The Polar Vortex at the Zoo

"On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson Trail.

Talk of your cold!  Through the parka's cold it stabbed like a driven nail.

If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see.

It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee."

- Robert W. Service, The Cremation of Sam McGee

I've made no secret of it.  I hate the winter.  Last winter was especially brutal in our neck of the woods, and we wound up having to pull animals inside or provide supplemental heating for species that I never, ever would have thought we'd have problems with, including some of our most cold-tolerant species.  This winter, it's worse

At least I'm not in Chicago or Minneapolis was my main thought at the start of the week.  There are actually parts of Antarctica that are warmer than the American Midwest right now.  I don't worry too much about zoo animals - they have their devoted keepers who will keep them warm and safe.  This may be an exceptionally bad winter, but these zoos are built for winter and tend to have lots of indoor holding.  It scares me a lot more when these sudden blasts of unusually cold weather hit southern zoos, which are less prepared for winter conditions and have fewer options for moving animals inside.

I worry a little about native wildlife with this horrific cold.  I worry about pets, and hope that their owners keep them inside, warm and safe.  I worry even more about any human who is forced to be out in it, especially if they don't have a choice.

I barely clean (outside) during these events.  The poop will freeze to the ground instantly and I can get it later.  No wet cleaning, certainly.  Besides, I want the animals to hunker down and be comfortable.  The less I disturb them, pushing them out from their preferred shelters, the happier they'll be, which means the happier I'll be.  Winter storm cleaning tends to be perfunctory.  It's the clean up afterwards, on the first decent day, when things really stink.

The good news is that this polar vortex looks like it won't be going on for too much longer, so the end is in sight.  In the meantime, if you have to be outside, whether for animal care or any other duty, here's a tip - make it brief.