Monday, May 31, 2010
Offday!
So, we've renamed monday Offday. And this week, it was REALLY a day off, for Abby and I at least...we got to sleep in till 9:30, then went to Cabin-O-Pines to shower. We had lunch at Dennis' house, met his deer herd, and I got some great photos. I also got to drive a 4-wheeler for the first time since I was a kid! It was so much fun, but it made me miss riding horses. Dennis took us on a tour of the area, which included stops at Vince Schute's grave and a nearby river, where, naturally, I slipped and fell on my ass. Abby then skipped daintily across the same rocks I'd succumbed to, furthering my humiliation. Typical Olivia.
We're open to the public now, and I spent our first two nights working the admissions kiosk. Good times. I can't wait to start doing deck talks, though.
I don't really have a lot to talk about, actually...We have a bear that's been giving us trouble in the mornings, she's bluff-charged and/or swiped at all three of us at some point. Dennis will probably start negative-conditioning her, because this behavior is unacceptable, not only because of the possible danger it presents us, but because she's learning that her agressive behavior will get her fed faster. We can't identify her, so it's possible she's new to the sanctuary. DON'T WORRY, MOM, I'm FINE. She'll get sorted soon enough, and we never do morning chores alone.
That's about it so far...I need stuff to hang up around my bunk, guys! Here's my mailing address again:
Olivia Hooper
American Bear Association
PO Box 77
Orr, MN 55771
I'll answer everything I get! I need you all's mailing addresses so I can write to you, send postcards, etc. I'd really like to hear from you all directly. Write soon! I want to hear about what you're all doing for the summer.
Until next time....
We're open to the public now, and I spent our first two nights working the admissions kiosk. Good times. I can't wait to start doing deck talks, though.
I don't really have a lot to talk about, actually...We have a bear that's been giving us trouble in the mornings, she's bluff-charged and/or swiped at all three of us at some point. Dennis will probably start negative-conditioning her, because this behavior is unacceptable, not only because of the possible danger it presents us, but because she's learning that her agressive behavior will get her fed faster. We can't identify her, so it's possible she's new to the sanctuary. DON'T WORRY, MOM, I'm FINE. She'll get sorted soon enough, and we never do morning chores alone.
That's about it so far...I need stuff to hang up around my bunk, guys! Here's my mailing address again:
Olivia Hooper
American Bear Association
PO Box 77
Orr, MN 55771
I'll answer everything I get! I need you all's mailing addresses so I can write to you, send postcards, etc. I'd really like to hear from you all directly. Write soon! I want to hear about what you're all doing for the summer.
Until next time....
Monday, May 24, 2010
This week, in a nutshell
Today is my first day off (and by "Day off" they mean "work morning OR evening, not both") so I'll be putting quite a few posts on here. I'm also going to spend some time making phone calls, cleaning my cabin, and resting. But in the mean time...
I'll hopefully be able to build some upper body strength out here; there's a lot of heavy lifting involved. Further proof that I'm a little on the pathetic side when it comes to being capable of getting things done. I'd also dearly love to be at least three inches taller, because the leverage the extra height would afford me would make my life a lot less frustrating. All of this stems from having done a "pull barn" run yesterday, which involves 55-gallon barrels full of granola and trail mix, as well as blocks of dates which can weigh between 35-60 pounds (as estimated by my coworkers). All of this needs to be loaded and unloaded from a pickup truck with every run. The three of us almost couldn't pull it off. So, yeah, strength. I need it.
The Photographers leave today, huzzah! Apparently they bring in quite a bit of money for the sanctuary, but they make my job more difficult, since we have to stay out of all their shots and feed more frequently to keep the bears around for their photographic pleasure.
Visitors start arriving on saturday, which means my evenings will get much more complicated, but also more diverse. Not only will we have feeding and cleaning chores in the evenings, we'll all take turns working admissions, parking, gift shop, bus talks, deck talks, feeding....it might make things more stressful, but it might make things more fun too. Time will tell. I'm looking forward to giving talks, though; that is, after all, one of the main focuses of my major, and one of the things that made me excited for this internship.
Mostly, I'm just waiting for the work to slip into a pattern. Nothing has really been bad so far, it's just a little haphazard, and we're short-handed with just us two interns and one volunteer. It'll be good when we get some more people out here.
I'll hopefully be able to build some upper body strength out here; there's a lot of heavy lifting involved. Further proof that I'm a little on the pathetic side when it comes to being capable of getting things done. I'd also dearly love to be at least three inches taller, because the leverage the extra height would afford me would make my life a lot less frustrating. All of this stems from having done a "pull barn" run yesterday, which involves 55-gallon barrels full of granola and trail mix, as well as blocks of dates which can weigh between 35-60 pounds (as estimated by my coworkers). All of this needs to be loaded and unloaded from a pickup truck with every run. The three of us almost couldn't pull it off. So, yeah, strength. I need it.
The Photographers leave today, huzzah! Apparently they bring in quite a bit of money for the sanctuary, but they make my job more difficult, since we have to stay out of all their shots and feed more frequently to keep the bears around for their photographic pleasure.
Visitors start arriving on saturday, which means my evenings will get much more complicated, but also more diverse. Not only will we have feeding and cleaning chores in the evenings, we'll all take turns working admissions, parking, gift shop, bus talks, deck talks, feeding....it might make things more stressful, but it might make things more fun too. Time will tell. I'm looking forward to giving talks, though; that is, after all, one of the main focuses of my major, and one of the things that made me excited for this internship.
Mostly, I'm just waiting for the work to slip into a pattern. Nothing has really been bad so far, it's just a little haphazard, and we're short-handed with just us two interns and one volunteer. It'll be good when we get some more people out here.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
I'm almost too tired to bother posting tonight...
It's 9:30 pm and I'm all ready for bed. That's pretty sad. I can imagine Willow's response to that. Today was kinda rough. Let's just say, I hope to build some upper body strength over the summer. Tomorrow is my first day off (which means I only have to do morning feeding and chores), so I'll be back here at the internet to write in more detail. Have some pictures.
Friday, May 21, 2010
TICKS.
TICKS.
MADDIE, WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME ABOUT THE TICKS!?
...though I suppose since that's the only thing I really have to complain about, I can't complain. But seriously, they're awful, and there's a ton of them. Here's hoping I won't end up with lyme disease...
Yesterday started at seven, as usual, with feeding the bears and then ourselves. There's tons and tons of ravens, crows, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, and a piliated woodpecker who all enjoy the food we put out as well. The sanctuary gets lots of donations which get fed to the bears; typical fodder is granola bars, trail mix, banana chips, dates, dried fruit....it all depends on what has been donated. Abby, Zachariah and I spent an hour or so opening three-year-old pouches of ballpark sunflower seeds and pouring them into the 50-gallon buckets. Yesterday we spent the morning doing highway cleanup. The sanctuary has adopted a two-mile stretch of highway around the park's entry. It was a little daunting, as the heat of the day rose. Not to mention the EIGHT MILLION TICKS. But I digress.
Two nights ago the three of us met Zeke, one of the regular bears. He was massive, and very gentle-tempered. Turns out the bears love the black-oil sunflower seeds that typically get fed to birds. Here's a photo of him:
Today has been a little strange because there's a group of photographers here. They arrived early this morning, and will be here all day, all week. It adds another layer of awareness to the job. It also means we're busier, so I don't know how soon I'll be able to post here again. Leave me comments...
TICKS.
MADDIE, WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME ABOUT THE TICKS!?
...though I suppose since that's the only thing I really have to complain about, I can't complain. But seriously, they're awful, and there's a ton of them. Here's hoping I won't end up with lyme disease...
Yesterday started at seven, as usual, with feeding the bears and then ourselves. There's tons and tons of ravens, crows, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, and a piliated woodpecker who all enjoy the food we put out as well. The sanctuary gets lots of donations which get fed to the bears; typical fodder is granola bars, trail mix, banana chips, dates, dried fruit....it all depends on what has been donated. Abby, Zachariah and I spent an hour or so opening three-year-old pouches of ballpark sunflower seeds and pouring them into the 50-gallon buckets. Yesterday we spent the morning doing highway cleanup. The sanctuary has adopted a two-mile stretch of highway around the park's entry. It was a little daunting, as the heat of the day rose. Not to mention the EIGHT MILLION TICKS. But I digress.
Two nights ago the three of us met Zeke, one of the regular bears. He was massive, and very gentle-tempered. Turns out the bears love the black-oil sunflower seeds that typically get fed to birds. Here's a photo of him:
Today has been a little strange because there's a group of photographers here. They arrived early this morning, and will be here all day, all week. It adds another layer of awareness to the job. It also means we're busier, so I don't know how soon I'll be able to post here again. Leave me comments...
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Internet: I can has!
Hi everyone! Today is my first full day of work here at the sanctuary. There's three of us working here right now; our ranks will fluctuate over the summer. Our morning starts at 7:00 am with the morning feeding for the bears, then breakfast for us. Chores will differ daily, but today we had to bring all the empty barrels (and when I say barrels, I mean GIGANTIC barrels. Maybe 50 gallons? More? I'll check on that) with granola and trail mix from pole shed, then load the truckbed down with 20-lb blocks of dates....I'm going to be super buff by the end of the summer. I've also got some monster callouses starting on my hands. Woohoo! The bears are great--don't worry, there's a ten-foot rule, and no one has ever been injured here. This afternoon was spent cleaning out an old trailer--where we've now got the internet hooked up--and this evening will be feeding, moving matresses around in the cabins, and hopefully our dinner at some point too. I'll keep you all posted as often as I can....
(Yes, I took that picture, by the way. Such a good photography experience here!)
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Last night in Maine...
Last night in a proper bed...
LAST NIGHT OF WAITING TO GET THERE!
Got my bags packed, checked and re-checked everything, and I still won't fully believe it's actually going to happen until I get there tomorrow night. Wish I had more to say about it all, but I won't know until I get there.
Expect a (roughly) once-a-week update here, and if anyone wants to write to me, my regular address will be:
Olivia Hooper
American Bear Association
PO Box 77
Orr, MN 55771
And please leave me comments here on this blog!
LAST NIGHT OF WAITING TO GET THERE!
Got my bags packed, checked and re-checked everything, and I still won't fully believe it's actually going to happen until I get there tomorrow night. Wish I had more to say about it all, but I won't know until I get there.
Expect a (roughly) once-a-week update here, and if anyone wants to write to me, my regular address will be:
Olivia Hooper
American Bear Association
PO Box 77
Orr, MN 55771
And please leave me comments here on this blog!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
T-minus Eleven Days And Counting
Hello everyone! I have braved the dangers of HTML coding and now have a spiffy new blog. I should be able to get internet access weekly during the summer, so expect a weekly update to this. I don't have much to talk about just yet; I've only been home for two days, and I'm trying to simultaneously unpack, repack, and study up on bears (not to mention catching up on Heroes and LOST).
Anyway, keep an eye on this blog--when I get more organized over the next few days, I'll write a longer post about what I'm getting myself into. In the meantime, click on the American Bear Association banner at the top of the page and it'll link you over to their website, where you can read more about the Vincent Schute Wildlife Sanctuary and my work there.
I'm really excited to get going, and I'm hoping I'm able to share this whole experience with you all. Feel free to leave me feedback and comments!
Yours,
Liv.
Anyway, keep an eye on this blog--when I get more organized over the next few days, I'll write a longer post about what I'm getting myself into. In the meantime, click on the American Bear Association banner at the top of the page and it'll link you over to their website, where you can read more about the Vincent Schute Wildlife Sanctuary and my work there.
I'm really excited to get going, and I'm hoping I'm able to share this whole experience with you all. Feel free to leave me feedback and comments!
Yours,
Liv.
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