Zoo training this weekend!!!!!!!!

[Aric]

I just figured I would tell everyone, I start my Adult Volunteer training at the Knoxville Zoo on Saturday, im super excited. Since they will only hire from their volunteers I decided to start there, even the guy who is head over the reptile house was a volunteer at one point, we called and they really need help on "diet" day where they have no volunteers to feed the snakes. I just thought I would tell everyone, I start Saturday at 8:30 AM and dont get off until 5 PM.

[Freakie_frog]

Very cool! best of luck

[GirDance]

Wow, congrats and best of luck!

[Aric]

Forgot to update this thread, I finished my training and passed the exam last Saturday, had to do 2 animal presentations first was African Rock Pythons then the second was Bog Turtles. Got to go on quite a few behind the scenes tours of different buildings, first was getting to go inside the Elephant barn (you really dont realize how big they are until you get right up next to one). Then we got to go inside the Penguin building and see a penguin upclose, then into the rhino barn (super cool) and then my favorite. A tour of the herpetology building. I was like a kid in the candy store, had a huge variety of snakes, Angolan Pythons, White Lipped Pythons, Bushmasters, Gaboons, etc... The 9th largest collection of reptiles in the zoos around the US.

If any of you have been to see the Reptile house at the Knoxville zoo, its the oldest part of the zoo, still the same as it was years ago. Next fall is when they break ground on the new $5.5 million building, everyone you talk to is super excited about this and they hope to have it complete by 2010. So if you havnt seen the reptile house yet then you should come see it now and then again when the new one opens. Now all im doing is waiting on an email back from the lady over the volunteers, telling me that the herpetology department is waiting for my call.


Sorry for the long post, if you cant tell, im a little bit excited about this

[tigerlily]

Congrats Aric, it sounds like an awesome experience! How'd the first two animal presentations go?

[Aric]

Congrats Aric, it sounds like an awesome experience! How'd the first two animal presentations go?

Thank you, you could defiantly tell im not used to giving speeches. But I managed to get through it ok.

[tigerlily]

Good for you. I'm sure it will get much easier with time and practice.

[MelissaFlipski]

Wow. That sounds awesome.

[kc261]

Volunteering at a zoo is awesome. When I was in college, I volunteered at a smallish (but very nice) local zoo. We gave tours to school groups and stuff like that. One of my favorite things to do was that we were allowed to take out certain designated "contact animals" to give zoo visitors to really get up close to an animal and touch it a little bit if they wanted. My favorites were the red-tailed hawk (now that was REALLY cool but my arm always got tired fast) and the ball pythons. I've wanted a ball python every since and now I've finally got one!

I hope you find your experience volunteering at the zoo to be as fun and rewarding as I did!

[Aric]

Thanks, I start bright and early tomorrow. I get to do keeper assistance with the reptile keepers, so I will be helping clean, feed, and water or anything else they need me to do. So I get to actually contact the reptiles (non-venomous), one of the only departments in the zoo where you get to work with animals when you a volunteer.