Typical Day in the Giraffe Barn

Another week down. I was in the giraffe barn all this past week. I totally love the giraffe. Those tall blondes sure are grand. I don't know that I actually have explained what a typical day is like in the giraffe barn.

6:30 AM: pick up produce and walk to barn. check on the girls and the boy to make sure all are well.

7:00 AM: go out to exhibit to clean. pick up poo, clean water dish, hang up fresh browse, fill hay buckets, walk animal chute to make sure it is clear of all obstacles, lock chute so animals can't run free

8:00 AM: start training. today i actually got to train Damani. i hold out a target, when he touches it, he gets a treat. this helps us to weigh him (2100 lbs), get his height (15.5 ft), conduct vet procedures, etc. We let the giraffe out of their stall one at a time and they walk down the hall into the chute. In this chute we are able to "squeeze" them down--we don't actually squeeze them as some people think, but we make the area they are standing in smaller so they are unable to turn around, kick, buck, etc--All giraffe are trained each day. This way, when there is an actual vet procedure that needs to be done, it is just like any other day for the giraffe and they won't gte stressed out. when we are done training them for the day we release them into the long animal chute where they walk about 30 yards to the exhibit. walking from the barn to the exhibit can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. Giraffe are incredibly curious animals. If they see a car drive by, they all stop and stare. If they hear something they turn around and listen. Patience, patience, patience is needed to work with giraffe

~9:00 AM: start cleaning the GIGANTIC barn! Today we disinfected EVERYTHING. walls, floors, dishes, tools, toys, bathroom, etc. The giraffe each have their own stall overnight where they have free choice grain, hay, alfalfa, water, a bed made of shavings and some type of enrichment. the floors are grooved so they don't slip.... this is nice for them- hell for us to clean. They love to grind their poop into the teeny tiny little grooves. Ugh. Thankfully we have big firehoses to clean with. We also weigh out all the grain left over from the night. This is all recorded. Each animal gets a specific amount of grain each day. Damani: 20.5 lbs, Binti: 19.5 lbs, Pili: 18.5 lbs.

~12 Noon: Refill hay buckets on exhibit if needed and bring more browse and some type of other enrichment on exhibit. The hay buckets are hung at the back of the exhibit. We walk up stairs to get there- it's pretty neat because we are taller then the giraffes when we are up there. Cool view. The pictures I posted today are from hanging browse on exhibit. We have a tree at the front of exhibit that we hang browse on. Damani always is up front for the people. He is so awesome. Today for enrichment we hung bamboo puzzle feeders full of produce. Puzzle feeders can be anything from big water jugs or in the picture posted and bamboo chute. They all have holes cut out in them for the food. The giraffes have to figure out how to get the treats. It keeps them mentally stimulated :)

Lunch for an hour!

~2:00 PM: Prepare barn for close. Make the giraffe beds, hang up food, lock all doors. Refill hay buckets if needed and bring browse to animals one more time. Get last giraffe kisses of the day!

3:30 PM: Home!

What a great job I have. I really do love it.