Sacramento Zoo (and a little chainsaw too!)

How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man. - johnny cash

I mentioned this before, but, I've been working at the Sacramento Zoo! We've been back here in Sacramento for about a month now and When I have not been in training for fire fighting, I've been spending my time working at the Sacramento Zoo! The sac zoo is a non profit organization that helps support the growth of endangered and vanishing animals, so they requested an Americorps team to come help them with maintenance and animal care. Over the past few weeks we have put in over a hundred hours with them and I love it! I think part of my attraction to the zoo has to do with the fact that I want to go into Animal sciences in school but on top of that EVERYBODY that works at that zoo is ridiculously nice and really cool.

The first week that I was there I was working on a team with the maintenance crew to help build an African Tortoise exhibit in between the giraffe and the Zebra exhibits. It was cool because as we worked, the giraffes became very curious of us and would meander over to oversee our work. A couple of times the keepers brought lettuce out for us to feed it to them. It is almost humbly to be beside such enormous and graceful animals. I've seen them from afar before and on TV but you don't know really how gigantic they are until you stand next to one. We also built a retaining fence for the Bongo yard, and raked all of the leaves in the bamboo grove around the red panda exhibit.

Before After


The next week we were there we actually got to help the keepers with animal care!!! The first day I was in the primate house, in the morning I cleaned out the orangutan and chimp dens as well as helped prepare all of the primates meals. The afternoon was sick because I helped with the 'primitive' primates (not as advanced primates as in lemurs, saki monkeys etc) I LOVED THEM. I got to go inside the lemurs exhibits in order to clean then out and feed them. The lemurs were bouncing off all the branches around me and hanging their tails in my face. I loved the black and white ruffed lemurs because there were so many of them in thier enclosure and they would all wrestle with each other. I also worked with reptiles; I watched the reptile keeper wrestle a dwarf crocodile out of his exhibit so I could climb in there and put in new rubber matting, I worked in Ungulates (hoof-stock) cleaning the stalls and pens of the Attic and Bongo Gazelles. Zebras, Giraffes and kangaroos. These animals were cool because you could pat them and feed them and they would lick your hands and clothes. Bird day was awesome because I was working in cages with birds half my size that looked like dinosaurs. and then of course, Carnivores! My day with the carnivores was a lot of cage cleaning and not much interaction with the dangerous animals but the interaction I did have was impressive. The Lions, Jaguars, tigers, snow leopards and Hyenas were enormous and highly dangerous and gorgeous. When the lion roared the walls shook and the glass in the windows clattered. The tigers when they stood up on their back legs were a good three feet taller than I was.

Mike with the Bongos


Red Pandas


Me and my joey, Joey



OK I know this is getting long so I'll recap on my week of chainsaw training quickly. It was Awesome!!! Basically we spent two days in the classroom just learning about chainsaw maintenance, safety, and techniques. And then for the next three days we drove out into the mountains and just cut stud down!!!! Here are some images for your enjoyment