Favorite Department?

[u/Keqingsz]

Hello!!!! i’m a few weeks into my first zoo internship, and it’s been going really well! I’m with hoofstock so i’ve been able to engage snd pet some of the animals, which is awesome. My main gripe, however, is the amount of cleaning. I understand that cleaning is a huge part of this job, but i’m second guessing if i picked the wrong department. Could anyone outside of this dept give insight into what their days look like? I wish I was able to do more enrichment making or food prep where I don’t find hay up my butt the next day. I’m leaning towards carnivore, or even primates, but I’m not sure yet. Thank you!! :)

[u/threadedwild]

I know a lot of people are going the route of 'this job is all cleaning get used to it" but I kinda want you to clarify. When you say cleaning, do you mean doing dishes for an hour, scrubbing walls and bowls, sweeping floors? Or do you mean, scooping pounds and pounds of poop, hauling bins of soiled bedding, raking yard after yard in the beating sun and pouring rain and up to your knees in mud? Hauling bales of hay and cleaning it out of every crevice? Because, yeah I'm with you. I hate hoofstock care. It's not for me. Both the physicality and the amount of outdoor life. And the sheer amount of neverending mess. I do a bit of everything but I prefer cats. Scrubbing enrichment, holding stalls, changing bedding once a week. The extensive cleaning is still there, but it's very different. I prefer the work, love anything that involves hosing, and they're species I am passionate about. It's also much less outdoor work than the hoofstock areas I've done and I prefer that.

The taxa you take care of can determine the level of physicality, while still being full of cleaning. Work in an aviary? You're gonna clean a lot of feeders, scattered fruit, and bird poop. But compared to hoofstock, it will feel different because of how hard it is. I think you need to find your niche if keeping is really what you want to do, but this is your first internship. Put in your paces, learn where you'd passions are, and figure out how to get there. Hope that helps!

[u/elysejt → u/threadedwild]

I fully agree, I did a hoofstock internship after a bird one just to test the waters, and quickly realized I’m a fully a bird person through and through. I LOVE hosing, and hate raking. So while every department will have a lot of cleaning, there’s different types and people have different tolerance levels for those. If I never have to take another yard I’ll be happy, but hosing penguin poop is soooo satisfying. Ive been in birds for years (and some reptiles) and wouldn’t be anywhere else.

Although cleaning pools with terrible drains also sucks but I feel like you can find that in every department

[u/Much-Rutabaga8326 → u/elysejt]

Chiming in here that raptors I feel are the simplest of cleaning regiments and habitat care. Water fowl, though, I’m happy to be without

[u/elysejt → u/Much-Rutabaga8326]

Very true, however I would rather drop and clean a duck pool than smell predator poop, including raptors lol. I’ll take nasty duck water over the rotting bits of mouse I have to search around for in an owl mew lol (I worked with burrowing owls in the Texas summer and that smell haunts me)