Katy Carchedi

Weekly Journal for Summer Internship

Schedule: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; 8:00 a.m. 4:00 or 4:30
p.m.

Week 1 May 27-31, 2015

Wednesday May 27, 2015
Observed, scooping the mews Bring intern keys and radio.
Check if diets from day before were eaten and recorded that
information in daily report. Check if animal is okay, if they have enough
clean water and if the enclosure is secure. When checking the Redlegged Seriema, bring the scale and 10 grams of waxworms to weigh
him; record on sheet inside. When checking the side mews let the
chicken out of her box take water and food bowl inside to washed.
Rake the ground in each outside enclosure and fill any holes that the
chicken has dug out. Scoop poop in both the New Guinea singing dog
and serval outdoor enclosures. Once back inside let animals outside
and once all are all outside close the shifting doors.
Disinfecting day with foam on everything in the building with all
animals in crates so that everything can be cleaned and scrubbed. All
newspapers, toys, poop, and leftover food must be cleared out then
everything is foamed, scrubbed and then hosed off; after the hosing
the building is squeegeed towards the drains. When going from room
to room the squeegee and scrub brushes must be rinsed to prevent
cross contamination.
Room set-up - replace all newspaper in rooms, replace bedding
for the degus, hedgehog, chinchillas, rabbits, and armadillo, put beds
and any logs back, and look in enrichment binder for what each animal
can get.
11 oclock encounter
Observed making of small mammal diets
Cleaned crates with pro-vet logic wipes
Handled Madagascar hissing cockroach
Learned how to hold chicken when she gets medicated
Friday May 29, 2015
Collected food and water bowls in morning
Disinfecting day but not as much as Wednesday.
Scooped mews
Observed to corn snake and tarantula encounters
Handled box turtle and learned how to properly crate them to
bring to programs.
Sunday May 31, 2015

Encounter with box turtle talked to people about an

Eastern box turtle named Hickory. Hickory is missing a foot so a
lot of what I talked about was why shes missing a foot and
information about box turtles. Guests cannot touch her because
of Tennessee laws.
Handled opossum, armadillo, Kenyan sand boa, bearded
dragon and blue-tongued skink.
Hosed and disinfected mews (birds of prey enclosures)
Herbivore diets some reptiles get reptivite supplement; some
have it with vitamin D depending on what their heat source is
(lamps have vitamin d while heating pads do not).
Went to see Blitz the lynx in a different part of zoo because of
construction going on near EAB
I learned a lot this week it was very busy and I was thrown right into the
action. I experienced everything in the normal routine like making diets,
disinfecting, crate cleaning, animal handling and crating, how to setup the
enclosures and animal encounters with zoo guests. I think the most
challenging thing for me is that there is a lot of information to keep track
of and remember when going through the routine but Im sure once I am
here for a few more weeks I will get the hang of things. Something that I
also have slight trouble with is asking what I can do next but as I keep
working Ill understand more of what I need to do and when. I feel good
about my internship so far although I was overwhelming at first and
sometimes I still get a little anxious about some things but as time goes
on I am hoping that will get better. I learned a lot this week but I think
that the major thing that I learned is how to handle an animal while
talking to guests. There is a lot to factor into an animal encounter like
making sure that guests stay a safe distance away, that (if allowed) the
animal is touched in a safe manner (for both the animal and the guest),
and that the animal is being handled properly.

Week 2 June 2-7, 2015

Tuesday June 2, 2015
Started doing encounters by myself
Encounter with box turtle
Handled Kenyan sand boa
Bleach day for all the dishes and toys
Regular hose day (just rinsing the floors, clean
rabbit/chinchilla/opossum/PTP out, spot clean armadillo)
Wednesday June 3, 2015
Disinfecting day
Went to offsite program for preschool with Hyacinth macaw, tree
frog, kinkajou and Madagascar hissing cockroach

Made enrichment for animals (ice treats for parrots, scents for
reptiles,
Disinfecting day everything gets completely cleaned
Friday June 5, 2015
Scooped mews for the first time by myself
Encounter with Kenyan sand boa
Fed birds of prey and seriema
Cleaned cat and dog area of spider webs

Sunday June 7, 2015

Watched training session for Amelia the European Rabbit
Made mammal, bird and reptile diets
Fed birds of prey and seriema
Crated and uncrated chinchilla and rabbit
I feel really good about this week. Already in the second week I have a lot
more responsibility; I can go on encounters by myself with any animal that I
am signed off on and I can go on spontaneous encounters if there is nothing
else for me to do. I also can feed the mews, which includes all of the birds of
prey (screech owls, turkey vulture, barn owl, Harris hawk, red tailed hawk
and red-legged seriema). I have also found out that I am very good at hold
our chicken Buffy when she needs to be medicated. This week I also got the
chance to observe a training session with Amelia the European Rabbit and
soon I will get to help out with her training. Diets are a really important part
of our day and I can now do mammal, bird, and reptile diets on my own and
sometimes there is a lot to remember and that can be challenging but doing
the diets a lot will hopefully help me get the hang of it. I think that after this
third week there will be very little that I dont know how to do or at least
havent seen at least once. The keepers do a really good job of keeping track
of what we do and there is a binder where they record everything that we
have done and what we are allowed to do on our own. This really impressed
me that they did this and I like how well it works and how quickly we actually
get our list accomplished.

Week 3 June 9-14, 2015

Tuesday June 9, 2015
Handled blue-tongued skink, hedgehog, sand boa
Crated Prehensile tailed porcupine, southern 3-banded armadillo and
opossum
Fed birds of prey
Wednesday June 10, 2015

Disinfecting day
Not too many changes from past weeks
Friday June 12, 2015
Hose day
Handled a barn owl; learned how to put Jesss, swivel and leash on the
owl.
Sunday June 14, 2015
Hose day
Made the bird and mammal diets. For 3 of the birds we are only putting
the produce in their bowls because the zookeepers are using the rest
of their diet for training reinforcement.

I feel good about this week not much was different from last week but Im
still enjoying it. I am starting to learn how to handle Whitlock the barn owl
and it is really exciting because I didnt know I would get to do this and after
doing it I really enjoyed it. There is a lot the goes into handling an owl like
how to attach the swivel to the Jesss and even holding my hand in a certain
way takes a lot of focus but Im getting the hang of it. This could be really
helpful in my future career because not everyone will know how to handle
raptors and I will have that experience. There is also a lot of new training
going on in the department with some macaws. The goal is to have the birds
fly from the Education Animal Building to an encounter space and its
interesting to see the training plans change and adapt with how the birds are
behaving. This can be applied to my career because Ill be prepared for each
day being different and that each day might be a challenge but there will be
progress eventually.

Week 4 June 16-21, 2015

Tuesday June 16, 2015
Disinfecting day
Handled a barn owl.
Made enrichment for animals including novel scents for prehensile
tailed porcupine, pieces of leather for the hedgehog, baths for the
bearded dragons and misting for the birds of prey and macaws.
Made bird diets
Wednesday June 17, 2015
Hose day
Went on an outreach program to an assisted living home with
education animals that are native to Tennessee.

Friday June 19, 2015

Stable environment foam day
Went on an outreach to a senior community center to talk about
animal training. We brought animals that were in a spectrum of animal
training from displaying complicated behaviors to desensitization.
Sunday June 21, 2015
Bleach day all the dishes were bleached, washed and dried. Dishes
have to be soaked for 10 minutes and then rinsed and then must dry
for an hour before they can be used.
Made enrichment
Went on an encounter with a southern 3-banded armadillo
Made bird and mammal diets
Observed an encounter with a New Guinea blue-tongued skink and a
New Guinea singing dog
Made reptile diets
One thing that I really need to work on is learning that mistakes are okay to
make. I know that its okay but sometimes I worry about it a little too much
and one day this week I made a couple mistakes and I let it get to me. I know
that it is a learning experience so mistakes are bound to happen and I am
not making the same mistakes, which is good I just need to remember that it
is okay.
This week I went to two outreach-encounters, each focusing on different
themes. One was at an assisted living center and was about local Tennessee
animals and we brought a crow, an opossum, a corn snake and a red-tailed
hawk. This program focused on where these animals are found, common
misconceptions about these animals and how they ended up at the Nashville
Zoo. The other program was all about animal training; we brought animals
that were in a spectrum of animal training from displaying complicated
behaviors to desensitization. It was new for me to see a presentation for an
older generation because I am used to working with kids and teens. You have
to take a slightly different approach when presenting the information to
them. Even though there was a huge age gap between this outreach
program and other programs Ive done, the same things happen: people
want to touch the animals, they can be scared of the animals and they will
interrupt you with questions. Going on these outreach programs can be
applied to my career because I can see a different way I can be involved with
working at a zoo. It also shows me how flexible you have to be and how
many things you have to pay attention to when providing these programs.

Week 5 June 23- 28, 2015

Tuesday June 23, 2015

Disinfecting day
Crowd control for macaw flights
Wednesday June 24, 2015
Hose day for cleaning
Keepers were at a meeting for a majority of the afternoon left me and
another intern with a list of things to do. Most were a normal part of
our routine; some were extra things to do.
Encounter with bearded dragon and gopher tortoise
Friday June 25, 2015
Foam/stable environment cleaning day
Made bird diets
Encounter with Buff Orpington chicken, bearded dragon
Handled European rabbit
Signed off to do encounters with the corn snake
Sunday June 28, 2015
Bleach day
Encounter with Eurasian eagle owl
Made mammal and bird diets
Cleaned reptile enclosures
Made enrichment for all the animals
I feel really good about this week. I feel a lot more comfortable in what I am
doing and I can feel my confidence growing in the routine and in knowing
what to do. The keepers trust us and know that we can perform tasks on our
own, which really boosts my confidence. I learned how to manage large
groups of people when flying our macaws. We are using a ladder as a perch
for the birds to fly to the encounter space and we are on a major pathway of
the zoo. I mostly direct people to stay off the path and not to pass until safe
to do so. This can be difficult because a lot of people dont feel like being
patient but I learned that I have to be patient with them as well. There hasnt
been any unruly guest, which has made my task of crowd control easier.
Dealing with large groups of people can be difficult but by being able to
practice during these bird flights gives me great experience for my future
career. I also learned about the Eurasian eagle owl and owls in general by
observing a keeper do an encounter with that bird.

Week 6 June 30 July 5, 2015

Tuesday June 30, 2015
Disinfecting day
Observed the macaws flying
Made enrichment for all the animals
Wednesday July 1, 2015

Hose day
Made mammal diets
Encounter with hedgehog and bearded dragon
There was a severe thunderstorm so we had to give all animals access
inside stay inside.
Helped the keepers redesign the enrichment calendar
Friday July 3, 2015
Foam/stable environment cleaning day
Crowd control for macaw flights
Made mammal diets
Encounters with corn snake, box turtles, and gopher tortoise
Observed crow and aracari training sessions
Sunday July 5, 2015
Bleach day
Crowd control for macaw flights
Observed barn owl flight and aracari training
Made mammal and reptile/amphibian diets
Went on a walk around the zoo with a keeper who handled the New
Guinea Singing Dog
This week was pretty normal nothing out of the ordinary and everything is
going fine. There wasnt too much that was different or new. The thing this
week that I can apply to my career is that a lot goes into training animals
and it is a fluid process: it changes as you go. I observed a crow training
session and he has been at the zoo for five year but his training is not always
effective and the major issue they have is crating him. They are trying to
figure out his motivation and although he is food motivated for other trained
behaviors he isnt for crating. He seems to like the social aspect of being out
of the crate more then the jackpot hell get inside the crate. The other two
trainings were with 3 and 4 month-old birds so theyre training is in the early
stages so figuring out what they are motivated by and what they are afraid
of are major parts of their training. One of the birds is a barn owl and they
want him to fly from a perch to the keeper; the issue is keeping his weight
appropriate for flying but by doing that he is very hungry in the mornings
and will misbehave around the keepers. It is a lot of trial and error to figure
out what is needed for a successful training but persistence is key and I think
that is what I have really taken away from these observations.

Week 7 July 7-12, 2015

Tuesday July 7, 2015
Disinfecting day

Made mammal diets

Watched macaw flights (no longer doing crowd control so guests can
walk freely on the path; makes more realistic for birds)
Wednesday July 8, 2015
Hose day
Made bird diets and taught mammal diets to a volunteer
Encounters with opossum and barn owl
Practiced handling nanday conure
Friday July 10, 2015
Did not do morning routine because I came in late to accommodate for
the time I would be at the event that night Red, White and Zoo an
evening wine tasting event
A pump near the building wasnt working so we could not use any
chemical not even dawn soap so we were very limited in how we
cleaned things in the building
Encounters with corn snake and sand boa
Handled and crated barn owl
Cleaned backstage area in preparation for show at event
Red, white and zoo event included encounters with multiple animals
and I handled the gopher tortoise and armadillo. There was also a show
with all different birds doing different behaviors.
Sunday July 12, 2015
Bleach day
Encounter with barn owl
Made bird and mammal diets
Enrichment
I feel good about this week and it went really well. I got to experience what it
was like to do an after hours event for the zoo. This event was special
because it was all adults and I could take a different approach when
presenting the animals on encounters. I could use facts that were more
geared towards adults rather than kids like I do at normal encounters. This
can be applied to my career because it helps me figure out which type of
language is appropriate for certain groups. There was also a show that night
with the animals in our building. We havent been doing shows regularly
because there has been a lot of construction so this was the first one I could
see. I learned what goes into preparing for the show like what animals we are
bringing, what equipment (crates, gloves etc.) is needed, what order the
animals are coming out, and how the animals will be reinforced (food/treat

prep in advance/ not feeding animals a head of time). This can be applied to
my career because it is an excellent exampled of making sure that
everything is prepared ahead of time and that organization is key to success
with an event like this and with everyday routines as well.

Week 8 July 14-19, 2015

Tuesday July 14, 2015
Disinfecting day
Bird diets
Observed encounter with degus (animals are new to encounters
practice in front of zoocamp kids) and scarlet macaw
Observed macaw flights
Misted parrots
Gave bearded dragons a bath
Encounter with bearded dragon
Wednesday July 15, 2015
Hose day
Went on outreach to preschool and did a program based on the book
Its not easy being a bunny and brought animals from the book
including Flemish giant rabbit, opossum, and yellowed headed amazon
parrot. I handled the opossum while the keeper talk to the kids.
Friday July 17, 2015
Foam day
Went on outreach to preschool and did a program based on the book
Its not easy being a bunny and brought animals from the book
including European rabbit, opossum, and green aracari.
Learned how to handle screech owl and went on an encounter with him
Sunday July 19, 2015
Foam day
Made bird diets
Encounter with bearded dragon, box turtles, and gopher tortoise
Gave tour of building to my sister and showed her all of our animals
Got to go on meet one of the elephants and feed her because it was
the other interns last day
This week was good there were a lot of new and fun experiences going on. I
got to do some new animal handling this week including a nanday conure
who needs reinforcement when being taken in an out of his cage or he does
not cooperate whatsoever. I also learned how to hold a screech owl. This was
a lot different than the barn owl because the screech owl has a lot more
experience on the glove and I a lot calmer but its also different because he

weighs almost nothing and it felt different. One of the keepers had asked if I
had done any bird of prey handling before and I havent and she was
impressed and said I was a natural. This was nice to hear and Im glad I am
good at it because it is a skill that I can take with me into my career. I also
went on a few outreaches this week and I learned that it can be difficult
managing small children and animals but it helps to have more than one
person doing the outreach. I also got the opportunity to talk about one of our
animals to children ages 4-8 and it was a lot different that my regular
encounters. I went really fast and did not pace out my facts. I am used to
getting a lot of information out quickly while people walk by but this is a
different setting and I just have to figure out how to pace myself and how to
include the kids in my information (asking them questions and answering
their questions). I can take this to my future career because I could be giving
all sorts of presentations and I have to know how to present the information
in an appropriate time for that setting.

Week 9 July 21-26, 2015

Tuesday July 21, 2015
Flying macaws
Encounter with chicken
Wednesday July 22, 2015
Hose day
Encounter with
Friday July 24, 2015
Foam day
Program in Murfreesboro with retired veterans
Sunday July 26, 2015
Foam day
Fed and handled mango the gold and blue macaw
Encounter with corn snake
This week was good very similar to the past couple of weeks but Ive always
been busy so I have not minded that. One of the big things I learn is about
training and how the smallest of mishaps can be a big setback. One of the
macaws overflew the perch by about 25-40 feet and landed on in some trees.
He had an awesome flight but was not rewarded for that flight and the
trainer thought that he might not do as well the next day. To compensate for
the flight now being rewarded the trainer did multiple short flights to help
build up his confidence before another attempt at a longer flight. What I will
take with me in my future career is that things might not always go right but
there is always the next day to recover.

Week 10 July 28-31, 2015

Tuesday July 28, 2015
Flying spike, handling mango
Training Whitlock the barn owl
Clouded leopard cubs socializing
Wednesday July 29, 2015
Clouded leopard socializing
Encounter with blue-tongued skink, bearded dragon
Friday July 31, 2015
Animal paintings
Training Whitlock the barn owl
Socializing with African serval
This was my last week as an intern and it was bittersweet to leave. I didnt
want my experiences to end but it is nice to be home. This week I got to do
some special things like extra training sessions and handling sessions. One of
those sessions with Spike, a nanday conure, who is trained to fly back and
forth between two people with visual cues. He has being doing this behavior
for a long time so it was a good experience to improve my training
confidence. I also got to help train Whitlock who is a barn owl and he is only
5 months old and very new to training so his session was a bit more difficult
to be successful with. However he did fly up to me from the ground with the
encouragement of a mouse. Through his training sessions we have figured
out that he needs to see his reinforcement very clearly before he makes his
decision on what to do. I feel like I learned so much over the course of this
internship all of which I can take with me into my future career from simple
things like doing a morning routine to training and handling birds (both birds
of prey and parrots).