In Defense of Leaning

"If you have time to lean, you have time to clean..."

Ray Kroc, the American entrepreneur who is responsible for turning McDonalds from a small hamburger stand to a globe-straddling behemoth, if often cited as the originator of this quote.  It's been a beloved staple of managers ever since.  The message is clear - if you're on the clock, you should be doing something.  Get busy.  At the very least, look busy.

In a zoo or aquarium, there is always lots of do, and yes, much of it involves cleaning (and not just the enclosures).  There are floors to sweep, supplies to organize, paperwork to do, and projects to research.  All very important work.  Especially as an entry-level keeper new on the job, there were days when I felt like I ran myself ragged trying to keep up with all of the chores I had to do.

What I later learned was, sometimes the secret to being a good keeper to not do anything for a while.  Sometimes, the trick is just to sit and watch your animals. 

If you're only interacting with animals when you're servicing their habitats, feeding them, or training and enriching them, you don't know what's really going on with them.  You don't know what they are doing or how they are behaving for most of their day.  Many species can be pretty skittish and not come out when you're too close or otherwise taking up their attention. They may be in hiding, or just completely zeroed in on you.  You might miss signs of an illness or injury because the animal doesn't emerge from its nest box until you're gone.  Two animals might be fighting often, but you don't see it because they're so keyed in on you when you're nearby.  That weird noise or limp or whatever that you thought might be a one-off while you were caring for the animals?  Maybe it's really doing it all the time.

The point is, the more time you spend observing the animals, the more information you have about them.  The more information you have, the better care that you'll be able to provide.  Ideally, you want to vary things up, not always having these sessions at the same time of day or in the same circumstances (busy vs slow, early vs late, sunny vs rainy) to get a more complete picture of what your animals are up to.

So go ahead, indulge yourself and lean a little - maybe on the railing at the front of the exhibit (from which you can also answer questions for the public!), or from a discreet place behind the scenes.  You're not slacking.  You're taking some time to familiarize yourself with your charges and be a better keeper.

That cluttered storage closet can wait.