Amber & Marie

Even though it involves standing outside in the cold (and wind!) for three and a half hours, I am enjoying volunteering at Zoo Lights. Last night, my fellow ticket taker was a woman from Midtown East named Marie. She comes down to visit her sister who lives in Maryland and they volunteer for all of the special events at the zoo. She was fun to talk to, energetic, and had just returned from a two week trip volunteering at the Cheetah Conservation Fund's center in Namibia.Marie helped out in the office, helped take care of guard dog puppies and walked through enclosures picking up leftover lunch bones where there were cheetahs dozing. She learned that you just can't bend down-- as long as you are taller than the cheetah, it won't consider you pray. I'm not sure how she stooped to get the bones off the ground without getting eaten, but she didn't have any visible bite marks.

I learned all about CCF in Cheetah Class, but Marie really experienced it first hand. I feel lucky to have met Marie and gotten to take tickets with her last night.