Gecko 1, glove 0

Feb 092012
 

As an experiment in non-chemical pest control, geckos had been released in several of the animal buildings where cockroaches were a problem. One winter day in the primate house, one of the geckos was sitting on a wall near the public area. One visitor, naturally, had to poke the peacefully resting lizard, which turned and bit down on one of his gloved fingers. The gecko was too small to cause any damage to the visitor’s finger, but it clamped securely onto the glove and refused to let go.

When the tenacious reptile showed no intention of letting go after a few minutes the man summoned help. Keepers weren’t able to get the gecko off either, and they were reluctant to use force for fear of breaking its jaws. Finally, they persuaded the man to leave the glove with them and pick it up later.

Several hours later, however, the gecko was as firmly attached as ever. The keepers ended up taking the stubborn lizard to the animal hospital where it was sedated enough to relax its jaws. No one can recall if the visitor ever returned to claim his glove.

 Reptiles & Amphibians

Gone walkabout

Feb 092012
 

In the indoor Australian “walkabout” the animals were exhibited in a series of open grottos, which the public viewed from an elevated walkway winding around between the exhibits. The barless enclosures were fine for the wombats and Tasmanian devils, but they were no match for the agile brush-tailed possums. The possums jumped effortlessly in and out moving freely between the various exhibits.

Visitors tended to congregate in front of the Tasmanian devil exhibit to get a look at the almost legendary creature that most of them knew only from the huge, aggressively violent creature called a Tasmanian devil in the well-known cartoon series.

Due to the devil’s shyness, however, and the possum’s desire to roam, the animal they were seeing was more often than not a brush-tailed possum. The visitors often expressed surprise that the “devil” was so small. And they were often more surprised when the animal jumped out of the exhibit, landing on the railing in front of them.

Keepers said that the possum seemed to wait until there was a large crowd in order to cause the greatest possible panic.

 Small Mammals

Good time for a break

Feb 092012
 

Workers renovating a bear den were made a bit nervous by the presence of the den’s regular occupant in an adjacent den. The door between the dens appeared sturdy enough—it was made of heavy metal with only a small, heavily-barred window. The bear, however, was watching them intently through the window and occasionally would pound on the door or even reach his plate-sized paws through the window. The workers were concerned that should anything happen it would be difficult for all of them to evacuate the stall quickly through the one small access door.

The final straw came when the workers noticed several inches of claws protruding from gaps between the door and the wall on either side of the door. They decided that it was time for a break, packed up their tools, locked up the den, and left. When they returned a few minutes later, they discovered that the bear had torn the door loose and was loose in the den that they had only recently vacated.

 Carnivores

Ostriches will eat anything

Feb 092012
 

A keeper working in a barn for the African Plains exhibit laid a padlock down on a convenient ledge. When he went to retrieve the lock a few minutes later it wasn’t there. He looked high and low but the missing lock was nowhere to be found. He even checked the floor of the nearest stall, several feet from the ledge, a feat made rather more difficult by the presence of a large, male ostrich right by the door.

There was no sign of the lock in the stall, but then the keeper noticed a suspicious bulge halfway down the ostrich’s neck. As he watched the bulge traveled down the length of the neck and disappeared. The lock was never found.

 Birds

Escape artist

Feb 092012
 

Domestic goats are known for their Houdini-like abilities as escape artists, but one young male African pygmy goat put the rest to shame.
His first escapes were fairly simple; he would simply walk out the front gate while it was held open by visitors lined up to enter children’s zoo. His escapes never took him far—only to the public walkways by the bears—but he seemed to enjoy all the attention he got. When keepers and ticket sellers wised up and started watching the front gate he turned his attentions to the back gate.

The exit gate was an adult-height turnstile that would rotate only one way. The goat would stand in the turnstile and look cute until someone pushed the gate for him. And since he stood just about a foot high, had shaggy, silver hair, and a typical cute baby goat face, he was a pro at looking cute.

Before long, he discovered that he could turn the gate himself. This was no mean feat for an animal his size—the gate was heavy enough that many adult humans had a hard time with it. He simply tucked his head down and, step by step, with great effort, slowly pushed the gate until he had room to squeeze through.

Eventually he was banished from that part of children’s zoo, but he wasn’t through yet. He began jumping over the eight foot fence separating the children’s zoo from the parking lot. At that point the decision was reluctantly made that he would have to go. A local farm agreed to take him. The farm would offer him room to roam without getting into trouble, but the keepers all agreed that they missed having that spunky little character around .

 Children's Zoo

My turn

Feb 092012
 

At feeding time the kudu herd was brought inside the barn for their grain. It became fairly crowded inside and, as might be expected, there was often quite a bit of aggression as the animals jostled for a space at the feeding trough.

One older female, at the bottom of the pecking order, found a better way. She would wait outside the door until the rest of the herd was inside and then bark loudly—the kudu alarm signal. When the others charged out of the stall in a panic she would calmly step inside. By the time the herd calmed down enough to come back in, she had eaten her fill.

She didn’t do this every day, or it no doubt would have stopped working, but she was seen to do this on more than one occasion and it seemed to the keeper to be intentional.

 Hoofstock

Tug of war

Feb 092012
 

Workers installing thatching as a sunshade over the great ape cages had leaned their ladder against the metal frame suspended over the front of the cages. Things went fine until one of the orangutans reached through the bars and grabbed one of the men by the front of his shirt as he climbed the ladder.

The ladder kept the orang from pulling the man any closer, but the worker, balanced precariously on the ladder, couldn’t do very much to get away. Every time he pulled away the orang pulled him back—smashing his face and chest into the ladder.

Finally, after a dozen or so bone-jarring crashes into the ladder the orang lost his grip and the uninjured, but slightly shaken worker quickly vacated the ladder.

 Primates

Hose war

Feb 092012
 

A keeper hosing out a row of outdoor ape cages let the trailing hose get too close to the cage front and an adult orangutan pulled it into his cage. A protracted tug-of-war ensued—to the obvious delight of the crowd of visitors that rapidly gathered.

Finally, determined to win the hose back, the keeper put his foot up on the cement foundation wall and hauled back with all of his might. The orang, of course, let go of the hose completely. The keeper landed flat on his back in the grass, unhurt and in total possession of the hose, but without a shred of dignity remaining.

 Primates

Back at ya!

Feb 092012
 

A veterinarian was preparing to sedate a male African buffalo by using a CO2-powered pistol. The bull was being relatively cooperative. He was pacing around the stall, but he wasn’t moving very fast and each time he turned he would present the vet with a good shot at his massive flank. The only thing that showed his agitation was his tail, which was whipping from side to side and slapping against his flanks.

As the buffalo made the turn, the vet took aim at the exposed flank, and fired. The dart, which otherwise would have been a perfect hit, stuck in the bull’s tail as it flipped around. Reacting to the pain, the animal bellowed once and spun around. As he turned he gave his tail a couple of quick flicks, dislodging the dart, and sending it sailing out through the bars where it very nearly stuck the vet who had fired it only seconds before.

Editors note:
Although the details of this event are lost to time, it is quite likely that the drug in the dart was an opiate derivative known as M-99. It is very effective on hoofed animals and has the added benefit of being quickly reversible. At the completion of the procedure an antagonistic drug can be injected that brings the animal out of sedation quickly reducing the risk of stumbling or falling. A drawback, however is that it is quite toxic to primates, including humans. Had that dart hit any of the nearby people even the slight residue remaining in the needle could have been a serious problem.

 Animal Hospital

Must have been a Norwegian blue!

Feb 092012
 

The petting circle consisted of a U-shaped bench for the children to sit on, attached to a bank of cages containing a variety of pettable animals. Since the area was completely enclosed by the bench, some of the animals were often allowed to run around in the circle while the keeper was passing around another animal.

One day while a keeper was holding some animal for a bench full of kids, he accidentally stepped on a chick. The children’s squeals and the looks on their faces told him that many of them had seen what had happened.

Thinking quickly, he scooped up the limp chick, which, of course, was stone dead, “examined” it, and announced that it would be fine after a little rest. He then took the body back to the cages and wedged it securely between a sleeping rabbit and guinea pig where it remained “sleeping” until the next shift change.

 Children's Zoo
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