“You
have the coolest job.” “I want to be just like you when I get bigger.” “You
must love coming to work every day.” “I love seeing the birds!” These are just
a few of the comments World Bird Sanctuary bird show presenters hear every day. And I must tell you, it never gets
old!
Cupid the American Barn Owl flying into trainer's glove - photo by Lisa McCabe
However, there is something even better than compliments. And what’s that, you may
ask? The questions! From my two years’ experience working with birds at World
Bird Sanctuary’s Milwaukee County Zoo bird show and
five years of working in a zoo, I have found that questions from the general
public about animals can be broken up into 3
categories.
Buford the Bald Eagle out in the public display area - photo by Erica Fenske
General Animal Questions. These common questions are usually about age, species, or
name. Every once in a while though you get the really good ones--the ones that
challenge you as a trainer. With only two years under my belt, I get challenged
every day. But the wonderful thing about being challenged is that it gives me
an excuse to ask even more questions! If someone asks me how many feathers are on
a bird’s head, I ask my supervisor how many are on their entire body. If someone
asks what a bird eats, I ask specifically what species. No matter how much I
learn there is always something more to learn! I ask questions every single day
and as much as I can to improve myself, so I can improve how I do my job.
How Can You Do This? As weird as it sounds, I enjoy
answering these. No matter which species you work with, you sometimes get a “non-zoo
person” who can’t fathom the idea of animals in captivity and find our career
choices as “wrong.” You can’t help but be frustrated at first, but that is why
we do what we do. Having the animals on display only fulfills part of their
duties as ambassadors of their species. We are here to fulfill the other half
by explaining to people how they are doing it. No, we don’t take perfectly
healthy animals out of the wild. No, they are not miserable. Yes we take the
best care possible of them and give them the best lives they could ever imagine. Explaining these concepts, one person at a time, makes me feel like I am making
a difference in the world. And, hopefully if we educate enough people, we can
help animals everywhere.
Scarlett the Red Shouldered Hawk - photo by Erica Fenske
How Do I Get a Job Like This? Now THIS is my favorite question. I love
when children/young adults ask me this question because I wish I had asked it more myself when I was their age! It shows
that people care and more people out there want to serve our purpose--to
educate the world about these amazing and beautiful creatures. By now I have my basic response--get a science related college degree, do lots of volunteer/internship work, and most of all,
have lots of determination. Even though it is such a basic response, no one
ever walks away looking discouraged, and that is the best feeling in the WORLD! Yes, flying a Bald Eagle is a pretty amazing feeling, but knowing I might have
just inspired someone to help eagles fly longer in the wild is a much cooler
feeling!
So all in all, always ask
questions. And if you don’t know the answer, ask even more questions. Questions
are limitless and no one should ever stop asking! A very wise teacher once told me that, “Any day that you
don’t learn something new is a wasted day.”
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