MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS:

JULY 19 2010:
MAITAIN INFRASTRUCTURE:

This week we were clearing and cleaning the bicycle trails. They will be used in the mountain biking weekend/competition this coming Saturday. We had a lot of maintenance work to do on the trails. A lot of hard work was required to finish these trails in time, it also require some planning.

We had to make sure that:

• That there are no branches hanging in the road.
  
• There are no branches sticking out from the sides.
  
• That the grass was cut around the corners.
• Big trees were cut of, that was hanging in the road.
  
• That the old stumps were removed
• That all the Aardvark holes were closed up.
• That the thick sand around the corners were removed.
  
• That there are no thorns in the road.
• That there are no roots sticking out of the ground.
• That the big rocks are removed, that can cause injuries.
  

We also made a new road in between two Koppies for a more scenic route. A couple of things we had to do here, other these mentioned above:

• We had to map out the new route. It stretched just above or just below the rocky ridge that runs between the koppies, more vegetation on the ridge.
  
• We also did a log on the GP'S coordinates so that we can find the route again later.
• Walk the new route to familiarize ourselves with it, and we marked some trees with danger tape. This was to remember were the route goes trough.
  
• We were going along the route, clearing, chopping, brush cutting and cleaning as we go along.

Equiptment we are using:

• Rakes - To remove thorns and leaves
  
• Panga's - Top chop away the branches
• Axes - To chop big branches, trees, as well as the stumps of previously chopped down trees
  
• Shovels - To fill ruts and holes
• Brush cutters - To cut grasses and shrubs.
• Goggles - Protect our eyes
  
• Gloves - to protect our hands, mostly from thorns
  
• Long pants
  
• and Safety boots.

What a long week of hard work. But I must say, it's nice to see your hard work pay of.. From my side, I had fun.. Thanks for the experience..

EROSION AND GRASS:

JULY 12 2010:
SPRINGBOK FLATS:

Today we went to the Springbok Flats with Cobus and the Second years. We went out, so that they can teach us to do a basic field assessment. They told us about the scores of the different grasses. So the more valuable the grass is, the more points it scores. The most scores that a grass can get is 10/10. There are different sections that they measure the ''goodness'' of the grasses - their succession stages, nutritional value, their ecological factors and a couple of other things.

So we started out. First they divided us up into three groups. Each group had to walk in a different direction. We had to count our steps as we go. Every tenth step we had to check what type of grass grew there. This was to examine what type of grasses grew in the Springbok Flats, so that we can be aware of how nourished the plane is where most of our animals feed from.

Our end results were, that there is primarily Foxtail Buffalo Grass. Which means that the Flats are full of good nutritional grasses, but currently it is over grazed. Foxtail Buffalo grass Has really good score, it has a 10/10 score. It is a Climax grass, very nutritious and a good topsoil erosion preventer.

and that was our Grass count.

FIRE PREPERATION:

JULY 2010 :
MAKING FIRE BREAKS :

A part of our resource guardianship course and the second years junior manager course we have to learn how and why we cut fire breaks. Places we cut were: Around the chalets and the Makhato houses.

Before we started, our second years did all the planning and made a presentation for the Managers. They waited for them to approve this plan before we could start. As soon as the plan was approved, they presented the same plan to us just to make sure we understood what was going to happen and why...

Reasons for doing fire preparations are: it is winter and the grass is dry, running a big risk for the farm burning down and animals dying, and there are lots of very expensive assets that could be lost if a fire occurred.They established-by looking at the previous places where it has burnt and where the hazards are. According to that they planned how the fire breaks must be cut, where they must be and how big they must be.

We used various equipment:

• A tractor with a 3m slasher
• A tractor with a 1.5m slasher ( both of which were driven by Sondela staff)
• Pangas
• Rakes
• Forks
• Weed eater
• Brush cutters
• Saws
• Axes
  

We were also given a pair of gloves and goggles as part of the OHS procedures, especially when working with Weed eaters and Brush cutters. We were also told to wear long pants and the correct shoes for our own safety. The tractors went first and started to slash the grass and smaller bushes to make the job easier for the people working with the brush cutters. The Brush cutters cut the smaller trees that the tractor couldn't drive over.

After they were all done we came with the weed eaters, to cut the grass close to trees that they couldn't reach. We also used panga's, axes and saws to clean the lower parts of the trees. The forks were used to move the branches we had cleaned of the trees onto heaps, to be removed by the third tractor that had a trailer to take the greens to the compost heap. These tree's mostly had thorns, so using the forks made our jobs much easier.

I must say it was a lot of hard work, although it doesn't sound like it. But we really enjoyed it a lot. Being in the veldt and away from all the havoc on the other side made us feel much more relaxed. We had fun as a group and got to know each other on different levels. Teamwork was also a part of us, especially when the girls struggled to remove something - the boys always came to our rescue. It was always about who had the bigger muscles...

Thanks for the great experience, it was definitely something else...

CAPTIVE ANIMAL CARE:

MAY MONTH 2011:
BEING AT THE WILDLIFE CENTRE:

My time at the WLC... I learned a lot in the period that i was there. Why cleaning constantly is so very important when working with animals.
It is so easy for an animal to get sick when things
aren't properly cleaned and then used. Especially with small animals or even new animals that come in. What makes it worsts for the new animals, is that they are now in a new environment with new smells and sounds. So they are much more liable to become sick than the rest of your animals.

Working with the animals, was the best... Spending time with them makes you realize that each and every animal has a different personality. The reason for us spending time with them, well there are a couple. It is good experience for us, we learn how to work with them, in some cases how to discipline them (more the lions), what to do and what not to do, how to be dominant if necessary. We also spend time with them to exercise them, make them jump up and work their back legs and also for other stimulation.

Other things I've learned... How to feed an animal. Most important - do not let the animal out of the enclosure. First you identify where the animal is and if possible always open the door to the inside. Why? If the animal is in front of the gate you can enter easier and you can basically chase the animal away with the gate. Always close the door behind you as quick as possible and make sure the animal can't open it. Place down the food carefully and make sure the animal doesn't get a chance to jump at his food. This is basically all cat types.

If you have more aggressive cats, like we have a small Serval (Luci) that has a bit of a temper. She has a smaller comfort zone than the rest of our cats. She doesn't like it if you approach her. She and her brother share a cage. So make sure you approach her slowly and then place their food at the same time. Reason for that is, if you don't the one might eat faster and end up stealing the others food or the other cat might jump at you for his/her food. They will star eating. Luci normally grabs a bite and then runs away. So we just move her bowl a little closer to her in the back and then leaves. This makes her feel more comfortable to eat.

We also learned about the different feeding habits each animal has and how much they receive a day. Example - there were rhino's that we were feeding. They got skimmed milk and rice without salt. We also had a milk replacer that we used when we couldn't get enough milk. This was Denkivit Foal, it is a low fat powder milk that you mix with luke warm water. They got their food out of big black buckets, so that their heads can fit in it when they drink.

Feeding animals out of bottles... Important things to remember - Tilt the bottle upwards so that they don't suck in air. Always hold the teat while they drink, they can pull the teat of and swallow it. This can then cause a blockage which is very dangerous for the animal. Then listen and make sure that they don't aspirate, this can cause them to die if you don't do something about it immediately. Remove the bottle when they're finished drinking so that they don't suck on air.

Cleaning cages... Oh the glorious smells... Every day we did spot checks. Which is basically just going into each cage and picking up the leftover meat and faeces. We remove these objects and dispose of them in black bags. While we do spot checks we also check the water. If the water is running low or it needs to be changed, we scrub them out with water and we also use sand for some roughage. The sand helps to get algae loose and also things that have hardened. We use the sand because it is a natural product and doesn't have an effect on the animals.

Plants... Plants we mostly learn what is toxic and what not. We need to know which plants which animals can eat. So that we are assured that all our animals have enough food to survive from. We need to know when plants are toxic so that our animals don't die. Having various plant and trees are important , because a lot of birds eat from various types of plants. We also need to try to provide a more natural home for them, that's where the trees also come in.

Ecology... Not the most interesting topic to learn about, although it is important to know. We get taught about the trophic pyramid and how it works, how biodiversity works, symbiotic relationships - this was quit nice. Most people think that the Cattle Eagrit and the cattle is mutualism, but it is actually commensialism. Why? Well because the Cattle Eagrit doesn't eat the tics on the cattle, he eats the grasshoppers that jump out of the grass when the cattle moves around - interesting right??

and that is what I did in the WLC in my first year....

ASSESSMENT FOR CARE FOR CAPTIVE ANIMALS:

24-25 MAY 2010:
ASSESSMENTS:

Our assessment for captive animal care was carried out in the Wild Life Centre. We had different departments we needed to handle. Each section in the WLC had a different assessor. The different sections were, clean and maintain area of responsibility, care for animals, ecological principles, care for plant and preparations of food for certain animals.

I had a lot of fun during the assessment, just because it was a different environment. Every assessment we did, was in the area that it was about. It was much more calming, especially the aviary, with the water flow and the animals around you - Plant care.

Something else that was interesting was being assessed by 5 different assessors in 1 day. seeing their different methods of doing assessments. having in mind that i would be doing assessments next year. Also i would have one of these different methods and characteristics. Being assessed 3 at a time was another thing that entertained me. Just to see how every assessor works different with each person. Sometimes using various methods to suit the student. having in mind that I would be able to do that next year.

Animal behavior: Having to analyze a area where a new, semi-wild giraffe is standing and staring at you. Looking for something that was out of place. Something out of place you may ask?? Well it is kind of like wire lying around, mattresses against the wall for protection or bales to trip over... In each and every situation at the WLC you need to have health and safety in mind. Not just your safety, but the animal's as well.

and so it concludes my assessment day of Species Care...