Interns Jamie and Jessica finished their work with us last week and gave us a goodbye present.
Jamie, on the left crying, painted the picture for us that Jessica is holding.
We were happy and impressed with our present:
Sarah, Kimberly, and Jessi (L-R)
We’ll miss Jamie and Jessica and wish them well at their summer internship sites (Jessica is heading to the Western NC Nature Center in Asheville and Jamie is heading to the Knoxville Zoo).
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Our current interns have been mentioned a few times. One of my favorite things about having interns is when they have been here awhile and really relax and let you see who they really are. (actually I think these two were relaxed from day 1)
I walked into the office the other day and witnessed this…
Jessica Intern
Wait for it…
Jamie Intern is quite proud of herself!
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Jessica (with Salt the chinchilla) and Jamie (with Dixie the ferret)
Our interns, Jamie and Jessica, have less than 4 weeks left in their semester with us. I can’t believe their time is ending. They’ve finished their training with our education animals and can now work in the rooms on their own.
They’ve been doing great and we’re happy to have them here.
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Our Interns, Jessica and Jamie, have started their enrichment project. They are interning with us Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they take classes. for one of their classes they have to do an enrichment project for an animal. They decided to work with Henry, our woodchuck, to see if they could get him more active. We’ll report back (if you want) later in the semester to see what they learned, but in the meantime, here are some photos of what they built and their first day of watching Henry with their item:
Jamie ties on the whiffle balls
Ready to go
Henry watches from his bed at first
Jamie and Jessica take notes diligently hoping for some interaction.
Henry approaches
Henry engages
FYI- I went back and checked and only one of the whiffle balls is still hanging up. Seems like he’s been having some fun.
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We’re fortunate again to have two wonderful interns from Davidson County Community College with us this semester. Jamie (on the left) and Jessica are in their first year in the Zoo and Aquarium Science program. They’ll be with us until mid-April. Say hi if you see them around.
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I wanted to share some Lemur photos.
If you remember back several months ago- we had two interns Casey and Jessica who did their enrichment project for the lemurs- it was a teepee tree. We still use it and here are some recent photos of the ring tails climbing on it.
Lycus climbing
Cassandra and Satyrus climbing on their enrichment
As for the red ruffed lemurs, we were treating Iris twice a day with medicine that we put in mashed banana, which often meant her sister and mother also got mashed banana as a treat. Here are photos of Jethys (Iris’ sister) who was so “excited” about her banana- she took the bowl right out of my hand and held it herself- hahaha
Jethys holding her own bowl with both hands
One hand!
When she was finished she dropped it on the ground
Hope you enjoyed- here’s Lycus to say GOODBYE
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I asked my fellow animal keepers this question awhile ago, thinking I’d come up with a funny blog to post.
I got a bunch of answers:
Kent - Mottled Rock Snake
Sherry- Eagle
Katy- Elephant
Jill- vegetarian Polar Bear
Kristen- Giraffe
Aaron- Killer Whale
Sarah- Atlantic Puffin
Marilyn- Spectacled Bear
Mikey- Stegosaurus
Me- Clark’s Grebe
While all of these are great answers, it wasn’t really as funny as I’d hope it would have been.
Insert Interns—
Casey with Salt the Chinchilla
Jessica with Scout the duck
As you may have read recently we had two wonderful interns for the last four months. As their parting gift to us keepers, they came up with a list of their own.
If the keepers were animals at the Museum of Life and Science who would they be and why?
Cassandra is the head honcho of the ring tails. She takes care of her troop, looks out for them, and grooms them. There is no question of her authority and the group functions well this way. Sherry is the curator of the animal department. Her knowledge, leadership abilities and experience mirrors Cassandra.
Here's Cassandra during a training session
Gus is a big bear. Up close he can be intimidating with his big canines and huge paws. But one look at him playing with the other bears, it’s clear that Gus is a big baby. Kent, likewise, is intimidating at first. Once you get to know him, he’s a big ole teddy bear!
Gus enjoying his lounge time
Auggie is very vocal when surrounded by a crowd. He is very smart. Because he is so charismatic it’s ok that he talks so much. Auggie gets pushed around by Miss Piggy all the time. If Auggie could speak, he would say, “Yes dear.” Everyone likes Auggie!
a young Auggie
Who doesn’t love Yona the youngest of the five black bears? She is so free-spirited and always happy. A day of an unhappy Yona is like a day without Kimberly smiling – it just doesn’t happen!
Yona jumping from stump to stump
Henry is a tough nut to crack. Is he happy to see you or not? Hard to tell, he seems stoic. But that chatter is just so cute! You just have to take time to get to know Henry and then, even if he does bite you, you still like him. Just re-read this and insert Jill’s name.
Henry being a rug
Rocky is underappreciated. Don’t assume anything by meeting him just once. He is confident and secure. He knows more than you think. He doesn’t always come up to the fence to greet you but be assured that when he does he is the sweetest goat ever! Get her on a topic she likes and Sarah is a talker!
Rocky using his brush enrichment
He doesn’t show it right away but there’s a lot of processing going on in that brain. Ever patient and the symbol of wisdom, Christopher sits back and takes it all in. You wouldn’t know he was there if you weren’t looking for him. Marilyn has a plethora of knowledge that she is happy to share if you can catch a rare glimpse of her during the day.
Dr. English and Christopher
You won’t see her much but we are always glad when we do. It just wouldn’t be the same if she wasn’t a part of the group. She likes to keep to herself. They say she is cranky but we have never seen that side of her. They say the same things about Ursula too…
Urs bear
Lighting appears to be just a sweet little, humble donkey. And then when you least expect it he bites you! But, for some reason, you like him anyways. He is always redeeming himself somehow. Kind of similar to how Aaron likes to scare certain interns when they are de-legging crickets or have just seen a really scary movie. The interns still like him.
Lightning helping out in the farmyard
Well the most obvious reason is that both of these ladies can gracefully climb up the hill in the wolf enclosure while being very pregnant. Both are moving or have been moved due to babies. That is where the similarities end as Kristen is not shy and did a very good job of adding to intern training.
The female wolf howling
Good job guys!
Yes, Casey and Jessica, great job in assigning animal characteristics to the keepers!
But Kimberly, Clark’s Grebe? It’s that little happy-dance they do on the water, isn’t it??!!
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It’s time to say goodbye to our wonderful interns, Casey and Jessica. They have worked as keepers, with us, 3 days a week for 4 months- we will miss them! Casey and Jessica are in the Zoo and Aquarium Science Program at Davidson County Community College.
On top of working and classes, the interns had to present an enrichment project. They choose to create a teepee tree for the lemurs. The goal of their creation was to increase social interaction among the Ring Tailed Lemurs. You might see this item out in the lemur yard several times a week.
The lemur teepee tree
During their last week working with us, I figured it would be a wonderful time to ask them a ton of questions. Aaron was a big help coming up with questions.
What is one your most preferred animal to work with and why?
Jessica- enjoys Box Turtle B because he is always eager to be social and he seems quite self-centered which I respect.
Jessica with her most preferred animal at the museum
Casey- prefers the Sheep because they are the ‘smartest’ animals at the museum- here is her reasoning- I can tell they are always thinking and one day we’re going to come into work and the whole place will be rearranged. The steer will be in the bear yard, bears in the duck pen, the pigs will be in the Butterfly house, so on and so forth. But the sheep will be in their pen, just looking at you, you’ll know it was them but you’ll have no proof. And this is why Casey thinks the sheep are the ‘smartest’ animals at the museum.
Casey feeding in the farm yard
What was your greatest challenge, as a keeper, here?
Casey- working with Megatron one of our pine snakes.
Jessica- super cleaning with Mikey cause he never stops talking.
What do you feel was your greatest reward?
Jessica- making the peanut butter pine cones as enrichment for the bears and then being able to watch the bears enjoy them the next day
Casey- See the picture below- This was her greatest reward!!
Casey and Megatron
What was the hardest task you had to accomplish?
Casey- I had difficulty de-legging the crickets but has gotten over her fear.
Jessica-I had a hard time getting out the black rat and pine snake.
What are some skills you learned here that you will be able to take with you and apply to future positions?
Casey- Organization because everything is labeled in the kitchen and that is fabulous.
Jessica- Team work, you need to work with someone you trust, because you may work with someone that could drop branches on you during lemur super clean… not to say any names…Casey, or to warn you when your index finger is awful close to that alligator.
List a few of your “this is awesome” moments
Jessica-
- watching a training session in the bear house, Gus and Yona were climbing up on the doors of their bear stalls
- feeding from on top of the bear house
Jessica feeding from on top of the bear house
- when I became an ‘authority figure’ and asked our young visitors not to howl at the wolves, she’s very proud of her ability to step up and take charge
- working with Lightning
Jessica and Lightening
Casey-
-spending 2 hours up on the bear cliff, keeping Virginia distracted, by feeding her raisins. (A boulder had fallen out from the access route the bear’s used to get up and down the cliff. Leaving Virginia stuck up on the cliff. Casey was able to keep Virginia nice and distracted so work could be done to the cliff. Click on here, and scroll down to see some good bear cliff access pictures)
- when we were super cleaning the lemur house with Jill and Kimberly and couldn’t stop talking about waffles, so we all booked it to IHOP to celebrate a job well done (Kimberly’s side note- I will have you know, neither of them ordered waffles!!!)
Casey placing feeding baskets at Lemurs
What was your ah-ha moment that validated your choice of career?
Casey- when I can wake up at 5am and be happy about the work I’m getting ready to do and the keepers I get to spend my day with.
Jessica- when I know it’s super clean lemur day and it’s pouring outside and I’m still excited to come to work.
Casey and Jessica doing farmyard check
Casey’s question to Jessica- Are you satisfied with the partner you got for your internship here at the museum?
Jessica- I am very satisfied, she’s my partner in crime and she keeps me on my toes. She makes me giggle with her crazy ideas and stories.
And Finally which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle would you be? And why?
Casey says Jessica will be Donatello because just like her, he’s very clever but under appreciated.
Without hesitation Casey would be Rafael because he’s serious and doesn’t mess around, he gets stuff done.
flickr.com
On a serious note Casey and Jessica would like to say-
This is the best learning experience to date. With our new found skills and training by the keepers here at the Museum of Life and Science, we feel we will go into our summer internships with confidence!
Cowabunga Dude!
Great post, Kimberly! The interns really WERE awesome and I’m glad I had the chance to get to know them too, and to work with them. We won’t easily forget them because they gave the department a quacking duck soap dispenser for the kitchen as their farewell gift.
Isnt lemur super clean this week?
Great post! You have the best post titles that always make me read on eagerly.
very nice how many interns work at the museum
Hi Mom,
Thanks for reading. 
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So, being a “Life and Science” Museum not only do we have the pleasure of having our own animal collection that we get to work (and play) with, but we also have the added bonus of a large outdoor campus with all kinds of fun wildlife as well. Sometimes we get to see groundhogs, sometimes snakes, and once in a while a brand new species wanders into out midst that completely blows our minds. This weekend, it happened again. We were visited by a species previously unknown to science. And now, my readers is the first ever account of it anywhere. It is my glad pleasure to acquaint you with the “Pegaphant”. This unique species combines both the characteristics of a normal elephant and the mythological Pegasus from ancient lore. It truly is a masterpiece of evolution. Or is it…?
The Pegaphant!
Latin name: Pegaloxodonta caseyjessicus
The true story behind the Pegaphant, is actually that of well meaning, and enrichment for our animals. Every so often one of our enrichment tasks is to make up a fake sheep out of cardboard, wool, and anything else fun that our animals may enjoy. These will be introduced in with the bears or the wolves to play with, eat and destroy as they see fit. They may have treats added to them, real hair or wool, and possibly even scent sprayed on to increase just how interesting the fake sheep would seem to our critters. Generally they do not last very long.
As for the Pegaphant, it all started with that noble and well-intentioned idea. Little did we know that in the wrong hands, that power could turn so terribly for the worse… You see the Animal Dept currently has two interns. Casey and Jessica. Who have been nothing but wonderful, helpful and so sweet you might need an insulin shot. They love the animals and are great at their jobs. Who would’ve known they were actually evil genetic scientists in disguise? When asked to tackle the “fake sheep” project, none of us thought to question their abilities or motives. It was only when it was too late that we realized the tradgedy that had befallen the genetic community. It seems that either our interns are exceptionally skilled animal keepers and able to bypass the species barrier and successfully breed and elephant and a Pegasus, OR (and this is my opinion) they are in truth completely mad genetic scientists with a more dangerous plan than the original Jurassic Park had. And sadly, with less Dinosaurs.
Casey & Jessica
From what I can gather from the photos of the Pegaphant, it was sired from an African elephant. Notice the large ears and robust trunk with bristling at the tip. These are definitely traits of the African variety as opposed to the Asian elephant which has smaller ears and a trunk tip with one “finger-like” tip as opposed to two in the Africans. As for the other half of it’s genetic parentage, it most likely is comprised from a classic Greek Pegasus, as opposed to the winged Unicorn of fantasy lore that it is sometimes confused with. This delineation is easily seen from a lack of horn in our specimen, and also in the stockier stature which the classic Pegasus possesses being a fierce fighter and adversary in Greek mythology.
All great artists sign their work (Even Villainous mad geneticists)
The Pegaphant was destined to be introduced in with the bears and may have put up a worthy fight. But ultimately, it’s destiny was sealed and the only one of it’s kind was no more. I’m sure that our evil geneticists will be hard at work developing new species to impress and terrify us. It’ll be like a demented Wuzzles episode over here in the near future.
Flashback time! Can you name all the Wuzzles?
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So sweet! I’m going to miss those ladies.