BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ( KGET ) — Don’t let the clouds fool you. The heat wave continues in Bakersfield and California Living Museum caretakers are being extra cautious with the animals during the triple digit days.
The workers at CALM are finding many ways to keep the animals cool.
Elizabeth Graff with the CALM Zoo said, “We do a lot of things to keep our animals cool. We don’t have a lot of shade,” said Elizabeth Graff with the CALM Zoo.
“We use a lot of water and we have tricks,” said animal keeper Christopher Smith.
Graff has been with CALM for more than a year. She said they’re even closing some of the exhibits temporarily for the opossums and other animals until it cools down.
“We have frozen water bottles on exhibit that they can lay on. We have misters throughout the exhibits,” said Graff. “We let them have access to their dens where it’s air conditioned, so they can choose and go in their den to escape the heat if they’d like.”
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“We are now open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., except for when it reaches over 110 and if it gets to 110 we are closing at noon for everybody’s safety,” said Graff.
Smith has been caring for the animals he loves since 2020.
“They all have individual quirks, individual personalities and they like different things,” said Smith.
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“The pig’s just so much fun. You can interact with her and the goat, he’s just a loving guy,” said Smith. “He comes up, just wants nothing than to be your buddy.”
Tonks, one of the cute pigs at the zoo, is one of the most intelligent in the whole complex, according to Smith.
“She has all these wallows here in the yard and what they do is go into the mud and roll around,” said Smith. “The mud on the skin helps them stay cool.”
They even cool the mud for Tonks. The CALM Zoo has been around for more than 40 years and they have big plans for the next two decades. Graff said CALM is expanding the 42 acres to the West over the next 20 years.
For more information on CALM and their business hours, click here .
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