another day's work for the animals

I helped finish building a cage for the organization's Canadian Lynx. We buried caging material under the edges of the main cage so the animals cannot dig out.

Daddy always told me that digging ditches was hard work...he was sure right on that note. I'm aching now from lots of digging. I also repaired the door of the main cage.

We made plans and prepared for the wild animal show at the Elks Club Camp for severely burned children that we will present this weekend. We will take one of our panthers to that show. Taking the panthers to a show greatly increases the logistics task due to new federal regulations. I think we have everything under control. Now we need to make sure we have enough volunteers/handlers to do the show.

today's blog post

Well, yesterday was a very busy day. I completed all of my todo list. Today is more of the same...only difference is that there is no show.

I made a rookie mistake at a Ron Jon Resort show. While handling a 7 foot long Bullsnake, I let him get his head into the sleeve of my t-shirt. I couldn't pull him out of my sleeve and he kept going down my back, inside the t-shirt. The rule is clear: when a mistake is made, the volunteer quietly leaves the audience and gets backstage where help is available. My only thoughts while heading backstage was: "oh, please don't bite me there!" The snake was traveling in very tender territory and I was glad I wore a belt so he couldn't go any lower. When I got backstage, one of the volunteers tried to capture the snake's head. The snake had other plans and headed around my waist at belt-level. I finally had to start disrobing so the other volunteer could capture the snake. We all had a big laugh when the ordeal was over...the next animal I had to handle was an 11-foot long Burmese Python. I was much more careful...

Today, I helped clean panther cages and skunk cages as well as the snake habitats. No problems today.

On tap today was also a surprise birthday party for one of the founders of our non-profit eco-education organization. The secret was well-kept, she was very surprised.

today's todo list.

1. Pick up a few hundred pounds of red meat to feed the big cats.
2. Pack bus for tonight's eco-education shows.
3. Clean Panther cages and pick up panther poop.
4. Clean skunk cages and pick up skunk scat.
5. Clean Serval Cat cage and pick up serval sh**.
6. Clean snake cages.
7. Help present eco-educational show tonight with all animals except panther.

We'll see how much of this I get done today.