#caseyinterns

[con-ed-casey]

Seeing as its been 8 months since I interned last, it’s time for a name change.  I mentioned that my radio name in Philly had been ConEd Casey (Conservation Education Casey) because we identify out department first.  My new manager thought it sounded like a superhero (I disagree BUT here we are).  Without the hyphens, it’s coned casey and nobody wants that.

[con-ed-casey]

Today was my last day of my animal care internship at the zoo

Keeper: Thanks for not being a terrible intern. Me: Thanks for not being a terrible mentor. Keeper: In four years, you're the first person to shoot back at me. Not bad. Me: See? You taught me well. And so ends my time behind the scenes of the kid's zoo. I'll still get loads of time with my goat friends in Public Programs but I'm going to miss the program animals, preparing diets and enrichment, and the friends I've made. But then again, now I can use that day for jobs that pay, or in the meantime, a day off.

[con-ed-casey]

When a giraffe first arrived in France as a gift from the viceroy of Egypt, the people nearly rioted to catch a glimpse of her. She became so popular, women began to style their hair and dress in giraffe inspired patterns. Here are five more fun facts about giraffes: 1. Giraffes get only about 2 hours of sleep a night and only 20 minutes of that sleep in considered deep sleep which is taken lying down. Baby giraffes get up to an hour of deep sleep. 2. Although their long necks help them reach leaves up in the canopy, specializing their diets, some scientists believe the neck originally became elongated as the species' legs got longer. Longer legs allow the giraffes to run up to 35 miles per hour to outrun predators and the long neck just evolved with it. 3. Their necks may be long, but giraffes have the same number of vertebrates in their necks as humans! This neck also contains a complex vascular system that prevents blood from rushing to their brains when the lower their heads to drink. Drinking puts giraffes in a vulnerable position because their necks are actually too short to reach water so they have to splay their legs to reach it. Luckily, they get most of their water from the leaves they eat. 4. Male giraffes taste the females urine to determine if she is in heat and ready to mate. When a giraffes is pregnant, gestation is over 450 days (!!!) and the 6 foot baby drops 5 feet to the ground when it's born. 5. Male giraffes often have homosexual sex. Like, as high as 90% of giraffe sex is between homosexual males. There is some debate about why this happens. Some studies suggest it is purely to practice until they are able to breed with the females, or that social hierarchy prevents bulls lower in status from mating, but other scientists suggest that individuals prefer mating with males even when females are available. http://www.theguardian.com/science/animal-magic/2014/jan/20/zarafa-giraffe-paris-fashion <-giraffe hairdo article

[con-ed-casey]

10 Updates on My Life

I’m terrible at communication so here what’s up.  Friends, I’d love to hear how your lives are, so if you have time, you should totally post updates too!

Greg has been living with us for the last few weeks since his parents have moved to Boston and he’s been waiting to hear back from his job.  He just got hired which is super exciting, but I’m going to miss watching Star Wars together.

I’ve decided that while I’d love to be a zookeeper, I’m not able/willing to go through the years of being unpaid or underpaid to get there.  I’ve got student loans I need to pay and would like to move out so

I’ve been applying for lots of jobs in the conservation education field. I still want to work in a zoo, but with maybe less poop in the job description.  Basically I want to be a quidditch captain with more animals.

The pets are pretty sick right now.  Roo’s getting fixed Thursday, but he’s sick and we don’t know why.  Jingles has a parasite, but he’s also just getting incredibly old which is hard to watch.  I’m doing my best.

I played quidditch with the Philly team.  I didn’t realize how much of myself exists on that pitch and I was so happy to be back on the field. They’re super nice, though it also made me miss my team so much.

Holy hell, I’m so proud that the Spiders did so well at Regionals.  Rebuilding year, my ass.  I think shedding the seniors, myself included, was super healthy for the team and I can’t wait to see what they do. (Also, Carlos is the bomb.)

I get to see Ian in a couple of weeks and watch my first NFL game as the Eagles lose to play the Patriots. So excited.

I’m trying to keep my head up at the zoo.  I love it there, but a lot of my coworkers (who I like) can be pretty negative sometimes which I totally get, I just can’t let it get to me.

I am almost officially hired as a substitute teacher at my high school.  I’m pretty excited not only because it pays better than my current jobs, but because I can be productive while being there.  It’ll be my third job.

I miss you, friends!  Being a grown up is overrated.  But you all know that already.  Also goats are great.  Have I mentioned goats?  Goats.

[con-ed-casey]

Zoo Squirrels

Child: Why don't you like animals?

Me: What?! I love animals!

Child: Then why did you shoo away that squirrel?

Me: Oh. He was trying to steal things from strollers. After all the people leave, the squirrels run the zoo but they have to wait until darkness falls to emerge from their homes in the trash cans. Darkness is their domain. Otherwise, anarchy.

[con-ed-casey]

Happy Halloween

I explained the water cycle to a kid at the zoo the other day and he said he was never drinking water again. I asked him where he thought it came from and he said he thought someone invented it. There's your scary story.

[con-ed-casey]

So at my animal care internship, we switch between inside and outside animals and while I like the inside animals, I actually get to touch the outside ones. I highly recommend visiting goats for stress relief.

[con-ed-casey]

Child 1: What it that?! It's so prickly! Child 2: It's a porcupine! It was a cactus.