Notes From the Zookeeper: Gratitude

I love my job. There are so many things to be grateful for.

• Frogs calling.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7w77NbkCU8

The first call is the critically endangered Golden Dart Frog. The second call is a Bumblebee Dart Frog. I have played these calls back to them for fifteen minute stretches three times a day, five days a week for several weeks now. It gets them grooving.

• Ingenuity and success. Bowers made of coconuts cut in half are recommended for breeding Dart Frogs. I only have one, and my Annulated Boa has commandeered it. So I made due with what I had – black snake hide-boxes set atop the lids from Chinese food takeout containers. And you know what? It worked!

These are just a few of the eggs hidden in the exhibit. If they hatch, Dad will carry them to a water source on his back. Check back in about 10 days days.

• Hoses that don’t kink
• Hoses that aren’t frozen
• Brand-new hoses that save us from filling our rearing reservoir with a bucket in the cold
• Guests that show up on bitter cold days because they love the zoo
• A raise
• Good water pressure
• Disposable food storage containers. Seriously. We use these for everything from storing food to raising dart frog tadpoles. Thank you, Glad and Ziploc! Wanna sponsor a post?
• When the youngsters start to figure out what they’re meant to do

Egyptian Tortoises (Testudo kleinmanni). He’s only seven, so he’s maybe not quite got the hang of it yet, but he’s trying!

• Surprises. My female Chinese Crocodile Lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) has babies every two years. So we thought. She had eleven babies last year. In December, she surprised me with eleven more. This species is critically endangered due to habitat destruction, fragmented populations (some groups have 10 or fewer adults, which isn’t sustainable), over-collection for the pet trade, and a long gestation period (9-14 months!) which combine to make population recovery difficult

Newborn Chinese Crocodile Lizard. It’s tiny until you think that there were ELEVEN of them all curled up in there!

• This guy.
  

  Tex, wearing his best opuntia fruit lipstick.

• When my snack drawer is full. Zookeeping is hungry business!
• Hidden opportunities. In 2017, I got to volunteer at the Turtle Survival Center in SC, and I got to go to the Turtle Survival Alliance conference in Charleston. I also had a trip to Amphibian Management School. This year, I’m going to Amphibian Research School, and I have a lead on a trip to California.
• Weird animals

• 

  Mossy Leaf-tail Gecko (Uroplatus sikorae) shortly after hatching

• Guests who ask questions and are genuinely interested in learning more
• The sense of wonder and amazement when guests finally see a well-camouflaged animal on exhibit
• Plants. I just started two small green houses at work with cuttings to make some really interesting additions to exhibits
• My iPod. A lot of what I do is solitary. It takes me 6-8 hours a week to maintain my aquatic exhibit. It’s great to have music to listen to. This year, I may expand to podcasts
• Lowe’s. I love home improvement stores, and it gives me jollies to know where everything is
• Toboggans and gloves. It’s cold out there!
• Possibilities. We’re working on planning our new facility. It is going to be incredible and state-of-the-art. Stay tuned!

• 

  Surprise! Female shinisaurus and one of her babies. You can just barely see the top of the baby’s yellow head.

  

  Perfect sheds

  

  When I can encourage my animals to use their full range of motion

  
  

  

  Tiny little babies. This Black-breasted Leaf Turtle is a little bigger than my thumbnail.

  

  Old friends. This is Khaleesi, our Komodo Dragon.

  

  The daily view

  
  

  

  Successful breeding. And minor miracles. That girl passes her egg through a quarter-inch vent.

  

  Sweet, goofy Golem with his little Cocker Spaniel face

  

  Helpers. The Caiman Lizard climbs to the top of his exhibit and sits on the edge to supervise my work. I call him Visa because he is everywhere I want to be. His perch here is 8ft off the ground.

  
  

  

  New breeding projects

  

  Even older friends

  
  

What are you grateful for? Today is the last day that the linkup is active. Want to participate? Set a timer for 15 minutes. Make a list of what you are grateful for. When the timer goes off, stop. Post, link.

From Dawn at Tales From the Motherland:

How to join in: write your own post and publish it. Copy the link from the post. Then click on the frog below, and follow the instructions to add your link. If you have any trouble, please let me know, and I’d be happy to help. I will also add a link to each post on my own blog post, as they are published. For extra fun, please add the hashtags #BloggersUnite and/or #50HappyThings… because, well, everyone loves a hashtag! The link-up expires January 15th at 11:59pm.

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