'Tis the Season

The Holidays can be a merry time of year for many.  They can also be extremely stressful.  From a zoo perspective, I tend to feel the later more than the former.

Especially those last two weeks of December (where we find ourselves at the present) and into early January, you start to find yourself increasingly short-staffed, as folks go visiting out of town, or have to entertain visitors from out of town, or parent keepers have to take time off to care for kids that would normally be in school.  The keepers that are still in may be stressed or distracted by holiday plans (and holiday bills), or maybe gloomy and homesick.  Their minds may be wandering.

Oh, and it's also that time of year when everyone starts of get sick.

Meanwhile, depending on a number of factors - your zoo's location/nature (indoor aquarium vs outdoor zoo in the north), whether your open or closed or not at that time of year - you may be surprisingly busy, again with kids out of school and folks visiting from out of town.  The basic work of the zoo - caring for the animals - does not slow down that much in the winter.  Animals can't be put in storage due to staffing issues, and still need to be fed and cleaned.  Extra points if your zoo also decides to have some holiday events and ropes you into helping with them.   

Oh, and it's also that time of year when the northern hemisphere experiences winter, which can mean you might be dealing with all sorts of weather emergencies, medical issues, and other seasonal delights.  And then you're faced with an issue, and surprise, you're down a vet because one went out for the holidays, or you need to make a decision about something, fast, but everyone who needs to make a decision is away.

Dealing with all of these stressors against the forced-cheerfulness of holiday lights and canned Christmas music, and there are times when you may think Scrooge was too charitable in his feelings about the season.  It's for this reason that I've often thought many working folks would benefit from having their own holiday to celebrate and relax... after the Christmas season.