Christmas time at the zoo includes Santa visiting the animals and people!  I am not sure who has more fun,  Santa or the people!  Always a favorite with the zoo kids! www.facebook.com/northgeorgiazookids

Helping bring a live nativity to life in down town Monroe Georgia has always been a highlight for Hope Bennett of Wildlife Wonders/ North Georgia Zoo.   WIldlife Wonders teams up with Lighthouse World Outreach Center to help Monroe residents remember the reason for the season and to help celebrate the birth of Jesus.  www.lighthousewoc.org .   www.wildlifewonders.org  www.facebook.com/wildlifewonders.zootoyou

Zookeeping is 90% shoveling and cleaning but that 10% are moments like these! Playtime with a baby goat, baby African Cresetd Porcupines and Baby Gibbon.  Everyone has grown up now but this memory will last forever!

Hello, my name is Rose! I am a baby African Crested Porcupine. I was born two weeks before Christmas and am so excited to be at the zoo for Christmas and see all the pretty lights. My new mom Shauna has been taking such good care of me. When I was first born, I was so cold but then she found a way to keep me warm! She gives up her own cuddly socks just so that I stay snuggly warm on these cold winter days. Shauna also gives great belly rubs! I am so excited for the upcoming year. Shauna says I get to learn to be an ambassador, I had to ask what that meant but she says it means I get to go out a visit kids and teach them about me. There are people out there who think the strangest things about porcupines! Did you know some people think that I shoot my quills? That would be so rude, I would much rather snuggle and eat a banana. I glad I get to show kids how much fun porcupines can be because otherwise they might never see one! I can’t wait for my adventures to get started so I can meet everyone. It’s going to be so much fun.

Hi, it’s Rose again! I wanted to tell you all about my first big adventure! It was so much fun. I get to travel with Shauna all over because she is taking care of me and giving me yummy milk and food. Yesterday Shauna had to go to a nativity. I asked what it was and Shauna said that it was like a play but was about Jesus and his birth and teaching everyone what Christmas is really about. The one that we went to was in a town square so that everyone walking by and driving by could see! So I got my sweater on so I wouldn’t get cold and we got in the car to go. I’m not really sure how long it took to get there because I took a nap but when we did get there it was amazing! Shauna had all these fun animals that were much bigger then I was and had already learned to be animal ambassadors. She said that I was just there to watch since there were no porcupines in Bethlehem. She had some animals that were really loud and they were goats, some that were really soft and they were bunnies. But then I saw the biggest animal I have seen in my entire life! It was a camel! Shauna said his name was Obadiah and she had raised him from a baby just like she was doing with me and when Obadiah was little he had to learn just like I was. Obadiah was amazing, he was so tall and loved being among all the people, showing them how nice camels are and they don’t just walk around spitting at people. Some people there had never seen a camel before and were so amazed. Some people kept yelling out something about Hump Day but that didn’t make any sense to me, maybe once I grow up more. It made me so excited to get think about when I will be big enough to start my job of being an ambassador because I could see how happy and touched the people were to meet Obadiah. They all had questions about him and wanted to learn everything they could! We stayed at the nativity for a while but most of the time I stayed in the warm toasty van, it was cold outside and I don’t have a thick winter coat like Obadiah has. Then it was time to go home. I had so much fun on my first big adventure and learned so much! Just listening to everything, did you know that camels only have one set of teeth? I couldn’t believe it, I asked how they would eat yummy sweet potato but Shauna said that just because I eat it doesn’t mean everyone else can. Obadiah eats hay and grain but not sweet potatoes. There is just so much to learn about all my North Georgia Zoo family.  I can’t wait until I get to have my own adventures and not just ride along but for now I am so happy that I get to learn all I can from the professionals like Obadiah but I am glad I’m still small enough to cuddle on Shauna’s lap at the end of the night with a bottle of warm milk. 

A fun blog from the perspective of the keepers, volunteers and interns.  Find out what their days are filled with.  
What is it like to raise a baby fennec fox?
What happens when it rains all day?
Who feeds the animals fro Christmas?  Easter?
What is a typical intern or zookeeper day like?
What is their favorite part of the day?
What is their favorite animal?