Gillian's Reptiland Summer Experience

 Over the past few days, we have completed our zoo camps for the season. While I was not with the kids the entire time, it helped me realize that for a career I want to be more hands on with kids on the day to day. This weekend will be our Dino Days, and I may be dressed up as a dinosaur to meet with kids. A professional paleontologist will be coming to give information out as well. I love all the information and facts I have learned while being here, and I hope to keep learning. Some days are hard, but I cannot believe I am already more than a third of the way done. 

Here are some photos of the animals we have. The first is a baby box turtle. Next, is a Komodo dragon. Our two dragons are named Thurber and Saphira. Lastly, is a Great Horned Owl, of which we have two, Darwin and Wallace. Some other interesting animals we have include our legless lizard which is a new arrival. My favorite animals to work with so far are the boas, skinks, and Aldabs.   

 This experience has given me a lot of insight about what life might be like after I graduate. Working a full time job is exhausting, and then I have to come home and cook dinner and clean. It has given me an appreciation for all my parents have done for me.  Today, I gave my first show. I had three families, so it was nice to start small. The whole thing I just felt like I was trying to ramble off as much information as possible. Everybody was really kind in the audience and said I did a great job afterward. Tomorrow, I will do another show which is hopefully even better than the first.  Also, recently, I have also been able to visit most of the shops on my street, and I love them all! There is a super cute craft store that is probably my favorite.  They have a really adorable dog that roams the store which gives me my pet fix. 

 My mom visited me last weekend and we got to spend the day at T&D's Cats of the World. It is a refuge for all sorts of animals but they are well known for their large cats. They had so many white bengal tigers and even a lion and lioness! For cats and other animals such as raptors, foxes, and wolves, this location serves as a forever home to unwanted or unreleasable animals. I love raptors, and they had a really great display of a bald eagle nest which really puts the size of these animals into perspective. The refuge is only open to the public in summer months and there are no paid staff. I highly recommend a visit! 🐅

Today, I began moving into my apartment that I will be staying in for the rest of summer. Something that I've noticed about being a college student that I do not particularly enjoy is the constant moving. You move in and out of a new dorm every year, move into summer housing (twice in my case), move into field station housing, move into study abroad housing, move back home over break...It is a never ending cycle.  At work, I have completed my first animal encounter. Basically, these are times where we let guests interact with an animal and give them some extra information. I enjoy this because I love talking to kids, I get to learn a bit more about a specific species, and can spend some extra time with my favorite animals. Currently, my favorite is a Blue Tongued Skink named Sully. With him, I usually discuss his use of mimicry to protect himself in the wild.  Another daily responsibility is to monitor the parakeet room. This part of my day is usually serene because if it is s...

 I'm writing this after having completed my first two days on the job. Day one was very overwhelming, as there is a lot of information to absorb. Most of the day, I shadowed some of the other zookeepers and helped complete tasks with them. The morning starts off completing duties in the main portion of the zoo such as feeding, cleaning, and turning everything on. Then, we move upstairs to the large collection of animals we have not on display and complete the daily animal care tasks. The exciting part is getting to engage with the public! We have Gentle Giant feedings, photo ops, shows, and animal encounters. I have just started learning how to perform our one show: Lizards and Snakes Alive! I have noticed that all of the facilities I have worked at, they have general similarities. Each animal has a care care and there is a to do list for each room. The town I am located in is wonderful! There are lots of things to do around such as shopping and eating. I am looking forward to the ...

 Hello! My name is Gillian, and I am a sophomore at Juniata College studying Environmental Science with a secondary emphasis in education. A little background about me is that I am from York, PA, I love to exercise, craft, be with my loved ones, and my favorite color is pink! Yesterday, I just moved into my Air BnB that I will be staying at for the next few weeks before I move into my apartment. It was a very emotional experience for me to leave my friends and family for the summer to come to Allenwood, PA for a zookeeper position at Clyde Peeling's Reptiland. I found this position by researching AZA zoos in the area. Originally, I had applied for an internship, but instead, they offered me a paid zookeeper position! My parents put in a lot of work to make me feel at home such as buying me some of my favorite foods for the fridge and registering me for a gym membership here. Tomorrow all of the hustle and bustle finally has a reason, as it is my first day on the job! I am nervous a...