Working with Giraffe IN the barn

Today was too cold for the giraffe to go out, which meant that we had to clean their stalls and the barn while they stayed inside. What a hassle. We have to shift them into each others stalls while we clean up behind them. It is had to explain unless you have seen the barn. Basically- Damani and Binti have their own big stall and Pili has two smaller stalls that can close into 2 seperate stalls. So first we close Pili into her top stall (her loft). We pick up the poo and mess she made for us. Then we shift Binti into Pili's lower stall (her basement) and clean Binti's stall. Then we finally shift Damani into Binti's stall and clean up his mess. We reward them each time they shift with either produce or browse of some sort. At one point we were picking up their poo with our hands because they poop in tiny little balls. And we don't want to remove all the shavings since they are going to be inside all day and make more messes. I think I said something along the lines of, "I can't believe I went to college for this". It's funny because when you clean in that barn you get into such a zone. And we are so used to the giraffe being out on exhibit while we are cleaning so all of a sudden you walk into a huge giraffe head that is peering down on you wondering what the heck you are doing. Or you are standing there and all of a sudden you feel a wet tounge on your neck or in your ear. Binti loves to take a big drink of water and wait until you stand directly under her-then she drops the water on your head. She must get a hoot out of it. So today was a lot of work- it is much easier to clean while they are outside! Tomorrow we get our tapir! Google the animals-they are so cool looking! I will let you know how that goes.