First week at EATM (written by Melissa):
It is time for the fantastic updates from ME!! YAY! So first week...here we go! I will break it up by day....
Mon: Monday was pretty uneventful. We had health center appts. where we had to get full physicals and the shots we needed and a TB test. So I was very nervous about the tetnus shot because it had been so long and the rumors of the pain had just grown over a year but the shot itself didn't hurt and I was happy. All of my physical was passed and I was cleared for the program. That night we had a get to know you BBQ in the park. My roommates, Jenn and Deneke and I, all walked to the park with one of our dogs, Bailey. WE LOVE living so close to the school! It was one of those awkward, what do you do and say when you arrive moments but eventually we started chatting and meeting people. There were a lot of dogs and so I met them all and we met most of the 1st and 2nd year students of the program. Nothing too exciting to report...just lots of "interesting" people.
Tues: Tuesday was the first day of orientation. I will call it 1st grade! It started out with everyone having to stand up and say thier name and where they are from. Then there was an intro skit by the 2nd years filled with mostly stuff we did not get because we have yet to experience so much. Then my super cool second year buddy, Jessica from Minnesota, gave me a little bag full of goodies to help me get through my year. After that, her and I did a quick tour around the zoo again so that I could get reaquainted with the area. Then we had to get our picture taken...yeah...I think there was an optional activity that night but we didn't go.
Wed: I call Wednsday graduation to a higher grade...On Wednsday morning we went to the bookstore to buy some of our uniform items. We have VERY specific uniforms...one for weekdays and one for weekends. Our weekday uniforms are tshirt/tank top/sweatshirt and khaki shorts/pants or jean pants. A baseball cap or visor can be worn. We must wear a belt if there are loops and I think thats about it. On the weekend when the zoo is open to the public we have to be in show uniform which is a polo shirt/show fleece and khaki shorts/pants. There are a lot of different rules and what not but thats about it. After we got to the zoo we had to play more get to know you games and then we had several sessions about equipment and supplies, dress code, behavior, and interacting with the public. I also had to go to a lame financial aid workshop that basically makes you realize the increasing debt you are going into! haha
That night we had an icebreakear party that was at a second years house. We decided to go (the house was awesome!) and it was a pretty fun time. My roomies and I got to get to know many 2nd years that were really fun to talk to and full of info. I think a lot of the 1st years also to get to know each other and as you feel more comfortable and you spend more time together, its gets easier. It was a good time. We left early because we are the old people who wanted to go to bed early and so we weren't going to party all night!
Thurs: Thursday was one of the more fascinating and interesting days. First we had to have our TB tests read and we had to sign up for our first day watch shifts. These are shifts where we answer phones, do rounds, run errands, and what not for about 2 hours. Then we had the interesting events. Be forwarned here...if you are in PETA or if you are an animal rights person or if you are just weak stomached...you might not want to read the following part.
Our next lesson was on how to humanely euthenize animals for food for our large carnivores. The first lesson was on how to gas rats. It was pretty uneventful as none of us have to demonstrate. We also won't be having to do it often here because the zoo is now ordering frozen rats. But somewhere along the line we might have to in our job. Next is where we have to be involved. Every EATM student has to do this once in order to graduate the program. It is also the thing that ALL students have a hard time with but many have a REALLY hard time with this. So...pigeons. Many of our carns love the pigeons. So in order to humanely euthenize the pigeons we have to sever all nerve signals to the brain and you do this by severing the spinal cord from the head. Well my roommate Jenn was very antsy about it and so she went first with Corey, another first year and she did it! Its really scary to do and you get a momento of your pigeon, its ID tag. There were only 16 pigeons and everyone ran up to get it over with and so I didn't get to do it. Also, I spent a good deal of the day crying because a few people were crying and so I cried (I wasn't even flipped out about doing the pigeon...just crying because others were!) So my day was so done because crying makes me SO tired! So yeah, after that what was next? Lunch!
After lunch we had a cool lecture that made me feel SO MUCH BETTER! It was the reptile managers talk and they brought in a lot of the reptiles the zoo has and showed them to us. There were turtles, lizards, snakes and cockroaches (non flying huge ones) and after they did thier talk everyone could come up and touch and hold all of the reptiles. I loved that of course. I held the full grown adult version of my little leopard gecko and she was so soft and beautiful! Later in the day we had to do a "rounds" with our 2nd year buddy. Its insane how many things thier are to do and check. Its pretty overwhelming. There are millions of locks to check on gate, enclosures and areas. There are water spickets to check eveywhere! There are rules and not to mention the fact that we are not allowed to talk or "interact" in any way with any animals for a few weeks! Its SO hard! Especially when you have to check water in thier cages and you are 2 feet from the animal! AHHH! I am sure I will get used to it!
That night there was a social fundraiser for the second years at Baja Fresh and I met up with the twins finally to hang out and visit. After we ate, they came back to my house to meet my roomies and what not and it was super nice to have friends around that I have known forever!
Fri: Friday (today) was work day in the zoo! We broke up into groups and were assigned different areas where we would be working in doing grunt work, maint, cleaning and what not all day long. I was assigned to the BE area. (BE=Behavioral Enrichment) This area is where many different BE's are made to put in with the animals to stimulate them or make thier lives more interesting. So I made this canisters out of PVC pipe with my group that would be used to put in with primates and other animals. I was the driller and I used a power drill to put holes in the PVC pipe for the animals to be able to get thier food out by shaking. Then another girl filed the holes to be smooth and then we capped them on each end. Later they go to LA Zoo where they torch the outsides to make them more natural looking. The animals then think its a log and the shake them and get food out. Fun eh? It took me all morning to put all the holes in the 19 canisters we made. I had to use different sized bits and what not but it was fun. I had a little lizard friend that was found and he sat on my shoulder for most of the morning. It was extremely hot though and there as no breeze in our work area and so I got a nice farmers tan, one that I am sure I will just have to get used to! After we had our lunch break, I got moved to a more "strenuous" area and had to pick up left overs from the pruned trees. I mostly moved around and helped because there was not much work in my area. At 4 we finished our work day and we went in for a final meeting which was only a "set-up" meeting for the second years to pull a prank on us. After our "meeting" we were told to go outside for another group picture. Everyone was outside with thier cameras and so they told us to get all together on the lawn and to squish together. I sat in front because I am short and I was to the far left of the group...which saved me! lmao...as the did the 1.2.3 to take the pic we had about 10 buckets of water thrown on us from the roof above and the sprinklers came on! So I am sure there are some really funny pics of the whole event but I came out virtually dry because of where I was. My roomate Deneke was drenched though because she is tall and she was standing in back!
That is it for this week! I get the whole weekend off (YAY! My last one!) and then Monday we start classes and we have to start training for all of our zoo duties! Sorry its long, but I even feel I left so many details out. IF you have any questions or if you want more details, message me!
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