Lions and tigers and bears...well, almost...
Had an unbelievably great weekend! You can look behind the cut if you wish to read about it ;o)
So, I started this weekend volunteering at a wildlife rescue/refuge center, that's just a few blocks down the road from where I live. They have all sorts of animals that have either been injured in the wild, or that the Fish and Game officials have confiscated from people who don't have the proper licenses/facilities to care for wild animals. Everybody who works there is a volunteer, and they take care of some amazing creatures: tigers, Florida panthers, bears, wolves, monkeys, parrots, alligators etc.
This weekend they had a special 4th of July BBQ party, so there was quite a bit to clean up and prepare. Among the things I did were:
- vacuuming and cleaning up the gift shop and mini-museum
- trim back a mass of potato vines from the wolves' enclosure (even inside where the wolves were...one of them was very friendly...perhaps a bit too friendly, since she nipped my glove, but she was just playing around, and her handler had a good grip on her)
-trim back more potato vines whilst trying to keep the donkeys from biting our legs, feet, knees, backsides, etc.
- made friends with a capuchin monkey and fed him some almonds (he's so sweet!)
- helped to brush and talked to a panther (beautiful eyes!)
- helped to brush and talked to a white tiger (beautiful face!)
Soooo...that was my weekend, for the most part. I'm definitely going back, especially since they seem to give you more opportunities to interact with the animals if you keep showing interest and muck in with the hard work.
Also saw a few good movies: Girl With a Pearl Earring, Lost in Translation, and Dirty Pretty Things.
Must do something constructive now...though it's hard when you have visions of panthers, tigers and wolves roaming through your mind :o)
So, I started this weekend volunteering at a wildlife rescue/refuge center, that's just a few blocks down the road from where I live. They have all sorts of animals that have either been injured in the wild, or that the Fish and Game officials have confiscated from people who don't have the proper licenses/facilities to care for wild animals. Everybody who works there is a volunteer, and they take care of some amazing creatures: tigers, Florida panthers, bears, wolves, monkeys, parrots, alligators etc.
This weekend they had a special 4th of July BBQ party, so there was quite a bit to clean up and prepare. Among the things I did were:
- vacuuming and cleaning up the gift shop and mini-museum
- trim back a mass of potato vines from the wolves' enclosure (even inside where the wolves were...one of them was very friendly...perhaps a bit too friendly, since she nipped my glove, but she was just playing around, and her handler had a good grip on her)
-trim back more potato vines whilst trying to keep the donkeys from biting our legs, feet, knees, backsides, etc.
- made friends with a capuchin monkey and fed him some almonds (he's so sweet!)
- helped to brush and talked to a panther (beautiful eyes!)
- helped to brush and talked to a white tiger (beautiful face!)
Soooo...that was my weekend, for the most part. I'm definitely going back, especially since they seem to give you more opportunities to interact with the animals if you keep showing interest and muck in with the hard work.
Also saw a few good movies: Girl With a Pearl Earring, Lost in Translation, and Dirty Pretty Things.
Must do something constructive now...though it's hard when you have visions of panthers, tigers and wolves roaming through your mind :o)