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Training Wild Elephants

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One thing that amazes me about animal training is that the basic principles can be applied to any animal. Dog, cat, hawk, fish, porcupine, and elephants. Even wild ones. Yes, you can change the behavior of wild animals in your backyard - or in Africa. Animal trainer Ken Ramirez has been working on a conservation project in Zambia to protect a dwindling herd of elephants. The herd's annual migration path meanders through Zambia where they are protected from hunting. But part of their path crosses the border into Democratic Republic of the Congo, where poaching is rampant. Many elephants are killed in this small section of their journey.  So they began to wonder if they could train the elephants to reroute their migration path to stay within the political boundaries of Zambia. Ramirez developed a training plan with the conservation team using the same principles that he would use to train a dog. First, they made the dangerous path more difficult by installing a tall stick barrier at
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Kekekwe

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Each morning I lovingly say, "Hi, Crazy Lady," to Carson the Red-tailed Hawk. This nickname most often comes out when she is most active and vocal in the spring (breeding season) and fall (migration season). But I started rethinking my morning greeting during her daily weigh-in in the office this week. A few volunteers happened to be taking a break from exhibit construction and stopped to admire the impressive hawk. We asked our fantastic volunteer, Val, what Carson would be called in the Ojibwe language. " Kekekwe ," she said. "Lady hawk." Kekekwe* . What a lovely word. I wondered if the name originated from a hawk's vocalizations. Carson commonly makes short shrieks as part of our morning routine. I could never quite describe them, but "kek-kek-kek" might be a good term for these calls: Maybe I could start to use  kekekwe as a kinder nickname for Carson's morning greetings. Though I may still call her "crazy" sometimes, I lov
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Humidity

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  A plastic storage container has been Digger's favorite spot in her habitat this week. I noticed the hognose snake's eyes were starting to look cloudy, a sign that she is getting ready to shed her skin, so I offered this simple box. It is filled with damp moss to make a high humidity space that should help her skin peel off smoothly in one piece. 
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Extra Activity

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I'm paying close attention to the snakes' activity levels since starting a behavior-based feeding routine. Instead of feeding regularly every Saturday, I wait to feed the snakes until they start to look hungry. One obvious sign is increased activity. If a snake is moving around more in their habitat, they may just be searching for food. Usually Emory the Great Plains Rat Snake spends most of the day curled up in one of her hides. When I caught Emory climbing up her branch in the middle of the day this week, I made a note of it. Was she looking for food?  A few hours later, I took another peek at her habitat. She was calmly resting under the heat lamp. My eyes scanned to the lower level of the habitat and saw a lovely fresh scat. It turned out she wasn't hungry earlier; she was working out a poop! 
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Snow Storm Prep

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With Winter Storm Warnings on the horizon, I did some emergency planning. The birds needed to be okay in the extreme event that staff could not get to the Museum during the storm. On Sunday morning, weighing each bird was a priority. I was happy to see that they were all in the upper end of their healthy weight range, giving them an extra buffer against the cold. I also prepared extra food for Aldo, Carson, and Otto to provide additional fuel. While not ideal, I was confident they would make it through the storm if I couldn't get to them on Monday. Luckily I was able to dig my car out of the driveway around noon the next day, after the worst of the storm, and safely reached Cable to serve a late breakfast to the birds. 
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There and (not quite) Back Again

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Digger the hognose snake was doing a great job following the target across her habitat for a tasty mouse reward. I figured we would move on to the next level of difficulty: following the target outside of her habitat. With a short table set up by her door, Digger eagerly followed the target to the threshold. But when I moved the target just a bit further onto the table, she stopped with her head hanging over the edge. Was she scared? I also wondered if she just didn't feel stable with the 5-inch drop to the table. I took a large branch and propped it up like a ramp. I tried leading Digger with the target again, this time over the new branch. She rushed after the target and I presented her mouse. It worked!  I figured I could do the same targeting behavior in reverse to move her back in her habitat. I slid the blue target up the branch, but now Digger had no interest in following it. I gave her some time to explore the table and tried again. Still no luck. I ended up picking her up
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Glove Gamble

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Since our vet visit two weeks ago, Carson the Red-tailed Hawk has been hesitant to step on my glove. Understandably, she's weighing the risks. If I step on glove, what are the chances something scary will happen?  Every time she steps up, she takes that gamble. My job as her trainer is to build more positive associations than negative ones so she is more likely to go for it. It's all about trust. This morning I felt the warm, spring-like sun and knew Carson would enjoy sitting outside to bask. But would she be willing to come out with me? I brought the glove up to her feet. She didn't budge. I took a step back, then tried again. She looked at the glove, then lightly hopped away to the other side of the perch. That was a definite, "no thanks, I'm not willing to risk it." Carson was not interested in stepping on glove. I decided to try again in the afternoon. This time, I held out the glove and one foot lifted, hovering above the perch. I waited. She carefully s
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