Time to talk again. Yes, I feel mildly ridiculous posting another entry just a few hours after my previous one. But I just can't contain my excitement. I feel like a little child, but honestly, isn't that what makes life special, feeling young and vivacious and free?
I had just reached up to scratch my nose and suddenly drew back. Ew, my hands smelled terrible! And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you know you work the coolest job in the world. I laughed when I remembered the reason my hand smelled so weird. I had just had it in a rhino's mouth.
Tonight was awesome. Me and a few of my fellow interns went running in the zoo as it was darkening outside. This is a customary activity for us a few days each week, but tonight was very special. I mean, it's always special at night. It's just us, the night keepers (about 3-4 of them), and the animals. The few that are out in their yards at night are ones that we love--a cheetah named Kali, the elephant girls, and the cute currasow Scud who races you down the length of his enclosure, and is a pretty good racing companion. Ah, I love them, and I know their names and their personalities, and I call to them as I pass and they respond. We talked to Kali the cheetah for a bit, and at first she was growling ferociously at us. But as she saw our soft expressions and that we meant no harm, she softened, too. She even started to perform for us, rolling leisurely on her back, rubbing her beautiful face in the grass. Rolinda the elephant heard me call her by name and walked to the edge of her moat, waving her trunk and throwing dust on me. It was adorable. Then, drumrollllll.....the best part of the evening!! We went up to the rhino and giraffe barns and happened to see a night keeper there. We asked if we could go and see the girls and boys, and she said yes. I got to get quite close to the rhinos and as I laid the back of my hand against one of the girl's bars, she took her prehensile lip and wrapped it around my knuckles. It was surprisingly soft and a little bit spitty and definitely stronger than I had expected. It was so cool! Next, we got to go into the giraffe barn with the keeper, and the giraffes were very curious about us. They all had their large eyes with long eyelashes bending down our way to see if we had produce for them. They sniffed our hands and wrapped their soft, long upper lip around our fingers. Their blue tongues reached out for any bit of food they could find, which we did not have. I got to reach out and pat a shoulder, feel the long faces and soft lips of these adorable creatures. Yeah, maybe for the people who work with them everyday it isn't a huge deal, but for me, it was bliss. Making connections across species barriers, touches that may only mean a possiblity of food to the animal, but mean love and acceptance to me. Honestly, running was no task after such a fun time because I was floating from my heart outward. I positively adored this evening!!
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