to handle.


Michelle, a keeper, met us outside the Nursery to make enrichments. We took register reciept paper rolls and smeared peanut-butter it. Then we added peanuts and cheese and rolled them all up into balls and burrito looking things. Michelle gave it to the parrots later on in the day, and seeing all the goodies in there, I just know they loved it! We then helped Michelle with her daily routine, as we were Jr. Keepers. We went into the Stork and E. African Crown Crane exhibit and raked up all the leaves and then watched the storks get fed fish and mice. Then we headed over to parrot circle to rake up under the cages. And as a final end to our keeper training we helped put Arnold, a scarlet macaw, out on exhibit. It was a fun filled morning!

We attened an animal theater show on Rainforest animals. It started out with Twizzler, a Blue Front Amazon Parrot. We learned all about their habitat, what they eat, and their special features..like cool feet that have two toes facing forward and two facing backwards, which really help in balancing and picking things up. Then Gonzo, a Two Toed Sloth, came out. Gonzo has to be a favorite of everyone. We learned how they do everything up in the trees, and only come donw once a month or so to go to the bathroom! Pretty smart creatures. It is all their way to keep from being eaten by a jaguar.