Weeks2-3

Aloha!
It's been quite awhile since I've updated everyone, and I'm sorry about that. I guess I got pretty caught up in working! Don't worry though because Week 2 was just about the same in the Bear Mtn section. One of the keepers I was shadowing is very high energy and ambitious, so she pretty much used me as a work horse/pack mule/gun show to muscle around a lot of thing. We did a lot of big cleaning projects (like hosing down the mountain exhibits for the sheep, draining and cleaning bear pools, and filling up wolf dens).
The wolf dens were the hardest because their yard was so overgrown with weeds that you really had to search for the dens they were digging. You might be wondering why we were filling them? Well wolf dens are dug underground, usually under a large rock or old tree. They are dug in a "U" shape and they are too small for most people to fit in. Well when they had to tranquilize a wolf a few weeks ago, he ran into one of the dens and they had to get him out. It's dangerous for keepers because you can't see the wolf down there! It also makes pulling the wolf out very difficult. The biggest problem was that these wolves are really old, and they had to pull and tug and his hips and legs to get him out (not good on 16 year olds with joint problems). So that is why we filled the dens. Filling the dens included wheel barreling broken up chunks of concrete, throwing them into the holes, then filling the gaps with wheel barrels of dirt. Kate left me to do most of the heavy lifting while she cleaned their pool. We joked about it later, but it sure was hard work!
That was the last day I worked in the Bear Mtn section and this past week I started work with some fellow Californians: Harbor seals and California seal lions. This section is totally different. There is hardly any heavy lifting or manual labor. It's more of a relaxed setting which is nice at some times, but I got a little antsy this week waiting to do things. There is only so much I am allowed to do as an intern, and it's hard because I want to do more with the animals and less with the dishes. Gotta work your way up though! The seals and sea lions get A LOT of training. There are 4 harbor seals and 5 CA sea lions and they each get 3-5 training session a day. These sessions include basic behaviors like "down" and "target" (like a hand or training stick) to advanced things like "play dead" and "crawl". It's amazing how smart the sea lions are! They're like dogs with flippers.
In case you don't know the different between the species sea lions are the big, loud, and obnoxious ones that flop on boat decks and harbor seals are the little guys that are more spotted that move on the beach like slugs. So because the harbor seals are so slow, I am allowed to hand feed them! It's pretty fun, but you have to pay attention when feeding them. Some of them have poor vision/are blind and could easily mistake your hand for food. Because the sea lions are fast (and much larger) than the seals, we are not allowed to feed them, but we do get to watch their training session in very close proximity. Like within an arms reach. Friday I got a sea lion kiss! It was pretty cute.
I'm starting to get a little more settled in, but I have to say seeing the seals/sea lions makes me miss the beach even more :( It's just not the same. Especially since on weekends at home if I got bored I could just go to the beach! That's not the case and it's such a bummer! I'll have to find something else around here. Welp, time to run some errands and pay bills. Hello, Real World. Take care until next time!!

~Kaleena