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  • 08-31-2009, 10:28 PM
    JLC
    AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    So...my dobie has been in obedience and agility classes with a really neat trainer named Nell. Nell is amazing with dogs, and you can tell she has a real heart for all animals. She told me a story once about some camels that she and her son had taken care of when they were volunteering at a zoo some years ago. The thought of a local zoo in this little podunk town remained abstract to me, despite how cool her story was. I just didn't click that there was a real zoo around here.

    A few days later, she noticed my 8-Ball t-shirt that I was wearing to class one day...one of many snake shirts I've worn to classes. She asked if I had snakes ("A few") and asked if I had any experience handling snakes ("A little")...then proceeds to tell me about this Burmese python that they had cared for at that same zoo with the camels a couple years ago. Her son had recently been back, doing some work around the zoo and said the burm was looking a little too thin and not particularly well cared for. The zoo owner, while a lover of all animals, is not really "into" snakes and the poor dear wasn't a high priority. Nell asked me if I would be interested in going out to this zoo as a volunteer and take care of "Butterscotch" the albino Burm.

    Well, needless to say, she didn't need to threaten me with a hot poker or anything! I was like, "SURE!"....so we went out there and I met the zoo owner (Debbie) and Butterscotch, and a very pretty little albino-striped corn snake named Tattoo. Debbie was thrilled to have someone who wasn't afraid of Butterscotch and who had some level of knowledge and was willing to volunteer to take care of her. She pretty much gave me free rein to do whatever I'd like with the enclosures and the entire "snake house"...so long as it doesn't cost her much more than she already pays for food and bedding. (Budgets are pretty darned tight at a private zoo with many large animals!) We estimated that Butterscotch is currently about 7.5' long...and she's not emaciated or anything like that, but she is definitely a bit underweight...and I think if she'd been fed more regularly over the last couple years, she'd be a lot bigger than she is now.

    Debbie has three African lions, one mountain lion, two bobcats, five wolves, two black bears, two foxes, three very large 'gators, countless monkeys, lemurs, deer, antelope, goats, peacocks, llamas, and other smaller animals. For being a seriously "off the beaten track" private little zoo run by one older woman, it's run remarkably well. The animals are all healthy and as well adjusted as captive animals can be, I guess. The enclosures are kept clean and the animals are all interacted with and given appropriate stimulation to whatever level is safe. The snake-house is kind of scary and run-down, but adequate. I'm going to try and clean it up and fix it up really nice over the next year. She's also got two tortoises (one sulcatta and one that I believe is a leopard, but I'm not sure) that I want to make a new enclosure for...theirs is the one enclosure that makes me really sad for its inadequacy.

    Today, I went out there and spent a couple hours just helping out with other chores around the zoo...carrying sacks/tubs of feed, feeding monkeys, cleaning out around the bear enclosure, herding pigs....fun stuff! I got licked by a bear!!! :rofl: I was cleaning out the hair and muck that collects around the bottom edge of their enclosure...and he would stick his very long tongue out through the fence to lick at me. It was quite funny. His name is Albert and he is very friendly...but his mate (who's name I can't remember) will take your head off if you're not careful, so I'm told.

    I have a feeling my involvement will very quickly go far beyond just the reptiles. I've got a few pictures, but not many yet. And I can't upload them from this computer, so that will have to wait 'til tomorrow when the other computer is free.

    It's all so very cool and I'm VERY excited at this amazing opportunity to not only take care of someone else's reptiles (because I'm able to have so very few of my own)....but to also get some amazing hands-on experience caring for some seriously exotic, very beautiful animals!!
  • 08-31-2009, 10:33 PM
    sg1trogdor
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Grats that sounds like alot of fun. I wish I could get into something like that. :banana::banana:
  • 08-31-2009, 10:41 PM
    Muze
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Sounds like something I would so love to do! Congrats. Keep us posted. I'd love to hear (read) the stories.
  • 08-31-2009, 11:00 PM
    joepythons
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Thats cool Judy :gj:
  • 08-31-2009, 11:00 PM
    catawhat75
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Oh wow Judy, sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. I am so excited for you :D Now you know you need to get lots of pics right??
  • 08-31-2009, 11:04 PM
    Argentra
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    *WHIMPER*!!! :tears:

    Ok that is NOT fair. :) I've worked for years to be able to be a zookeeper, only to be pushed away from it by all the new regulations and red tape. And you get to be out there working with the exotics! Certainly not fair. :D

    Hopefully someday I'll be able to at least volunteer once more at a zoo that doesn't make you work there for one solid year before being able to go near any animals...sigh.

    Gratz on the great opportunity, Judy. You deserve it. :gj:
  • 08-31-2009, 11:06 PM
    Royal Morphz
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Judy this story doesn't surprise me as you have been so helpful around here. So please keep us updated on your fun there.
  • 08-31-2009, 11:08 PM
    JLC
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sg1trogdor View Post
    Grats that sounds like alot of fun. I wish I could get into something like that. :banana::banana:

    I've wished it for a VERY long time...but never had the freedom to even try to be a docent while my kids were younger. Now that they're all in school, this just dropped into my lap out of nowhere! I feel truly Blessed!!

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MuzeBallPythons View Post
    Sounds like something I would so love to do! Congrats. Keep us posted. I'd love to hear (read) the stories.

    I will! Thanks!! Getting licked by a bear was something I never imagined happening! One fun story already! LOL

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by joepythons View Post
    Thats cool Judy :gj:

    Thanks, Joe!

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by catawhat75 View Post
    Oh wow Judy, sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. I am so excited for you :D Now you know you need to get lots of pics right??

    I will! I'll be back out there on Wed and will try to get some more pics. The hard part is that most of the enclosures are surrounded by chainlink fence...so it's really hard to get decent pictures. Once I get more familiar and earn more freedoms around them though, I can get close enough to the fences to make them disappear.
  • 08-31-2009, 11:09 PM
    h00blah
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    WOW!!!
    actually i was hoping to go to school after ive saved up enough dough so one day i'll work at a zoo, or run my own =]
  • 08-31-2009, 11:10 PM
    JLC
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Argentra View Post
    *WHIMPER*!!! :tears:

    Ok that is NOT fair. :) I've worked for years to be able to be a zookeeper, only to be pushed away from it by all the new regulations and red tape. And you get to be out there working with the exotics! Certainly not fair. :D

    Hopefully someday I'll be able to at least volunteer once more at a zoo that doesn't make you work there for one solid year before being able to go near any animals...sigh.

    Gratz on the great opportunity, Judy. You deserve it. :gj:

    Awww! Keep an eye out for those little private zoos like this one. I'm quite sure an opportunity like this would be utterly impossible at a public city zoo.

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Royal Morphz View Post
    Judy this story doesn't surprise me as you have been so helpful around here. So please keep us updated on your fun there.

    :oops: Thanks, Tim! :D I'll definitely have lots of stories to tell!
  • 08-31-2009, 11:30 PM
    Fallguy
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    That is so cool! I wish I could do that, but my job will not permit. We have two zoo type facilities near me that would be fun to work at. As I also work in he tourism industry, the scheduling would be a nightmare.

    Congrats again!:gj:

    P.S. Could you please post pics of the big cats? My girl loves them. Thanx in advance.
  • 08-31-2009, 11:38 PM
    JLC
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by h00blah View Post
    WOW!!!
    actually i was hoping to go to school after ive saved up enough dough so one day i'll work at a zoo, or run my own =]

    It's astonishing how much there is to keep up with...both mentally and physically...and I've only seen the tip of the iceberg. But if you've got the drive, focus, organization and energy....go for it!!

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Fallguy View Post
    That is so cool! I wish I could do that, but my job will not permit. We have two zoo type facilities near me that would be fun to work at. As I also work in he tourism industry, the scheduling would be a nightmare.

    Congrats again!:gj:

    P.S. Could you please post pics of the big cats? My girl loves them. Thanx in advance.

    Thanks! I'm sure I'll get tons of pics of the cats! Hehe...I'm really hoping someone has babies while I'm still here! That'd be amazing!!
  • 08-31-2009, 11:50 PM
    Custom Exotics
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Awesome Judy, that would be my dream job for sure, congratulations on the opportunity, and I know you are going to do a great job for her reptiles!
  • 08-31-2009, 11:59 PM
    JLC
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PrototypePythons View Post
    Awesome Judy, that would be my dream job for sure, congratulations on the opportunity, and I know you are going to do a great job for her reptiles!

    Thanks, Shaun! Now, if I can ever get PAID for doing this work, then it really will be a dream job! :rofl: But I'm utterly thrilled to do it for nothing more than the joy of it!
  • 09-01-2009, 02:31 PM
    JLC
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Here's a few pictures...I haven't had a chance to take very many yet...and I SUCK at taking pictures through fencing anyhow. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can get close enough to get past the fence. (Or find a friend with a decent camera! LOL)

    Not a good picture, but too funny to not show! This is Albert...he's the one who licked me yesterday. He also presented his bum and then his back for me to scratch through the fence. He's quite a character!! I'd love to be able to attack his shedding coat with a ginormous dog-grooming brush! :rofl:

    BARTENDER! Where's mah beer?!?
    http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x.../Albert1-1.jpg

    http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...oo/Albert2.jpg

    This is Tattoo. He wouldn't sit still at all, so his head is blurry in all my shots...this was the best one. I'm 95% sure he's an albino-striped corn snake...but if anyone else has any other insights into either species or morph, I'd love to hear it!
    http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...oo/tattoo1.jpg

    And these are the torts...who look way too sad for me! :tears: The bigger one I'm certain is a sulcatta...the smaller one, I'm not sure of. I'm guessing a leopard, but if anyone has any better ideas, please tell me! I took more pics of him with the hope of getting help identifying his species. I don't know if these guys have names, but they probably do because everyone else in the zoo does! LOL
    http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...Zoo/torts1.jpg

    http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Zoo/tort2.jpg

    How can you not LOVE this face???
    http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Zoo/tort3.jpg

    I'll get some pics of Butterscotch tomorrow, and will try to get decent pictures of a few other critters as well. :D
  • 09-01-2009, 02:33 PM
    jglass38
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Sweet job Judy! That sounds like a lot of fun!!
  • 09-01-2009, 02:42 PM
    JLC
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jglass38 View Post
    Sweet job Judy! That sounds like a lot of fun!!

    Thanks, Jamie! It's been very exciting so far! And a little scary, too, when I consider how dangerous most of these animals are. Not just the obvious ones, but even some of the ones you'd think are just cute and cuddly, like the deer or monkeys. But what's life without a little adventure, eh??? :D
  • 09-01-2009, 02:45 PM
    jglass38
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JLC View Post
    Thanks, Jamie! It's been very exciting so far! And a little scary, too, when I consider how dangerous most of these animals are. Not just the obvious ones, but even some of the ones you'd think are just cute and cuddly, like the deer or monkeys. But what's life without a little adventure, eh??? :D

    The adventure is the best part! Enjoy it!
  • 09-01-2009, 02:49 PM
    Neal
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Awesome job, and congrats on landing it. I wish their was a zoo closer to where I live and I would go volunteer for the snakes.
  • 09-01-2009, 03:30 PM
    ballpythonluvr
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Wow! Congrats on such an awesome opportunity! I would love to be doing what you are right now.
  • 09-01-2009, 09:13 PM
    West Coast Jungle
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Wow that looks like a blast! I would love to do something like that. Sounds like a real fun and rewarding opportunity. Yes that looks like a leopard tort.

    Love the bear table, that is adorable! Looks like he has good table manners.
  • 09-02-2009, 06:40 AM
    rabernet
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Judy,

    I couldn't be happier for you to have this wonderful opportunity! I know how much it means to you! They don't realize just how blessed they became by having you join them as a volunteer. :hug:
  • 09-03-2009, 08:26 PM
    frankykeno
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    Judy what an amazing opportunity! I'd love to be able to do something like that! I loved your pictures and can't wait for more (and more stories too!).
  • 09-03-2009, 08:32 PM
    Soterios
    Re: AWEsome Opportunity!! (Long story!)
    I for one, am very jealous. Take lots of photos for me. (us:P)
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