Last month, I celebrated my 53rd birthday. My husband and I spent the day walking up a local river trail, following the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River. It was the perfect place to reflect on the last years’ chaotic move from family and friends in California and the end of my 20 year zookeeper career, and the first full year of my chosen new life in western Colorado. After nine months in our new home, I’ve had time to appreciate both the reasons and risks of the choices we made to get here. My gratitude for our good fortune is equally met with deep fears on how to afford our new home in the ..read more

Have you ever asked for something specific, only to make assumptions that the most important detail was understood by all parties, ultimately thwarting your desired outcome? You ask for an ice cream sundae with special toppings, assuming everyone knows you prefer vanilla, only to be served chocolate. It’s easy to overlook the big details when we are focused on the small ones, but as the saying goes, “the devil’s in the details.” Those of us with “country-dogs” know how “thrilling” it is to have them race triumphantly home after rolling in something dead. Living in an open-space landscape can ..read more

One of the most positive and constructive uses of animal communication is helping to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. When humans and wildlife have a conflict of interest over the same resource, it is typically the animals who suffer for their choices. Rarely do people search for compromise and share resources with others. Occasionally they might, if the resource is low value and the animal is cute. But what if the resource were your backyard and the animal was a rattlesnake? If you were unwilling to share the space, what might happen if you politely asked them to leave? Such a scenario pr ..read more

I expected things to be different. A big move changes nearly everything in your life: your house, job, friends and neighbors, resources, the weather. I expected all this, and I even hoped for some deeper, internal changes within me in response to this new place. I just didn’t expect them so soon. Our new home is a big change from the frenetic bubble of southern California. That’s why we came here, to make a home in a stable, restorative place, to quietly do our work and take pleasure in peaceful living. Of course, the move itself was anything but peaceful. And after several weeks of packing ..read more

There was a chill in the early morning air, but it was warmer than the inside of the walk-in refrigerator. I was just exiting with my arms full of daily tiger rations when I ran into a colleague from the bird department. She had recently attended a welfare meeting offered by our zoo and was eager to share some highlights with me. As she loaded her vehicle with diced fruits, seeds and crickets for her charges, she paused to point at the crickets…and forever expanded my view of animal welfare. Welfare is a concept commonly applied to the animals in our care. We want our animal friends to flour ..read more

Respect for all living things is a basic tenet of Animal Communication. Holding judgements against certain taxa because they give us the “creeps” is hardly respectful. And if a respectful affect is so important for creating a connection, then it should be equally true whether connecting with a friendly dog or a “creepy” spider. This was the impactful thought that crossed my mind back in 2008 as a new student of Animal Communication. I was working as a zookeeper for the then San Diego Wild Animal Park in the bontebok yard. While caring for these African antelope, I stooped down to clean the w ..read more

In 2008, I worked as a regular string keeper in the Village area of the then Wild Animal Park in San Diego. One of the first tasks of the day is to check on all of your animals to be certain no one was injured overnight and that all is well. This often includes disturbing animals that are still bedded down, making them get up and move around to be sure they are stable and sound. Although the practice is warranted (accidents do happen when local wildlife and collection animals meet up at night), I struggled with feeling like a rude and insensitive human when asking animals to leave their cozy ..read more

The year was 2012 and I was working in a totally different part of the Wild Animal Park. I was a field keeper now, working in enclosures that were 30-80 acres large, with herds of hoofstock of various species all intermixed. It was a totally different kind of zookeeping with a totally different set of skills. Herd management was a priority; selecting current herd sires and managing the resultant offspring required much attention and resources. Since San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is a proud member of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), we share best practices and individual anima ..read more

I offer this little story as a cautionary tale about the unexpected effects of not taking your animal communication session seriously enough. If you ask a question of your animal partner without the respect and earnest interest in the answer, you might be left empty handed. I was given the opportunity to talk with a beautiful dressage mare and her riding partner of many years. It was a good conversation with the mare as I learned about her years in the show arena and how she felt about her work. We discussed all of the fun stuff about her home and animal friends, her likes and wishes. The w ..read more