Weeks fourteen and fifteen!

My last post covered a good chunk of the fun things I've done outside work in the last few weeks, because I've worked the last eight days straight.  So a few stories from work:

• I've recently come to love taking out the vinegaroon to speak to guests.  It's a really cool pseudo scorpion that is neither poisonous nor venomous.  Instead, these insects spray out acetic acid from their tails (84% versus 5% for household vinegar) to deter predators.  The vast majority of the people I speak with about them have never heard of them (only person so far who's correctly ID'ed one was an entomologist), so I love introducing them to a new creature. 
• When I asked a little one "What is the frog saying?" after we listened to a frog noise at one of our badge locations, he started hopping up and down and telling me very excitedly that frogs say "ribbit!"
• I've met two other Kathryns, who clearly spell their name the right way.
• Met a small child who told me that he is three and a half and a rocket pilot. 
• Saw a hawk up close at our Flamingo badge location.  One of our props there is a FL bird guide, so we took it out and ID'ed it as a sharp-shinned hawk (we were pretty sure).  We did that while speaking to a family, so that was a really cool opportunity because checking out the birds that live by you and figuring out which species you're seeing is something we often encourage kids to do at home. 
• At one of our badge locations, after I made sure everyone had seen all of the clues with which we were tracking an animal, I said "OK, now that we're all on the same page..."  One of the little boys got really upset and shouted out "I DON'T HAVE A PAGE!"
• Had a zookeeping seminar with two of the zoological managers at the park and got to see some backstage areas!  It was so incredibly cool.
• Tried to see David Cook at Epcot (part of Food and Wine is an Eat to the Beat concert series with a bunch of different artists performing throughout the two months), but the weather was very much not in our favor. 
• Learned about a study that assessed the effectiveness of the Kids' Discovery Club program (the precursor to Wilderness Explorers) and was published in the International Zoo Educators (IZE) Journal.  The study found that our program (many of the activities are still the same) really does work, which is something I know to be true but it's also cool to know it's been formally assessed as well. 
• Spoke to a family from Bolivia, a family from Scotland, and a family from Georgia (the state) all in one conversation. 
• We had a team builder at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was  a lot of fun.  We had dinner at the quick service there (delicious falafel and couscous), and then went on a cultural journey with one of the African cultural reps and participated in a drum cafe.  A really nice night to spend with my team :)
• Magical moment for one of the other Explorers when she saw Turk (from Tarzan) for the first time and got a hug. 

It's been busy but good. Not sure what this storm is going to bring, but we'll see. 

Good night everyone! Stay safe all my friends in Florida!

Photo at work! Two other explorers (thanks Nicole and Dario!) came to visit and took some pictures.