I took a bit of a break from the zoo: it was getting just too hard to pretend to be happy and cheerful for the tourists on my tours. I do love giving tours, though, so I’m back at it again - albeit on a scaled back schedule now that school is back in session. Fall in Alaska is beautiful and the animals do love the cooler weather, so this is a great time to come visit us.
I’ve been helping out with bottle feeding six orphaned moose babies, which has been a wonderful experience. There’s nothing quite like being covered in moose snot/formula! They’re all weaned off the bottle now, and are getting ready to face the world on their own soon. They will be tagged and collared before being turned loose so the Fish & Game can track their progress, but honestly they don’t really stand a chance. We’re hoping for the best but are prepared to hear of their demise soon after being released. We just don’t know how to teach them what they need to know to survive on their own – and we couldn’t find a home for them elsewhere.
We got an orphaned river otter this year, and she is a doll. We are slowly introducing her to our male with the intention of having them live together once she’s bigger. It will be nice to have a pair again after our other female passed away early this spring.
The fox kit that came in a few months ago is making great progress. He’s almost brave now, and no longer screams in fear when somebody enters his cage. He’ll even take pieces of food off a stick when offered to him from a distance. He is a beautiful one; a dark-haired Cross fox. We have hopes that he will become an educational animal, helping our education staff with their outreach programs.
The two brown-bear cubs that came to us last fall are getting ready to depart soon. They will be living in Minnesota, I believe, and have a very nice enclosure awaiting them there. They are quite healthy now, and have gained all the weight they were missing when they first arrived. Their hair is filled out, too – which is a good thing, because when they first got here they looked quite frightful.
Our musk ox baby is growing up big and strong, as is our little yakling. Both of them still have a year or so to be with their mothers before we have to start thinking about finding a home for them. I may have heard a rumor that we’re planning to keep the little yak – I haven’t confirmed that, though.
Just last week I got to help take our porcupine on an outing for an outreach program. That was fun! She loves to go out, so all you have to do is put her traveling cage next to her and she runs right in. She knows she will get her favorite treats, and will beg for them the entire time. Unfortunately she wasn’t in a very good mood this time, and was not very cooperative – but she was still a big hit, and the tourists loved meeting her. When she got back to her house, she ran out of the cage and just flopped down in a corner like it was the most exhausting thing she’d ever been forced to do!
Can you say “spoiled”?
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