Saturday, August 29, 2009

Angeles National Forest fires


fire that broke out last night in La CaƱada

Quick update from last Sunday....did not end up seeing Moran out on a walk....but ended up being with him all day cleaning his den. He mostly slept but he he purred a little at me...sounds more like a "wwwwooooan". But he was very comfortable sharing his house with me.

I did produce pick up today. Two loads. There are two fires that have broken out in the Angeles National Forest...about 40 miles from where the ranch is located. The smoke was crazy thick. I had to cover my nose and face with a bandana. I felt like Billy the Kid from the old western days.

driving up to the Angeles National Forest

I hope the fires are contained and exterminated quickly. That mountain range is a home to lots of horses as well. I feel badly for all of the animals in the area that have to breathe that stuff.

By noon Saturday, the fire spread to 7,000 acres and was five percent 
contained. Approximately 750 firefighters were battling this one blaze.


A helicopter in the Angeles National Forest

I did my rounds of saying hi to my favorites...Moran the lion, Cinammon and Kachina, the two female black bears, and of course, Zulu the Zebra. Even gave Zulu some banana, his favorite.
Speaking of horses, the Del Mar races were awesome last Sunday....going again this Sunday. I'll post some pics this time.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Reptiles

Two really exciting things happened today....1) no hard-labor! and 2) I fed two of the black bears. I did mailings all morning....blah. Stuffing envelopes with sponsorship letters for our Poker Ride in November. I know this is a very important part of the center, but sitting in an air conditioned room for three hours stuffing envelope after envelope is not my cup of tea. But I did it...all with a smile on my face. Because of some of my connections in Hollywood, they have asked me to come on as a Chairwoman for the event....hopefully I can help raise some money for the animals.

After lunch, I was in the reptile class. This included learning about all the reptiles: snakes, lizards, turtles. We toured their housing and even got out and held a box turtle, a king snake and a python. We're taking a few snakes with us next weekend to the eco-convention.

Then I asked our big cat trainer Neil to show me the mountain lions. He gave me a tour of our resident locals. I made friends with Kiowa, one of the cougars we have there. She's a beauty and likes to meow and purr a lot. Her meows aren't really a meow, they sound more like a schreech though.

Then I stopped by to say hi to my friends Katanga, Leo, and Ghana, the lions I did some housecleaning for last weekend. They're always very affectionate rubbing up against the fence to give me their hellos.

And THEN....drumroll, please....I fed Cinammon and Kachanga, two of our black bears. They got ten pounds of mixed chicken and beef each. The bears were behind their enclosure and I slid the meat under the fence to them. So I wasn't exactly WITH them...I was still on the other side of the fence, but after putting in my hours, hopefully that will change soon. After feeding these guys, I have two new bff's here.

Then Neil fed Moran (my favorite lion) some pieces of meat. I wasn't planning on going back tomorrow, because I'm going with my sisters to see our friend Mike at the horseraces. Mike is a jockey and you can see him on JOCKEY'S on Animal Planet. But that changed once Neil said he's taking Moran out of his enclosure for a little stroll. I'm not missing that AT ALL. So I'll be back for a few hours early tomorrow morning....and hopefully have some great big lion tales for all of you. Then it's off to the races...

Sunday, August 16, 2009

In the Lion's Den

When I first started my work at the wildlife center, my first thought when I saw Moran the Lion was, "I can't wait to be on in the lion's den." So five weeks later, guess where I'm at? That's right....in the den, but sans lions. I was cleaning their area. And that meant the big cats were put in their holding pen while I raked, scrubbed, shoveled, and hosed down their home.

I was welcomed into the den by Ghana and her two male companions Leo and Katanga. She is definitely the Queen of this den. They were all very affectionate with one another...although small, a great pride. As I raked on one side of the fence Katanga kept very close by...three inches close by...brushing himself along the fence as if trying to get my attention. When I finally turned towards him and spoke telling him, "hello big kitty...what a pretty, pretty lion you are," he chuffed and shook his head. He knows how to accept a compliment.

After cleaning their home for three hours, I went into clicker training. I'm taking some of our goats out in three weeks to an eco-awareness convention. We learned the basics of clicker training an animal. Goats are just as eaisly trainable as dogs. I wonder if clicker training works on men?

Until next time...keep roaring ;)

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

In the Wolf Den

On Saturday we had a work party for the wolf den...that's an upbeat way of saying, "you're gonna sweat off about ten pounds today hauling bucket after bucket of dirt, rock, and gravel up a steep hill to fill in this hole dug by Asia the wolf." Asia is a thirteen-year-old timber wolf, or gray wolf. She came to the Waystation when she was only four months old. Her owner thought she would make a good pet. A wolf can dig a foot per minute, so needless to say, the woman's home and yard were destroyed...and that was the work of a four-month-old!

So Asia has dug a hold outside of her 20 by 30 yard enclosure and since trucks can't climb the narrow path leading to her den, we walked buckets up and down all day to fill in this hole, along with chain link fence that had been installed underground.

Wolves in the wild live to be about seven or eight, so Asia is a very mature lady...but still has enough spunk to dig and dig for days!

Hopefully now, she'll be safe and sound in her new enclosure...although it makes me sad...she probably wants more room to roam. Even with regular walks, it's not in their nature to be in such a tiny space...

And I can't forget the face full of chimp spit I received as I walked up to the wolf den. The chimps will do that to get your attention and try to get a rise out of you...trying to engage you to play. What if we did that to people we like...not so sure they'd laugh and simply wipe it off the way I did...but it sure would be fun to try and and see what kind of reaction I'd get.

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry