Abnormal?

Sometimes the more I work with animals, the less I want to be around people. The thought of being the only human amongst many animals in the bush, forest, or grassland gives me a smile.
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Remember me?

Wow...well it's been some time since I blogged. The evacuation and the fires really got me down. My truck broke down and I was actually under the weather for quite a bit. Breathing in all the smoke is not one of my favorite activities.

But the fires have been extinguished, the animals are back safe, my truck is fixed, and I'm the tail end of my cough. I start my Level One training class tomorrow. The class lasts for two weekends. So I'm sure I'll have much to blog about!

On top of all that, I've been planning a fundraiser with my sisters (also my business partners) for the documentary we're shooting. The film is called IN THE NEST. It chronicles a home in Kenya for children with imprisoned mothers. It will be incredibly exciting to be there shooting. We leave mid-November. We'll have a week of safari when we're done shooting...VERY excited about that!

Until then.....roaaaaaar!
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Evacuated & Under Control

I've had two full days of assisting the evacuation efforts at the Wildlife Waystation, and it's not just me that's exhausted...my SUV decided to stop working yesterday as I was on my way up to Valencia with osterich feed.  The people in Valencia are very nice as about eight people and two cops stopped to see if I needed help.  Nice to know nice people still exist in this world.

So AAA towed my car to the shop and I had one of the animal wranglers pick me up.  I spent the evening there at Phil's Animals, a ranch where they work and train animals for film and TV.  I had so much fun up there, I didn't want to leave!

But to back it up a bit....140,000 acres are now burned, with 3600 fire personnel reaching about 22% containment.  The Station Fire (as this one is being called) is now burning further north and east and has moved away from our ranch.  All but about 20 animals are evacuated thanks to the help of many, many people.

Mungar the tiger waiting to be evacuated

They are at the LA Zoo, a few other wildlife centers, personal homes, as well as Phil's ranch.  I took produce to Wildlife on Wheels where a few of our chimps are being housed, and Kiowa our friendly resident Mountain Lion.  They were all very calm and were enjoying their new digs.

chimps being transferred to their temporary home

My favorite Moran the lion was still at the Waystation, and I told Neil, our head trainer, I'd be more than happy to give Moran a lift, even giving him the passenger seat.  But Neil didn't think that was too good of an idea.  Here's a picture of Neil hosing off my two favorite black bears, Cinammon and Kachina

Kachina, Cinammon and Neil

I have been caring for our hooved stock at Pierce College - goats, llamas, sheep and pigs.  They don't seem to mind their little vacation and are curious about their new location and neighbors -  over 300 evacuated horses and cattle to make friends with.

a few of our llamas at Pierce  College

Mitch the sheep getting cozy in his bedding

Back at Phil's, Zulu the zebra seemed fine, although his stall is pretty dark and I'm sure he wants to be able to see his surroundings.  Our five other llamas have a new neighbor, two bison, and they're not quite sure what to make of them.

So although all of our animals are safe and content, the fire rages on in the forest.  The Fire Marshall expects the fire to be under control by September 15, thirteen days from now.  So please keep your prayers, good energy, well wishes and rain dances coming. They're working, and we need to keep going strong with them.

The Wildlife Waystation has also incurred tremendous costs of truck rentals, gas, feed, etc for these evacuations and is eagerly accepting donations.  For more information I can be contacted on my facebook page:  www.facebook.com/kwhitis or you can visit the Wildlife Waystation's page:  www.wildlifewaystation.org and click on "make a donation".

Thanks for your support, and the animals give you big, warm hugs and licks : )

Station Fire update

Sunday, Aug 30 -  I came home from a day at the Del Mar races and learned that many of the birds, reptiles and small animals had been evacuated to private homes.  There were still over 300 chimps, lions, tigers, bears, hooved animals, and our lovely Zebra Zulu at the ranch.  The firefighters had dug fire lines all day and would do the best they could to keep the fires from spreading to the Waystaion.  I was so distraught and felt so helpless sitting at home.  I google'd and google'd info on the fires all night.  I barely got any sleep...my mind was racing.  The Waystation had sent out an email saying the evacuation process was in place and all was under control.  They were being bombarded with phone calls, and I didn't want to add to the confusion.  If they needed me, they knew how to contact me.

Monday, Aug 31 - I woke up and decided to go to Pierce College were many of the area horses had been evacuated.  I thought perhaps they could use an extra pair of hands in feeding and cleaning.  To my surprise, when I arrived the LA County Animal Control Officer told me they had a barn full of our animals.  I went up and saw our four goats, four of our llamas (where were the other five), our two sheep, and our beloved pig Oreo.  I went into each of their stalls and gave them love, telling them all was okay and they were safe.  They all seemed very calm with the exception of Chicha, a black llama. He was in the corner, ears back, and very alert.  So I spoke to him from a distance to soothe him.  I don't know if was my speaking to him, or if he just got comfortable after being there for a while, but after a few minutes he laid down and seemed to accept the fact that all was okay.  I like to think it was the first one.  : )

So Oreo needed pot-belly pig pellets and some greens and fruit.  So off I went on my hunt.  I had the nice Produce Man at a Calabasas market donate five boxes of veggies and fruits.  No luck on getting the pig pellets donated.  So out came my wallet and $9 dollars later, I had pig pellets in my truck.  I headed back to my place to wash and prep all the produce.  On the 10 headed east, I began worrying about the remaining animals at the ranch.  What would happen to them?  Would they be evacuated?  Could they be evacuated?  Would they be left there?  And just then, a truck passed by me and the side of the truck read, "Angel City Automatic Water Sprinklers".  Those five words gave me such a tremendous peace.  I knew then that all of the animals would not be harmed.  Whether they were evacuated or not, I knew that some higher power was watching over them, and I was not to worry.  What a great sign!

A quick trip back to my place to prep all the greens and fruit and then I was on my way back to the Ag Center at Pierce  College.  With the sun quickly disappearing and no electricity in the barn, I fed and watered the four goats, the four llamas, two sheep and our pig Oreo in the dark.  Oreo was very hungry and I made myself laugh when I told him he ate like a pig.

Then two trailers pulled up full of ostriches.  Pierce faculty said they had no room for the ostriches so a series of phone calls were made by me, a couple of LA County Animal Control Officers, and Pierce faculty.  A film animal wrangler named Phil could take them....and, ah-ha!  the missing llamas!  He also had our five llamas, four emus, and two rheas.

So all of the hooved animals are accounted for, fed, watered, and content.

At 10pm, I headed home and get an email that all of the remaining animals had been evacuated today and taken to Moorepark, the zoo, and another wildlife center.  I felt good that they were all safe.  Then I looked up along the ridge and saw the fires burning off in the distance.  A think orange blaze lit up the sky.  It looked like something out of a movie.  From what I've read, the firefighters have built up fire lines and are basically waiting for the fires to come to them.  There's just over 105,000 acres that have been burned with still only 5% containment.  3,600 firefighters from California as well as other states in that mountain range.  75 homes destroyed.  7,000 evacuated.  They expect to have the fires under control in another seven days.  Let's pray it doesn't take that long.

I'm scheduled for my regular produce pick-up tomorrow, but we'll see what the conditions are like in the morning.  Will it not happen at all?  Or will I be asked to deliver to the animals temp homes?

We'll see...and in the meantime, I know that the Angel City Automatic Sprinklers are watching over the animals keeping them safe : )

Angeles National Forest fires

fire that broke out last night in La Cañada

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.

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...

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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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.

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2-for-1

Some time has passed and I've had two visits to the Waystation, so you get a 2-for-1 special today.

My second day of volunteer work was cleaning the duck pond. I know what you're thinking...."What's exotic about that? Where's the wildlife? Ducks are at the pond in my neighborhood park." But does your local duck pond have wild emus running around with you and two black bears just on the other side of the fence? Which is kind of a tease for the two bears, actually. I'm sure they'd love to get their hands on some duck a la carte for dinner one day.

It was normal cleaning and raking with the exception of one of the emus shadowing me the entire time and pecking my head everytime I bent over - again with the hair fetish???!!! I found one dead baby snake - a coral I think - I need to get better at recognizing my slithery friends. One I do know is the rattler. And I came upon one who let me know right away that I was encroaching HIS territory...so that's where I finished my raking.

And this past Thursday I did produce pick-up. I was assigned a market to go to and pick up all the produce they normally would have thrown out that day. I had about ten boxes in my truck. I got hungry on the way up there and at a banana. I'm sure the chimps wouldn't mind.


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The Wildlife Waystation - Orientation and Day One

I've worked with and owned my fair share of animals growing up and as an adult - dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, cows, pigs, goats, and horses. But I've always wanted to work with exotic animals. Yesterday was my orientation at the Wildlife Waystation located in the Angeles National Forest, about thirty minutes outside of Los Angeles. Today was my first day as an official volunteer, and all I can say is I feel at home.

In Los Angeles, living amongst a sea of endless traffic, insane work hours, laptops, blackberries, cell phones, noisy and nosy neighbors, 60-year-olds who look like 20-year-olds thanks to the plethora of Beverly Hills plastic surgeons, people who wear sunglasses at night because someone might "think they are someone", I'm beginning to feel like I relate more to animals than to humans. Don't get me wrong, I love LA....I just need my retreats now and again. So welcome to my retreat.

Saturday, June 11 - volunteer orientation

The first half of orientation was boring - paperwork. The second half we did a tour of the property...yippee! The fun part. My favorite animal so far is Moran, an African lion. Moran is what boys of the Maasai tribe in Southern Kenya are called after they are circumcised and enter manhood, becoming the strong and courageous protectors and providers of their tribe. Moran is a gentle lion with soulful eyes. I've never been so close to a lion before, twelve inches separated us....that and a chain link fence. I can't wait for the day to be on the other side of the fence with him.

I need to rake in forty hours of volunteer time to be eligible for Level One Training. Not too sure what Level One status means exactly (I ran out of water and started loosing focus under the mid-day heat when they explained that part), but it sounds good, and I think I get a cool patch, too. So my journey to Level One Status begins......

Sunday, June 12 - 1st day as volunteer

I arrived at 9am, and only had two hours there today. I cleaned pens....the llama pen, the goat pen, the sheep pen, the ostriches, and the one lone zebra. Roscoe the pygmy goat likes my hair. He keeps trying to eat it. It's long and blonde, and probably reminds him of straw. So the entire time I was in his pen I kept trying to keep him out of my hair. Reminded me of a date I was once on. I had clip-on hair extensions in, and he kept wanting to run his fingers through my hair. The entire date, I was trying to keep him out of my hair. Cleaning the pen was a better time than that date.

I feel sorry for Zulu the Zebra...his pen seems way too small. I'm not sure of his story, but I'll find out. Carlos, the keeper, told me he's not too nice. We were cleaning the outside of the pen, and Zulu started following me around. I put my hand up on the other side of the fence and he came up sniffed me, and let me scratch his nose and head. He snorted and kicked at the two other guys cleaning with us that tried to do the same thing. Yay! It seems I've made a friend.

I've also made an enemy. Bubba the Olive Baboon is not too fond of me. I was leaving and Carlos and I were putting the rakes and shovels back in the shed. Carlos said something to me and I did a few play punches at him, and Bubba began screeching and howling, running the length of his pen back and forth snarling his teeth. After settling down, he kept a stern stare my way. I guess baboons don't really know the difference between a real fight and a play fight.

My first wildlife lessons -

1 - keeping boys out of your hair refers to male species of all kinds

2 - no play fighting, kids.