Bulletin From the Barn: July 21, 2011
Giant Anteater Update From Keeper Marie Magnuson
The anteaters have had a new adventure. They’ve moved! If you have visited our anteaters, you may have noticed that their pool was showing its age. I’m not sure when it was built but I started working here 12 years ago and volunteered for seven years before that, and it wasn’t new when I arrived. The time had definitely come for a new pool so we started the complicated process of funding, designing, getting bids, etc. This process can become so lengthy, especially when money is as tight as it is now, that the project itself becomes a little unreal.
Well, yes, Virginia there IS going to be a new anteater pool, and soon! The new pool will be smaller since the anteaters instinctively poop in water and the pool will need to be emptied and cleaned almost every day during the warmer months. It will have a deep end for swimming (for Dante) and a shallow end for bathing (for Maripi). It will use much less water since it will be smaller and leak free. A couple of decades of Washington winters had resulted in so many cracks in the current pool that we no longer needed to open the drain to empty it. The new pool will have a textured, less slippery slope so the anteaters will be able to get in and out of the pool more easily. It’s going to be beautiful!
With all this activity going on in their yard, we needed to find a temporary home for Dante, Maripi, and Pablo. It was decided that they would move up the hill and into one of the cheetah yards—and no, they won't be sharing the yard with any cheetahs! It's a very nice yard and has some lovely rotten tree stumps in it already.
Yesterday was the day chosen for the move, so early in the morning Leigh (the other regular anteater keeper) and I went over to the barn and quietly and calmly shut the anteaters into their sleeping crates. At least four of us were quiet and calm—Maripi, Pablo, Leigh, and myself. As for Dante, well, he did not like the looks of things at all. Let’s just say that Dante was going to be needing a clean crate and a bath after his trip. We loaded the crates into the van as quickly as we could for the short ride up to the Cheetah Conservation Station. Everything went smoothly and soon everyone was in their new digs.
With the resiliency of youth, Pablo took the move in stride and was ready to go exploring an hour after his arrival. Maripi took a little longer but she was quite relaxed by the afternoon so she and Pablo were given access to the yard for a few hours. They took a look around but didn’t venture too far away from the familiarity of their sleeping crate. Dante spent the afternoon recovering from his brief ordeal. He stayed in his crate, which we were able to get hosed out for him. He would have to take his own bath when he was feeling up to it.
It will take a little while until the cheetah yard feels like “home” to the anteaters. The five keepers who will be working with them while they are on bivouac are slowly making friends with them, and Leigh and I will continue to spend time with the anteaters every day. We will make sure that Maripi, Pablo, and Dante feel safe and secure in their temporary home. Getting used to the braying of the zebras may take them a little longer!
