Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary blog 2 (Jana Stuhr)

So I failed my mission to be Super Laundry Girl today. Another regular volunteer beat me to the punch of being reigning laundry cleaning queen. I did however become skilled in the art of brush clearing. About two weeks ago the zoo had about 100 feet of brush and trees cleared from the perimeter of the zoo. This is to help protect the zoo against the all too common wild fires that pop up in Texas because of the lack of rain. So my group had the pleasure of taking all the brush from the clearing and moving it to behind the green barn to be chewed up and spit out by the wood chipper. We all started in on this gigantic task, but within fifteen minutes one of the zoo keepers, Michael, came and asked me to help in the kitchen doing dishes and cutting fruits and veggies. As I followed Michael up to the kitchen we chatted and let me just say everyone in Texas has been extremely helpful and hospitable and Michael is no different he was fantastic, super friendly and knowledgeable. We made it to the kitchen and I started to fill a large black bucket halfway full with apples, bananas, oranges, lemons, lettuce, carrots, and squash that I had sliced and diced to the right size for some small mammals to eat. I had to make sure that no seeds snuck into my bucket though because seeds are not good for the little guys. After I had prepared that scrumptious meal I started in on the dishes. I quickly flew through the dishes and turned my attention to Sophie who is a Great Pyrenees as well as one of the guard dogs that patrol the grounds at night. Sophie is extremely large, fluffy, and loveable. Sophie was quick to roll over and ask for a tummy rub. As I was showering my affections on Sophie I realized her back right foot had a double declaw and then I saw that her left back paw also had the double dewclaw. I was pretty amazed I’d never seen one double declaw let alone two double dewclaws. For those that don’t know what declaws are they are extra toes that are loosely attached on the sides of dog’s paws. A lot of breeders and owners have them removed either because the look is undesirable or because of the potential of the toe snagging on something and tearing it off. Later I was informed by Kait who owned Great Pyrenees when she was young that they all have double dewclaws. Alright back to the rest of the day. After I finished loving one Sophie I gave Freddie another guard dog that looks to be a Great Pyrenees, collie mix some attention. I then went outside to rejoin the group clearing brush, but I met them about halfway to my destination and we decided on a lunch break before heading back to finish clearing the brush. We were able to eat outside at the picnic tables because the weather had improved from the rainy cold day before, which is relatively uncommon in Texas, and the day was now sunny with a little bit of wind. I enjoyed a delicious lunch of peanut butter and jelly with and orange and a banana washed down with some much need water. After we ate we headed back to the brush and finished the rest of the clearing in about an hour and a half. Then Kait and I got the privilege of taking Toucan, a black pony, and Dewey, a donkey, on a leisurely stroll through the zoo. I believe they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the llamas and the goats had quite an affinity for Toucan and Dewey as they passed their pens. I rounded out my day at the zoo by doing feed out. This was a ton of fun and the saying that goats will eat anything really is true.