Goodbye St. Louis

Today is my last day as a research intern with the St. Louis Zoo. It's been amazing, and now it's time to head on to new things. I can't believe nearly a year has passed already!

I'll miss the Zebras and the Asses of course. As an intern, I became very attached to them and also their conservation message. The fox videos, I may not miss quite as much. All of the people I've worked with, who have been absolutely amazing, and the building where something always seemed to happen. I'll miss the lounge with the magical table that everyone puts communal food on. My favorite days where when I'd walk into the lounge to find donuts. I'll miss intern bowling.

The stingrays, also my babies. When I first came to the zoo, I never thought I'd get quite so attached to equids and fish. I'll miss the people I got to know in the Education department as well.

Goodbye, churro-and-fried-ice-cream stand. Goodbye, ugly kid sign. Goodbye, giant hill that I trekked up and down to get to and from the intern home base.

Speaking of giant hill, I'll actually miss my walk to the zoo. I'll miss Forest Park in general, really. It's pretty much the most amazing thing in St. Louis.

Goodbye fun zoo events, like Jammin' and Zooquest. Goodbye crazy dancing butterfly lady. I'll miss Sofiya, the amur leopard, and that crazy ostrich in the giraffe yard. Goodbye protesters, nobody took your pamphlets anyway.

I'll miss Dewey's pizza, and the Loop, and Central West End. I'll miss the crepes that one could purchase in Central West End. Goodbye Wash U, I never found the pool that you supposedly have.

I'll miss driving from Illinois at night, over the bridge, greeted by the lit up Arch and the lights of downtown. It's an amazing sight, and I'm glad I got to see it one last time last night.

Goodbye St. Louis...I never really knew how amazing you were until I lived here. Goodbye zoo, I love you.

Hello Florida....

The zoo is coming back to life

Being in the Midwest, predictably the slowest time of year for the zoo is the winter. With the few nice days we've had lately, it's great seeing the zoo fill up with people again like it was when I started here in August. The equid study will resume shortly and I actually can't wait to begin taking data...live observations are definitely my favorite part. 

The best part about spring is all the babies that will be arriving! I haven't heard of any major confirmed pregnancies but I know a few babies have already been put on display. In the Takin exhibit in Red Rocks there is a brand new calf that likes to sit on the rocks with its mother. This makes three adolescent takins in the exhibit! In December, another baby giraffe was born. On super warm days they'll put the baby out in the yard with the other older baby (who will be a year old next month) and enjoy sunshine. It's odd to say a giraffe can look so small and yet so big at the same time. In the Primate house there is a new Ring-Tailed Lemur who is maybe only a quarter of the size of its mother. I only caught a glimpse of it as it was being groomed by mom high in a basket in the exhibit but it had the cutest little face and the tiniest tail. I've heard from another intern that a Cotton Top Tamarin was born as well, but I haven't seen it yet. 

With everything getting so green and new its odd to think that the "new babies" born last spring, before I even arrived at the zoo, are almost a year old. The Amur Tiger cubs look nearly as big as their mother now and the Somali Wild Asses are getting up there in  size. I went out to their exhibit and was amazed at how big they had gotten. Fortunately they're still retaining some of their infant qualities so its still easy to tell them apart characteristically as well as physically. Kalama, the infant Grevy's Zebra, has a wild mane that won't stay up and the top of it falls into his eyes, almost like an emo hairstyle. Finally, Sophia, the Amur Leopard, has gotten to the point where its getting harder and harder to tell when it is her in the second leopard exhibit or her mother. However, granted she's not napping, if she happily bounces up to the fencing to "play" with the guest then we know without a doubt its her. She just seems to have this happy quality about her and I can't help but take a thousand pictures of her everytime I go past Big Cat Country. 

Equid Observations start next week; we'll be working with a class from Washington University to demonstrate how data is collected. This will be a weekly thing and its exciting to know our work is important enough to have students involved. 

Another thing I can't wait for; Caribbean Cove opens in May!