Internship #1

1. Workspace. There are two because when I am working I will sometimes be inside in the office, and other times I will be wandering the ranch doing work.

2. Dress. If I were to look professional, I would ruin all my clothes. Meet Joan Embery. Shes my mentor. This is typical dress at where I work.

3. Work I do. Some of the work I did was sorting pictures on a whim. We had to find a picture that was from 20 years ago, and also, I train this llama. The llama is still young, and needs to be walked, and calm around people, so I take him/her on walks to calm the llama down for when it grows to be full size.

4. Something that struck me. This mountain lion, if it was wild, could easily tear me apart. But this big cat is lovable. He rubbed his head against the fence so I would pet him. Its crazy to see how exotic animals such as Mugger can be so tame and friendly.

5. Interesting experience. Has a cheetah ever licked your hand? Enough said. Cramer, this lovable male cheetah purrs at me, and licks my hand when I stick it out. I think thats pretty dang interesting.

My Day:

My mom woke me up. So excited for the day, I jumped out of bed and dressed in some jeans and a flannel type shirt. I drove about 30 or so minutes to Lakeside, where I pet Eeyore the donkey and the horses until Joan was out in the trailer/office, which is when I went to her. I did a lot of different things throughout the beginning of the day. Then after lunch, I went over to Ed, the handler/feeder of the animals. Not only did he take me around to some animals, I got to help feed some like the Aardvark, the Cheetahs, the Mountain Lion, and others. After loosing track of time and hurriedly rounding up some animals, I finally left, after a long 7-hour work day. Now, to get the the ranch in Lakeside, I go straight up the 8 to the 67, then turn right and left, and Im there. There was no traffic there, or on the way back. It was a breeze. Probably the most fun was getting to know my mentor, and having fun with the animals. I think I can tackle anything thrown at me, and Im not really all that nervous. Even petting the 8-month-old vulture wasnt nerve racking! I am so excited for these 3 weeks. I know I will have a blast, and Im lucky to have gotten this opportunity with the one and only Joan Embery.