After lunch, Lisa took me to the document building behind the kitchen. Lisa explains that good animals are used for educational purposes. Specially trained volunteers, called docents, take animals from the building to the public areas of the zoo as well as from the zoo premises to schools and events. They will then hold live animal presentations and talk about the animals and their purpose at the zoo.
Lisa took me around each cage to introduce me to the animals inside. This small building out of public view houses chinchillas, snakes, rabbits, lizards and just one tarantula. We will clean their cages, prepare food and cool their water.
Out of all the animals in that building, I enjoyed chinchillas the most. Those little creatures have the softest fur I’ve ever felt. And their big eyes, big ears and shy nature make me love them even more. I asked Lisa, “Are these the animals they make fur coats?”
“Yes, can you imagine how many pieces it takes to make a jacket?” she asked emphatically.
I looked at the little animals, sitting on their fake branches, “Are they even bigger?” I ask.
She shook her head, “No.”
“Even killing one is wrong,” I continued.
She nodded in agreement, “Yes, but it takes more than one to make a fur coat. Try two hundred,” she said with disgust.
“Oh my god!” I cried out.
I am told that chinchillas are native to the Andes mountains of South America, where some are captured and brought to the United States to be kept as pets, for laboratory use, or for their fur. In the wild, they live in herds, burrowing and burrowing into rock crevices for protection from the elements.
I think my proudest moment in that building was the first time I held a snake. I surprised myself by willingly picking up a small one. I need to move them to temporary containers while cleaning their cages. I almost flinched when the first one wiggled, but I suppressed the fear that I would drop it. I wanted Lisa to see me as competent, but more importantly, I didn’t want to harm them. Snakes are non-venomous so there’s really no reason to fear them, but that never stopped my fear of cockroaches. I found the snakes surprisingly soft and smooth, and not slimy at all, which is what I expected.
One creature that I hope to avoid is the tarantula. Lisa teased me and said, “Think of it like a little kitten, all furry and cute.”
“Yeah, not likely,” I laugh.
When she cleaned his tank, I noticed that she never actually handled the spider; she just used a bunch of flap maneuvers to move him from side to side of the house while she cleaned up the little things that needed cleaning. I realized I could do it, and from that point on, I did.
“What did he eat?” I ask.
“We mostly feed it crickets,” she said. And that reminds me of all the animals at the zoo that ate other animals at the zoo.
Like other docile animals, the tarantula has only a small amount of space, but what is more disturbing is that it is all alone.
taken from The Age of Spider Monkeys: And Other Revelations From Behind the Zoo.
Image of Jake Heckey from Pixabay
