Good grief people, I started two update posts last week and then felt crappy and dropped the ball. Still don't feel great, in fact going through something and it's been a struggle to feel well the last four months. Not much can do when there is situational unrest in life thats beyond your control. Anyway...
This came up in my Facebook Memories this morning. These Firecrackers were some of my favorite Enrichment Toys I've made. And our Amanzi and Jahari provided perfect photo ops!
One of my first interests with our Zoo Friends was learning about Enrichment. The Zoo would do fun stuff for Halloween and Christmas on occasion and those were always the best times at the Zoo. Seeing the Animals up, active and having fun.
Back in the early days, there weren't many Celebrations for any of the Animals Birthdays. Sometimes certain Animals would be highlighted for Members Mornings and there would be some Birthday fun. In January of 2010, two Lion Friends had Birthdays, Amanzi on the 4th and Tunya on the 26th, and when I realized celebrating was missed, I asked Barb if we could have a Lion Party on Jahari's Birthday February 7th and she said yes! I made big cat sized party favors, that were filled with Lion treats!
Amanzi
After that, I wanted more of this amazing opportunity, and to try my hand at paper mache! One of my most cherished moments was having my friend Tony be the recipient of my first mache ball especially for his 18th Birthday party. He went right for it and walked off with it!
Tony
My friend Lee and I would continue to make Toys for the Big Cats and on occasion the Bears, every week for nine months, until it became a drama because of jealous and embarrassed staffers who whined and made it impossible for us to continue. It ended something special to us, but stole weekly Enrichment from the Big Cats. It was disgraceful behavior from those two people who were supposed to have the Animals best interest, yet denied them because of personal insecurities.
Thank you to ex- Big Cat Keeper Extraordinaire Barb Palmer, who always shared her knowledge with me, and is responsible for allowing me to have one of the best experiences of my life.
See all the fun on my blog that documents the toys we made:
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