Noos from the zoo

Going back a bit now, but have a bit more to say about my fortnight at Zoo Negara.

Whilst there I was called Sharely by my southern fellow volunteers.

They were quite bemused when I commented it would be strange to be called Shirley again! ;-P

One evening at dinner, Organising Emma even told us how our bras should be fitted ! I felt sorry for Jon, sitting at the dinner table whilst his girlfriend discussed underwear with women he barely knew. ?

Organising Emma was like that, though. She frequently slagged him off for some infringement or other in front of us, & generally treated him like a little boy who needed watching closely.

I was also told, having asked what her bikini was like before we went to Langkawi,

"I don't have a bikini, I have underwear"

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but what a tosser!

It was amusing to watch her suddenly become all loving, & drape herself around his shoulders when he spent too long talking to one of us 'other women'. Even though Penny & I were old enough to be his Mum!

Jon & Emma were volunteering at the zoo for a month (Organising Emma wants to be a Vet when she grows up), & after the 1st few days at the Ape Centre, they worked in other areas of the zoo, including with the vet. I was quite jealous of that. It must have been fascinating.

That meant my days were spent with Penny & Surly Steph, who had a bit of a regime together for cage cleaning. I had to be quick or all the decent brushes would be gone!

I didn't mind cleaning cages on my own, though. It meant I got to spend more time with Maz & Denice, who'd come in & help, & at least if I got covered in diluted Orang poo, it was my own fault!

My favourite Orang was Chokey, an adolescent male who'll not be able to go out into the main enclosure unless his Dad dies & he becomes the dominant male. Either that, or he's sent to another zoo.

He's a right character with a wonderful ginger beard (very Scottish hahaha). I was able to give him the 'enrichment' toys I'd made, ie the food pockets & the goodie box. I got some decent photos of him being enriched as he figured out how to get at the fruit & nuts inside. Here is a photo of him with an ice lolly I made.

I filled a small plastic bag with water & blackcurrant cordial & froze it. Once solid I removed the bag & gave the lolly to Chokey. He seemed quite pleased, but with those soulful eyes, it's very difficult to tell whether they're smiling or sad.

I'll post a full blog about Chokey another time, as I've LOADS of pics of him & my time at the Library today is ticking away!

Here's a few more zoo photos, but I'll do a full one of that too, as there's loads.

This is the second one I took on our 1st day when we were shown round.

I call it Tweedledum & Tweedledee.

See what I mean about soulful eyes?

The 2nd is the Copybara family - Mum plus 4 kids of very different sizes.

Theirs was the 1st cage I cleaned & I got some good vid, too.

They were really cute - for the largest rodent on the planet! & I fed them by hand, which was really cool as a 1st zoo experience.

Next is one of the Slow Loris I mentioned.

Such an adorable little thing, but they have the most poisonous bite in the mammal kingdom apparently.

Maybe someone with easier access to google could check this out, as we were told some incorrect stuff by some of the keepers, so it may not be true.

About to get booted out so

OAO for today