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Zoo Keeper: Caitlin's wild career journey from tennis coach to zoo keeper.
17 Plays8 months ago
With a passion for working with Children and Animals, this week you will meet Caitlin, she had a dream of becoming a Zoo keeper and created herself a strategy to get there. Hear the steps she put in place to secure her success in this highly competitive career.
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Transcript
Introduction to A to Z Jobs Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to A to Z Jobs, the podcast that delves into the fascinating world of careers, one profession at a time. In each episode, we'll deep dive into a specific profession, exploring its history, requirements, challenges and rewards. So get ready to expand your horizons, challenge your perceptions and discover a world of possibilities.
Caitlin's Journey into Zookeeping
00:00:24
Speaker
I'm Roxy. And I'm Nate. And we're excited to host you on this journey.
00:00:28
Speaker
With a passion for working with children and animals, this week you'll meet Caitlin. She had a dream of becoming a zookeeper and created herself a strategy to get there. Here are the steps she put in place to secure her success in this highly competitive career.
00:00:41
Speaker
Hi Caitlin, welcome to our podcast. Hey guys, nice to meet you, thanks for having me on. Thank you for taking the time this evening and let's jump into our first question and find out what you do for a living. Well I am a full-time zookeeper, so prior to that I was and still am a tennis coach as well, so that certainly helped me
00:01:01
Speaker
get to where I am today. But I gained permanency at the beginning of this year at Laidu. So dream job. Very, very happy to have gotten this job. Awesome. That's so exciting. I have so many questions. I would do my best to answer. So perhaps before we dive into our other questions that aren't on our script, let's start with the one that is on the script.
A Day in the Life of a Zookeeper
00:01:28
Speaker
Talk us through what a day in the life of a zookeeper is.
00:01:31
Speaker
or that's a tough one. Every day is very, very different from the next. You've got to expect the unexpected in zookeeping. You've got your dailies, which are your siding all the animals, making sure that they've got their brekkie, doing those spot cleans, and then you jump in for your weekly cleans, your fall cleans. So that's different each day.
00:01:54
Speaker
We make sure that we prep all their food. We're making sure that we're also engaging them as well. So making sure that they're getting some form of enrichment in their day-to-day life. And then we're making sure that if there are any on medications that they're getting those as well. Certainly kept on our toes. So I wouldn't say there's a set.
00:02:19
Speaker
timeframe or what a day looks like. It really does vary. You never say the Q word. You never say it's quiet. You never say, yeah, we've got heaps of time because it always just seems to fly out the window. And then, yeah, you're on your toes for the rest of the day. Sounds brilliant. It's a very active thing, very active role. You're out there prepping food, cleaning,
00:02:46
Speaker
daily cleans, monthly cleans. What about admin? Do you do any admin or is it all just like fun animal stuff? Yeah, it's a bit of both. So we do do the admin as well. So we do our keeper diaries. So we're writing any notes in there that other keepers need to be aware of. They're taking over from us the next day. And then we do a daily report as well. So if anything of notes happened, we send that off. So it goes on to a central
00:03:11
Speaker
system, so a zoo system that all zoos can access everything about the animals within the institutions. And then we also touch base with our BET teams if we are concerned about an animal or if we need to check up. So there is a lot of paperwork associated with it as well, but we do have the HR team and support systems that take on the heavier side of things. So it's a
00:03:39
Speaker
It's a bit of both. It's a good mix. I said I couldn't do a desk job. I have to be outdoors. I have to be in the sun. I would go stir crazy at a desk.
00:03:53
Speaker
I can imagine. I'm, I'm getting to that point. I just want to be outside.
Passion for Animals and Choosing Favorites
00:03:57
Speaker
And, you know, after interviewing a couple of these guests, we interviewed a wonderful beekeeper last week. I was like, I think I want to be a beekeeper now. It's been 35 degrees here for like two days. I just want to be outside. It's certainly like, it's, it's definitely a good mix. You certainly
00:04:15
Speaker
you're out there in all kinds of weather as well so you know you're like oh it's probably with rain today but you know what the penguins just want to go and hide which you know they've got a wet suit on so i don't understand why they go and run and hide but um yeah i love it oh penguins getting up close with penguins i just want your job now they're one of my favorites
00:04:43
Speaker
I was going to be my question. I was about to ask, do you have a favorite one or are you just? I think before I even got involved in the zoo, I could give you one. It was meerkats. And then as soon as I started volunteering at the zoo and I got into the job, I was like, guys, I can't give you one anymore. Every animal I've had experience with, I fall in love with. So it's a very, very hard question to answer.
00:05:09
Speaker
Oh, it would suck having a day off because you'd miss your animals. Oh, 100%, 100%. Especially at the moment, we're in breeding season with the penguins, so I'm messaging my friends saying, hey, have we got any eggs yet? Have we got any chicks? What's happening?
00:05:29
Speaker
I would watch that as a live feed. I watched the Melbourne Penguin march. It's on my news feed all the time. I'd be like following Adelaide soon.
00:05:40
Speaker
What's happening with this penguin? What's this penguin hatched? What are they calling it? Actually, I follow Hugo the Galapagos Tortoise from the Reptile Center in Gosford. He's my favorite by far. And I've been to see him a few times. Every time someone comes over from the UK, I'm like, where can I go see this tortoise? And they're really cool. They're a lot faster than I thought.
00:06:10
Speaker
They are, just so I hadn't stood on my toe. I thought we were broken. Can I ask, does Adelaide still have pandas? We do, we do. We've got Wong Wong and Foonie, and then we've got two red pandas in there with them as well. So they're, yay. I think we just celebrated birthdays. Pretty sure we just celebrated their birthdays. So we always like to try and do something big for
00:06:37
Speaker
for big milestones for the animals. So it's fun for us. They get some treats as well. I have to ask because I've been dying to get, um, I saw, I saw a video a few weeks ago, I don't know why, a few months ago about a job called panda nanny, where people get to go in and I look after the baby pandas and I give them cuddles. I want to make sure that the pandas are all happy. Do you know any panda nannies like an interview?
00:07:08
Speaker
I don't, unfortunately, but I certainly looked into that one. I said, I wouldn't mind doing that. It'd be great, you know? They've got a great life. They get spoiled. And they're super cheeky.
00:07:21
Speaker
I can imagine just the different characters that you've got and the animal trying to get out. I'm looking after a one-year-old at the moment and that's cheeky and all the different animals. It'd be so cool to watch. I feel like the animals are the same, 100%. How did you get started in all of this?
Pathway to Becoming a Zookeeper
00:07:44
Speaker
Ever since I was little, little, I have always wanted to work with animals, but I've always wanted to
00:07:51
Speaker
work with kids and children as well. So I guess it started with the tennis coaching and that gave me the skills that I needed to interact with kids, find out their interests and just really get them involved and then I was able to transfer that across to the zoo keeping but I did actually
00:08:11
Speaker
As soon as I was old enough, I applied to volunteer at Adelaide Zoo. And that was quite a process as well. You go through quite a few interviews just to get into the volunteering there. And then it's quite a full on on the job training. And then you get signed off before you.
00:08:28
Speaker
actually get the uniform so a lot of people were surprised by that there's a lot of you know just to volunteer there was a lot of work but by god it was interesting you come out of it and your brain is just with all these facts about the zoo the animals so that was really my foot in the door because i was looking at vet nursing and and vets before that but as soon as i got the foot in the door with volunteering i was like oh i need to work here like
00:08:58
Speaker
this is where I wanna be. And then it was just a matter of the steps. Okay, how do I make this a reality? What do I need to do? And I spent five plus years as a volunteer, as a guide. And that was fantastic. My favorite part was the touch tables that we were able to do before COVID. So you got to pick a theme and bring out these skulls, furs,
00:09:26
Speaker
all these animal pieces that people could come and have a look at themselves rather than us drawing them in they could come up and being able to pick the theme and give these animals a second life for people to come and you know I guess experience what does a cheetah fur feel like or you know where is actually the neona giraffe that that sort of stuff was
00:09:52
Speaker
really, really cool. And then what did I do after that? I applied for a job, something came up and I was like, you know what, there's no harm in just going for it, see what happens. And I got the feedback, just need a bit more animal experience. I was like, okay. So I was like, how do I, that's great advice, thank you. Where can I go or what do you look for? So they said, RSPCA or animal welfare league, places like that.
00:10:22
Speaker
So I managed to get into the lawn sale shelter with the dogs at RSPCA and I did that just before COVID really kicked off and we had to stop that. So that was a good little taste there. And then the certificates three.
00:10:40
Speaker
uh became available in I think it was called captive animals when I did it it's now exhibited animals and so that was like oh my gosh that's being offered here at Adelaide I'm going for it this is what I've needed and um had a look online I think it just popped up
00:11:01
Speaker
I think it might have been Facebook and I was just like oh let's have a look and it's like yep we're doing the basically it's the intro to zoo keeping we're basing it here at Adelaide Zoo and I just jumped on board and got into that and managed to get a casual position while still studying there and have worked my way up to full time very very quickly.
00:11:24
Speaker
That's incredible. But the amount of stuff that you needed to do is like, wow. I was not going to let it stop me. I think I didn't jump straight into study straight after high school. I took a break. And then I always had my mind, yep, this is what I want to do. And I was just like, whatever I need to do, I'm going to do that.
00:11:49
Speaker
to make this a reality. And so it wasn't an easy path, but I worked hard and it's paid off.
00:11:59
Speaker
you took these incredible steps and these are the ones we're talking about all the time on this podcast of the volunteering and the understanding of what you're passionate about but also pivoting you know going from the usual route with every friend i've ever had that's loved animals they're like oh i'm gonna become a vet you know but this you know pivots to the side and you get to do so much more you're involved with the kids you student education and people and and that whole mix of things you're not you know you're not sitting in a
00:12:27
Speaker
in a vet's office with all of that going on. Exactly. You had a different day every day. I get to do both. I get to work with animals but I also get to interact with public so it couldn't be better. And I think it's worth noting that you were you were open to that feedback. It wasn't I didn't get the job and I've given up I'm just going to keep moving. It's like okay well tell me I want to be you need what to do right and then be able to give that feedback to them then
00:12:55
Speaker
I picture there for some reason I picture you with an Excel spreadsheet mapping out what needs to come next almost there next step putting this on the spreadsheet and we're going in
00:13:08
Speaker
But the key thing there is that you did ask how. You asked the people who you would be looking to apply for. You said, how, where would I go? And then they gave you a list of, you know, the RSPC and stuff. You didn't go, okay, well, I'm going to go work on the farm next door because that's the closest thing. You know, you asked the employer like, okay, if that's what you need for me, how do I do that?
00:13:31
Speaker
I think that's the advice. I've had quite a few people come up and I was like, wow, how did you score this? What did you do? And I've kind of just gone, well, this is what I did, but there's no right or wrong way. There's so many different paths. There's not a straight path to getting into it.
00:13:55
Speaker
Basically the advice I would give would be get as much hands-on experience as you can. It doesn't matter what animals just as much experience as you can because that is going to help you to get into this profession like and your passion and personality as well as a big one.
00:14:12
Speaker
Well, you're in front of people, but then also animals, you know, really react to personalities. But you're also, you know, you're in situations that are, that could be quite scary. Like, you know, animals are giving birth. Like, for me, the only thing I could really
00:14:30
Speaker
field for you there is that I've worked on a lot of farm. I've lived next to a lot of farms and the farmer left me in the field where they were lambing and one of the sheep started lambing and started having issues and I was on the phone to Dan going, where have I got my husband? I would never go back to doing something like that.
00:14:52
Speaker
It's interesting. It's like when you're faced with it in person, like, I'm fine. But watching stuff, medical stuff on TV with people, I'm like, nope, nope. But animals, I'm just like, yeah, what are you doing? Like, oh, OK, what is that? Yeah, I did the placement at the local vet when I was studying. And they did a, oh, what did they did?
00:15:18
Speaker
ACL, they've reconstructed something and I'm right in there going, oh, what are you doing? But if I was to watch that, if I was to watch that up, no. I think there's no straight path or there's so many different parts. Is there a quick one? If you quick win, get in there quickly, how would you do it?
00:15:37
Speaker
Um, well, it's a very, very competitive field of work. So most of the time, if someone's, if, if someone's in there, they're not leaving there until, you know, they're well, well, well, I'm truly retired. Um, but the, the, I guess what they're looking for is your, your basics. So the certificate two in animal studies and then year certificate three, they're the main minimum requirements that they're looking for to, to get into a zoo keeping role.
00:16:07
Speaker
anything higher than that. So a bachelor's degree or anything is certainly going to help you. But it's based on your personality and your fit and stuff as well. So yeah, I just felt really fortunate. I mean, I went into the course going, you know what, I'm going to do this because I love animals. This is what I want to do. I don't expect to get a job out of this. And then I think that that thinking, it just I feel like it just
00:16:35
Speaker
drew this to happening because i just felt like wow i've got casual okay oh wow i'm part time now okay it's been less than a year um and then just just at the yeah end of last year beginning of this year we'd like to give you a full-time position oh okay yes
00:16:53
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's just looking at it as, you know, these are the next steps and this is what I'm excited about. You've got no big daunting, like you have the dream, it's the underlying dream, but you're not, your way of thinking about it wasn't the whole, my whole bubble is going to pop if I don't get this. You're, you're, you're just going, you're working hard, you're getting stuck in, you're just trying to build those core values and core steps in your career. And if it doesn't quite work, you're going to pivot again and work out where to go from there and keep that
00:17:22
Speaker
really positive really good attitude going. How much do you think the volunteering helped? Oh a big deal. I think a big deal because I kind of through the volunteering was able to get my face known around staff at the zoo and I was able to I guess get a feel of the vibe and it was kind of a taster for me I guess and then
00:17:51
Speaker
soon as I kind of was qualified and in my uniform and as the volunteer it's kind of like yeah I can see myself instead of the maroon I can see myself in the black and on the other side of the exhibit in with the animals and yeah I certainly feel like that that shows or demonstrated commitment
00:18:14
Speaker
you know towards what I want to work for and I was able to say oh yeah hey I know you I've seen you around you mentioned it was difficult to get into the volunteering side and I remember this like when I was in uni trying to just pick
00:18:35
Speaker
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Advice for Aspiring Zookeepers
00:18:45
Speaker
Now enjoy the rest of the podcast.
00:18:58
Speaker
components into getting a job like this. Do you have any advice for that little volunteer? Well, the bigger volunteer application? Yeah. So, gosh, it was a while ago now. I think you just, you're going in and they want to give you the best start possible. So they will give you everything. So it's bits and pieces here about
00:19:27
Speaker
all the animals that are in the zoo or the institution that you're volunteering in and to just take it easy and just don't get overwhelmed. And I think once you get through the theory side and into the practical it starts making more sense. So a lot of people I think were taken aback about how much
00:19:51
Speaker
the theory there actually was they thought they were just going to jump straight into it. So I think keeping that in mind that you've got to do the theory before you get feet on the ground and then you just it's getting it ticked off so just if this is what you want to do making the time putting the time aside to to move on in it and
00:20:16
Speaker
eventually you get everything signed off, you get the uniform and you can just go out there and you will eventually be the one training the trainees. So you get to be the mentor too, you get to pass the... I missed that, I missed the trainee bit, I just hit the five years and I've got the certificate for yay congratulations five years of volunteer and then I got the casual position and
00:20:42
Speaker
I actually remember trying to still remain a volunteer while I was casual and go, yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. I can still volunteer on the weekends and stuff. And they're very, very accommodating. And I was like, I kept it going for a bit. And then I said, oh, I'm really struggling. I don't think I can volunteer anymore. And they're like, Caitlin, you've got a job. What are you talking about?
00:21:06
Speaker
I said keep me on the system because I've still got the uniform like it's a way way way off but eventually you know when I'm old and retire I'll come back to volunteering like you're not gonna get rid of me that easy. What did you do to earn a living while you were volunteering?
00:21:25
Speaker
So I was tennis coaching so I got the qualification to coach as the head coach at my local club through a small family business and I basically just worked I think it was six days a week doing that and then that gradually as I started to get more hours at the zoo obviously
00:21:56
Speaker
they change. But yeah, I still do a little bit of that here and there. So just to keep it going. Yeah, definitely. I mean, you've still got that. It's almost like a little side hustle. You know, you're always going to have it. You've got those connections. We could do a whole podcast about tennis coaching. I'd love to ask you a lot of questions about that. But it is very much about family connections and finding the right location and all that stuff.
00:22:25
Speaker
So there's actually, doing the course through the zoo, one of the keepers that I had for my first practical block, our fathers actually worked together. So we knew each other that way. So that was a really nice little connection. And I think that was also a little foot in the door there as well, having a good word put in there.
00:22:50
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. It's good to just politely lean on those connections and you never know exactly who's going to, you know, somebody's dad, somebody's cousin, you know, especially with us doing this podcast at the moment, you know, how you guys, how we've got you here. I mean, and that's like, you treat everything like a, an interview, basically. So when, when you're a student or whether you're a volunteer, you're like, yep, everything's an interview here. Yeah, it's good training then.
00:23:20
Speaker
That's probably how you move so quickly into the right position. So what would you say is your favourite part of your job? I just have to say one. There's so many. You can say many? Yeah, that's doable. I think
00:23:41
Speaker
working with the penguins so um I got assigned to nursery section slash kids zoo section so that was a win-win because that's kids as well um so that's predominantly your little blue penguin colonies in there so absolutely adore those little fluffy fluffy birds um and then I also do a keeper for a day experience which is amazing so that's a real highlight because
00:24:11
Speaker
I get to take people around and they get to experience what the day and the life of a keeper looks like. And I get to see the rest of the zoo for that as well. So I get to experience their joy and live precariously through them. Oh, you get the best job then. Penguins and baby penguins. I'm just going to come see you on your lunch break. You'll fly over there. Can I ask? I'm from Adelaide.
00:24:41
Speaker
and uh in primary school we did zoo school and it was like just such a highlight of my life you know being a young kid you get to go to the zoo for a couple of days there's a special classroom that's you know it's off the side it's not the main part of the zoo and it's full of all these interesting things and you do assignments on animals and you're there it's was so much fun do you still do zoo school yeah i think it's um
00:25:06
Speaker
I can't remember what it's called but we've got the tents and stuff around our education building so school groups do actually stay overnight so they can choose to either sleep in the tents on the top of the building or in the classroom so that's picked up quite a lot again so that's really nice as well coming in to start your working day and you've got the school kids waking up having their brekkie and
00:25:28
Speaker
When I was younger, they used to do a program called Zoo Ventures. And I think that's kind of changed to Ada Zoo learning. So they bring in the little kids and they'll pick an animal and
00:25:44
Speaker
They'll do stuff and make crafts based on that animal. So there's still very much a big engagement with your primary school, your receptions. They cater for everything. I was just really annoyed I missed out on sleeping at the zoo overnight.
00:26:03
Speaker
Me too. I know. I said I so would have done that. We should promote it as like, I don't know, education for adults. I'm not sure whether they do corporates, I said that's certainly a market there. Career change, come and find out all about the zoo. It'll be our new retreat Nathan, sleeping in the zoo.
00:26:32
Speaker
I went to, I don't know what it was, I think it was a fundraiser for the Adelaide Zoo. They did, it was cocktails after hours. The zoo's closed and they had a band on, they had all these lights and cocktails and you got to wander around like a very small portion of the zoo. You could wander and have a drink and around the animals and the flamingos, that sort of area where the restaurant. That was so much fun. I hope they still do that too.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah, they definitely do functions. We have quite a lot of weddings in this time of year, so that's always nice as well. So yeah, we get proposals as well. So we actually had someone propose during our keeper for a day that I was writing. So that was a nice little surprise setting that up for them. I was like, proposal? OK, what are we doing? I have to be stealthy. I'm not good at being stealthy.
00:27:31
Speaker
Okay, so this is all lovely stuff. We're all very happy. We're all ready to get a job at the zoo. What are we going to hate when we get there? What's on your list?
Overcoming Zookeeping Challenges
00:27:42
Speaker
So I think a real challenge is cleaning those penguin nest boxes after breeding season. The smell is very, very unique. They sit in that nest box for about
00:27:58
Speaker
month, month and a bit and then once those chicks are old enough and they're out of the box it's time to swap it over. So that's that was a very hard thing for me to overcome. I can deal with you know cleaning out poo and wee and all the other stuff but yeah that's that's a difficult one to do and I think all keepers would agree that a kinked hose is probably one of our nightmares as well.
00:28:28
Speaker
trying it trying to untangle a hose is a very very tricky thing to do especially under time constraint with a clean yes um so we we try our best to try and you know put them away as we found them but some days we go that's that's okay tomorrow Caitlin's problem so we will get that the next day but
00:28:54
Speaker
And what's the other one? Oh, fish scales. So, you know, working with your seabirds and everything, fish scales, you know, you find the odd scale on you every now and then. That is, even after a shower, you're still picking a few off of you some days wondering, how did I miss that one? And then we're constantly, the challenge is constantly trying to
00:29:21
Speaker
come up with ways to better connect with that animal. So obviously they've got a preference, favorite snacks, and they've got to get to know our personality, and we have to do the same with them. So they're trying to figure us out as much as we're trying to figure them out. So we're both co-learning there. We think we get one thing working, and then they're like, no, that's enough. I've had enough of that. And we're back to the drawing board.
00:29:51
Speaker
But penguin nest boxes, dirty penguin nest boxes are probably top of the list. We get the students to do that for experience. You know, we say it's not all cuddling the animals, you know, there's a lot of poo, wee, cleaning up after animals. Wouldn't have it any other way.
00:30:15
Speaker
Is there like a hierarchy of animals that you look after? Like as a newbie, you get the penguins and the meerkats and then someone who's been there three years and start looking after, you know, the orangutans and other challenging animals, or is it like you're qualified, you can get into and work with any animal?
00:30:36
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really good question. So, kids zoo or nursery has quite a mix of animals in it, so predominantly it's your penguins, but we've got some goats, some wombats, what else? We've got some small natives, so quokkas, bettongs, and then I've slowly been trained up in a couple of other rounds as well, so a couple of birds rounds, and then
00:31:04
Speaker
with the keeper for a day, I've been trained up. It was the best day of my life. For keeper for a day, they actually trained me up to hand feed the main wolf. And I thought they were joking. So they said, yeah, come over here. You're going to hand feed the main wolf. And I was like, really? You've just made my day. So
00:31:27
Speaker
I did that and I'm now signed off to do that as part of the keeper for a day. So that's why I love it because I get to do that every time I do a keeper for a day. And that's just a big win. You're almost going up on levels. And there's specified intersection. So there's lots of different rounds. So within my department,
00:31:54
Speaker
there's about three or four different rounds and then you've got your big cats, your small cats, they've kind of set you off there so if I wanted to potentially let's say work with the big cats then I'd be
00:32:09
Speaker
saying, hey, I'm really interested in doing this. Is there any chance I could get some experience here? Or as soon as there's kind of a job vacancy open, I apply for that and get in that way. So I'm very happy with where I am at the moment, but you get your opportunities throughout the day. They just go, hey, do you want to have a go at this? Do you want to do this? I'm just like, yes, yes. I'm not going to say no.
00:32:38
Speaker
So I got to feed the tiger cubs, which was, oh, amazing. I said, oh, I'm in love with these guys now. They're not exactly cubs anymore. They're quite big now, but they said, do you want to do that? I was like, of course. Well, you just got to keep saying, yes, you've got to specialize, you know, because you can, I guess you can niche down into your animals. But like, if you specialize as much as possible, you
00:33:08
Speaker
You get that excitement that's on your face, I can see it at the moment. It's amazing.
00:33:18
Speaker
When I first started the job, you get your, I don't just get put in it, here you go, you'll be fine. You get your training days with another keeper. And they're like, oh, you've done this round before in your placement, you'll be fine. I was like, no, I actually did every other area but here. So take it slow. And then, yeah, my first solo day was quite daunting.
00:33:47
Speaker
But everyone was so supportive and they're like, you've got this, you know, you're going to learn how to do things better and get quicker. And I'm still finding I'm learning how to do things better every day. And there's I've always gone, oh, wow, I didn't know that. There you go. That's something new. And so I'm never you're never like, oh, I know everything because every day
00:34:14
Speaker
is very very different. That takes me into my advice question pretty well like is there any advice you'd give anybody who's starting out as a zookeeper looking to start out as a zookeeper? Hold on to the passion and I think for me personally
00:34:30
Speaker
I was like, oh, I need to know everything about these animals that I'm working with. I've got to know all from the get-go and I've got to try and get everything done in the day to like really, really high standard. So I set the bar really, really high from the get-go. I think don't put that much pressure on yourself.
00:34:52
Speaker
You're learning. You're going to get faster. You're going to figure out what works best for you, the best kind of layout of your day for you. So me, I write out lists. I write out to-do lists, and I do that every day. I'm very satisfied to cross things off, but if extra things pop up, you can write them on there and you go,
00:35:15
Speaker
If I get time to do that, I can do that, otherwise I can push it back till the next couple of days. It was a very good, I guess, it was very good for me to say, oh, okay, this is how I manage my time and how can I chip a couple of seconds off that? And the food prep, I volunteered as a bird food prep person as well, just, I think I only got a couple of shifts before I got the keeping position.
00:35:44
Speaker
But the bird food prep, you know, you're coming in for about four hours to prepare all the different mixes of bird food. And I did that through placement as well. And I was like, okay, I'm going to get faster at this. I've been finishing at this time. Okay, let's try and finish 15 minutes earlier. And I found myself getting quicker and quicker. So it's kind of like a little challenge for myself.
00:36:09
Speaker
It is funny that you do have to almost get quicker at tasks because, you know, there's so many of them during the day and you've got to get to every animal that's in your, in your nursery and things like that. So the more and more you can shave off, the more attention you can give an animal or, you know, I can imagine all the different things you can do with that. But, you know, it's not like a desk job where you sit there looking at a street.
00:36:32
Speaker
You know, this morning I was updating contract end dates and I was like, this is going to take me forever. You know, it's pretty cool to sort of set those challenges for yourself and be more efficient, but also efficient for the zoo, which is amazing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:53
Speaker
I think the part that I love the most is that they do support you with the training. Cause as I mentioned with me and the lamb before, like I had no idea what I was doing. So it's good to have that ease into it and also stop and ask those questions. I think that's one of the best things is that you actually turn around and go, well, actually no, yes, I know in theory, but I need more support there. And then it makes it much better at what you're doing, which is awesome. Absolutely. Ask lots of questions. That's, that's what I say to any new volunteers coming in.
00:37:23
Speaker
to help us out, I say, if you're not sure, ask. I'd rather you ask and I'd rather explain it. And yeah, as well as getting opportunities, I guess to advance my skills.
00:37:36
Speaker
you get that opportunity you know they're like hey do you want to come and catch a pelican sure never done it before but i'll give it a go um it was but it was very exhilarating as well um we had to uh catch one of the pelicans up to just fix up their leg band and we all they're like we need so we need about eight people come on in and i come in i come in i'm the only keeper in in
00:38:06
Speaker
And I looked at them and I'm like, okay, yes, how do I go about catching a pelican? I've never done it before. Give me a very, very quick rundown. So they gave me the rundown and in I went and there I am just holding this pelican going, oh my gosh, is this really happening? They're a lot, they're quite light. I'd say they're quite light. And then we did what we needed to do and I was like, they're like, okay, now let it go. And I was like, cool, how do I do that?
00:38:37
Speaker
They said just just let it go back up and I was like awesome
00:38:44
Speaker
it really is because you know it's not like in a situation like that it's so easy to overthink you know and to just sort of like go in a weird way or it's sort of like holding someone else's baby you know it's like yeah it's just a sudden oh my god and you don't know until you kind of get get thrown into it i guess i was like okay i know i can do that now um
00:39:10
Speaker
and then with the how to hold animals so that they're comfortable and feel safe and we do quite a lot of courses through that at the zoo with the animals to make sure that we're comfortable they can sign us off and yeah even that I'm like oh my gosh am I really doing this this is amazing this is training but oh my gosh
00:39:36
Speaker
Caitlin, another animal question. Have you met an animal that hasn't liked you? Has it been like a negative experience? Look, yes, but I win them over. Lots of treats. That includes my cat. I think it's, yeah, certainly
00:40:05
Speaker
I'm like, what are you thinking? I think it's called anthropomorphizing. I'm like, what are you thinking? What do you think about me? Do you like me? Do you not? I'm just gonna give you what I know you like and we'll see what happens. So I've built up a really good relationship with one of the birds on our round. And that took a lot of time. We needed to,
00:40:32
Speaker
come up with a way to moisturise her toes basically. Now that's pretty hard for a bird. So I came up with the trading plan and was like well this is my plan, we can see how it goes, we can see how she responds. And it was just a lot of her getting used to me being in her space and it was just a lot of peanuts. Every now and then you're chucking a sunflower seed and then
00:41:00
Speaker
just the other day she wasn't taking the peanuts so I was like oh let's try cashew and she likes the cashew so I was like all right we're on good terms good good wombats as well like they're very they're very they like routine so I did have to build up a relationship with the wombats and I will talk to them while I'm in their cleaning
00:41:26
Speaker
I said, you've got your room services here, your room service is coming in to clean your bedroom, give you your food. You'll be out and about in your exhibit in no time. And I generally will stay around and watch to see whether they eat the food. They love popcorn. Found out they love popcorn. Not salted, not butted, just plain popcorn. Just plain.
00:41:54
Speaker
I was backpacking and we were living in the back of a car and we were sleeping in this big Holden car in Kangaroo Valley. In the middle of the night, the car starts like rocking and away from the UK, we're like, what the hell is that? This car is just, it was like a wombat scratching their butt against the boot of the car.
00:42:17
Speaker
They are hilarious. They get zoomies. I love wombat zoomies. And they'll do a little spin again to try and knock you with their bottom. And we had a young one and I was like, I cannot take you seriously. You are too cute.
00:42:36
Speaker
Like you are trying to intimidate me but I can't, you're too cute. Giving them little butt scratches and he really likes beetroot, this one.
00:42:51
Speaker
which I didn't know, so you check them every morning and I was like, oh my gosh, he's got red around his face. What's happened? Has he broken a tooth? What's going on? And then someone pointed out, oh, beetroot's his favorite. And I was like, oh, thank goodness.
00:43:09
Speaker
Everything you mentioned reminds me of being a mum. And I think I said like, I'm all right right now. I've got enough fur babies at the zoo right now. I've certainly got my hands full so. Because Bea Chute comes out the other end red as well. Yes it does, yes it does. And they put wind squares so that's nice.
00:43:38
Speaker
They do. I've got photo evidence. I was that student that said, can I take a photo of the wombat poo? Can I take a photo of the koala poo?
00:43:48
Speaker
I mean, that, yeah, koalas, wow. Like, they're only wee once a day, and I happen to be right place, right time, and I managed to catch some koala wee. They needed a sample, and there I was on placement, and they had the little tub, you know, they're ready to go, and I was kind of just in there like, oh my god, where is it? And I just, yeah, it was like, okay, go for it. And I just held it underneath the koala, and I'm like, all right, I'm doing this, cool.
00:44:17
Speaker
But at the end I was like, do you mind? Is it okay if I smell it? And they looked at me and I said, I want to see what it smells like. Does it smell like eucalyptus? No, it doesn't. To me, it smells like curry powder. It smells like curry powder.
00:44:34
Speaker
I cuddled a koala last year and I smelled like a koala for like a day. I could not get the koala smell off. I was not expecting that. Where maybe like Rory was only like 12 weeks old and he was like, what is going on? You still weird. Do you know how, you might not know the answer to this, but I want to, I got my HR hat on. How many people does it take to run into the
00:45:01
Speaker
Do you know how many employees there is? A lot. I do not know the exact number, but
Collaborative Efforts in Zoo Management
00:45:06
Speaker
a lot. You've got your HR, you've got your horticulturalist, your keepers, your maintenance, like food store people, like there's so many. And then yeah, you've got your HRs, you've got all your, your higher ups and
00:45:20
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, we all kind of collaborate anyway. We have a meeting, a department meeting every couple of months to kind of catch up where everything's at. So that's really good. Who orders the food? Do you order the animal food?
00:45:37
Speaker
So we've got a person that's, their sole job is to make the food crates, ordering the food. So we purchased from a local store, so you will ease your coals, but farmers markets as well.
00:45:55
Speaker
And then that person basically weighs out all the foods, crates for each round in the zoo. So they do, I think they spend, I think it's Mondays. They'll make up about five days worth and then deliver that every morning. So it's a very interesting job, that one. They're not in with the animals, but they're helping to prepare all the food and make sure that we've got what we need to make up their diets.
00:46:21
Speaker
So I know we had, and they've got to kind of roll with the changes as well, so I know we had the price increase with the iceberg lettuce, so we swapped that out and had spinach instead, and trying to get the freshest stuff that we can. The animals eat better than we do sometimes.
00:46:43
Speaker
With the lettuce, did you swap the lettuce out for cabbage like I do on KFC? We did actually, we did. We had a mix of cabbage and spinach and no iceberg for a little bit. And then it came back and I feel like Dan was like, yes. And then they get the really nice seasonal fruits as well. So we'll get papayas every now and then and we'll get the strawberries, blueberries and
00:47:10
Speaker
Oh, you're tempted, cutting it up, you're going, oh, it smells so good. These pears smell so nice. They don't need that pun of a smell group. Yeah, yeah.
00:47:23
Speaker
So we spoke about your education already. You've mentioned there's a cert two, there's a cert three, there's volunteering, there's all these different paths. So in terms of what stood out for you, is there any education that you highly recommend or any blogs or resources or podcasts or anything that you think is a must listen to or look at? I think for me it was a lot of my own research. So every opportunity I
00:47:46
Speaker
kind of got offered to do research. So yeah, year 12 research project, I took that as an opportunity to do my research. So actually, surprise, surprise, I did it on animals. But I think certainly the certificate to an animal studies kind of gives you an idea of
00:48:07
Speaker
It's mainly domestic animals, but it kind of gives you that picture of, okay, what's it going to be like working in a vet? And then it gives you the ability, if you wanted to, to go and work in a wildlife park or a zoo, then you're able to go on to the next course. That kind of leads to that. So we had to have done the Cert 2 to do the Certificate 3. If we hadn't
00:48:35
Speaker
If we didn't have the certificate two, we had to make sure that we did that before applying for the certificate three. So you kind of get your recognised prior learning with certain things in that as well. So that was nice. I went to school with a couple of people that were studying zoology.
00:48:52
Speaker
Is that something that might be a quicker path or do you think hands-on is, you know, where do you, it's kind of like asking about film school. Yeah, look, I think the zoology certainly helps. I think there's a couple of keepers that have the zoology at the zoo at the moment and there's quite a few that have diplomas or are doing diplomas at the moment.
00:49:16
Speaker
they are looking at that minimum certificate three. So that they will look for that and then any hands-on experience that you have. So for me, it was that little bit in the local vet for placements during high school and the cert two, and then that little stint that I did at RSPCA. So
00:49:33
Speaker
that was just something that was listed on the hay. You know, you didn't get it this time, but, you know, get as much on-hand experience as you can. And they actually listed those couple things. So I was like, okay, I'll specifically see whether I can get in with those people.
00:49:49
Speaker
And then, yeah, so certainly I never saw it as a, wow, door closing. I was kind of like, okay, like, they've let me know that, hey, not this time, but, you know, maybe there's a next time. And if I go off and do this, like, I'll gain more experience for myself and more confidence in doing these things myself. Again, not necessarily going, yep, if I do this, I will get a job. It's more, you know, I may get a job.
00:50:18
Speaker
And certainly that thinking definitely helped me take the pressure off myself and enjoy it more.
00:50:26
Speaker
Definitely. You go into these placements and these places, you know, figuring out what you can find out there rather than just going, okay, this I've got to get this done to do the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. It's very much something I think I'm learning myself at the moment, just enjoying what you're doing at the moment and making the most out of the day today, because at the end of the day, it all comes around. And this day is a meaningful day for you in the future.
00:50:54
Speaker
Yeah, exactly, exactly. And I always say like, we are our own worst critic, so I could do a penguin talk and I'll finish it and I go, oh my goodness, like, I forgot to say this, I forgot to say that.
00:51:09
Speaker
And then colleagues will go, no, that was great. What are you talking about? Like that was fantastic. So it's going, yeah, did that. That was great. You inspired people. You know, people are sitting there talking about penguins. It's the happiest thing in the world. I think like, and that's exactly it. If you knew that, that'd be that cute and that sassy. Um, but you know, and I think, I think for me as well, like growing up being really young and then as I got older, you know,
00:51:39
Speaker
people would say, oh, why do you want to do that? It's not good pay. Why do you want to do that? Why don't you be a vet or a vet nurse? You get better pay. And I'm going, nah, this is what I want to do. If anything, it pushed me to want to achieve it more. And I was like, I'm doing a job that I love. I do not feel like I'm working. I'd rather do that than sit at a desk and get paid more and be miserable.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah. You spend so much time in your job. You've got to do something that makes you happy. A mental house is so much more important than earning a million bucks. And, you know, I just wish that it's so hard to find out what you're happy about. You know, it's like you can get into these wonderful jobs and these exciting things. And there's certain aspects of your life that push you in that area, but it might not be the one thing that you, you passion and you love every day.
00:52:32
Speaker
So it'll grind away at you and just to be able to be like, this is what I spend my time doing. The fact that I earn money doing it is incredible. And then on top of that, I'm happy. I'm healthy. I'm not going to bed. All I'm worrying about is what I might've said in that speech, but that's that, you know? I'm not worried about anything else. Yeah, exactly. Exactly right.
00:52:55
Speaker
There's always so much good, you come home, you're like, wow, I made a difference in this person's life today. Yeah, it's fantastic. That's incredible. So exciting. I want to go to Adelaide too. Can we go to Adelaide too? Our last question is, are there any quotes that resonate with you or inspire you on a daily basis?
Inspirations and Closing Thoughts
00:53:25
Speaker
I had to write it down because I couldn't remember the entire thing, but I guess role models for me, obviously David Attenborough, oh my goodness, very, very captivating, but Steve Irwin was probably the first one. He was amazing. He was probably the one person that got me completely engaged with his passion and enthusiasm in looking after wildlife and everything.
00:53:54
Speaker
Um, there's a quote that is from him that is education is all about being excited about something and seeing passion and enthusiasm helps to spread that educational message. And I could not agree with that. Like any more than I already do. You know, if, if, if you've got that passion and it's visible and people are going to feed off of that and your.
00:54:19
Speaker
you're going to make a difference in their lives, but hopefully that they will then carry that on and then make a little change in their worlds and just that little positive flow on effect. It's contagious, that passion and energy can be contagious. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I get forward with passion. Yeah.
00:54:41
Speaker
Ah, Steve Owen made a massive difference in my life. I was being homeschooled at the time when we were watching programmes on him and my mum used to take us to the zoo to draw. And I used to pretend, I used to come up with stories in my head about being a crocodile wrestler.
00:55:00
Speaker
I wasn't quite drawing but I was trying to be an author I guess. I think it was just and he'd just get in there and he'd be like yeah this is you know this is a crocodile it's just right in there you know with the mud the dirt and I'm just like yeah yeah no fear.
00:55:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's good to have role models and people that you kind of go, well, if he can do it, I can do it. You know, if I, you know, it's like, if you go skydiving, you jump out of a plane, you know, the next day you're like, well, actually, you know, I can do anything really. You're like, if I can do that, then I can definitely go swimming in the sea again.
00:55:40
Speaker
um but you know mentors are also that great side of it um and you know meeting people like you who are so passionate about what you do and have such a wonderful story um i'm sure you're going to inspire so many wonderful people in the future so that's so exciting yes me too me too about to wrap up is there anything that you wanted to mention that we haven't covered
00:56:08
Speaker
No, I think we've covered a day in the life of a zookeeper. It's every day very, very different. It's really cool. Caitlin has been fantastic meeting you. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you, guys. Yeah, thank you very much.
00:56:33
Speaker
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00:57:09
Speaker
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