I have worked with many species of animals. I Started with the basics: dogs, hamsters, fish, hermit crabs, birds and guinea pigs. you know the one every parent ends up taking care of. I like to think I was decent at taking care of my "pet".
Then in College I upgraded to volunteer work at the Houston Zoo. -Which by the way if you think you are ever interested in working with animals I recommend volunteering as early in age as possible and applying for internships all through college.
The Houston zoo taught me a lot about farm animals. Goats, chicken, Llamas, pigs, ox, sheep, ducks were all a part of the children's zoo area. You definitely learn how to rake really well as a volunteer in that area.
Alligators, Eagle, otters, snakes, rabbits, chinchilla, raccoon, white tail deer, fox, are also some more of the species in the children' zoo there. This was the time that I decided "I don't know if I want to work in a zoo". Don't get me wrong I think zoos are a very important factor in conservation. I was more interested in the training aspect of animals. I didn't really want to go the vet route since I want to work more with healthy animals and raising them. I also wanted to work more in natural settings.
After I graduated College I soon found myself saying "What do I do now?"
Luckily with a little bit of persistence and annoying phone calls; I got my first internship at TGR Exotics.
Again, I took another step up in varying animal species. Camels, lemurs, tiger, serval (that tall cat in pictures standing next to egyptians, you know the one), PORCUPINE, kangaroo, muntjac deer, sloth, and others I can't remember; were all new species for me to work with.
After hearing from my supervisor that there was this cool place in Alaska looking for an intern to train bears; I thought "It can't hurt to try."
Again, with lot's of luck (and I mean lots from above) I got the internship. Well 3.5 years later I am still working at that same place. The Alaska wildlife Conservation Center has taught me so much about myself. Working with (and I can name them all) black bear, brown bear, coyote, porcupine, eagle, owls, red fox, sitka Black Tailed Deer, reindeer, elk, moose, bison, and Canadian Lynx has never been a boring day. There is never a boring day here. I have realized over the past year that my purpose in life to work in conservation. All the days at work here have left me with a lot of cool pictures. This blog is dedicated to my favorite pictures working at the AWCC. ENJOY.
PHOTO COURTESY:DOUG LINDSTRAND
PHOTO COURTESY: DOUG LINDSTRAND
PHOTO COURTESY: DOUG LINDSTRAND
PHOTO COURTESY:DOUG LINDSTRAND
E and Z
