(Read by Suzanne: Woman's voice)
Animal Resources
The Kids' Zone animals at the zoo provide us with a number of useful and sustainable items. The ducks and chickens lay eggs for us to eat, while the Madagascar hissing cockroaches and giant African millipedes are breeding well enough that we can feed them out to many of the other animals. Mmm, cockroaches. I also am trying to persuade the goats to breed so we will have some milk goats as well as some meat goats. Currently we are all chock full of Omega 3 fatty acids because the Rocky Shores 90,000 pound capacity freezer is full of fish for the otters, seals and polar bears. That's a lot of herring.
Adam's pit bull, Arrayah, skillfully keeps rats away, but I managed to trap one yesterday and I set up an enclosure for him in the feeder animal breeding area next to the millipedes. If I can catch another few, we should be able to maintain a population of rodents to keep feeding out to the birds of prey and the reptiles once we've run out of the frozen ones in our commissary.
To adequately feed all of the herbivores, we've planted crops in the landscaping. We're looking forward to carrots, squash, beans, onions and lettuce. Of course there will be timothy hay and alfalfa for the elephants, anoa, muskoxen and reindeer, too. Part of the Point Defiance Zoo's appeal as a refuge lies in its enormous warehouse of a commissary. The stores of dry goods, frozen foods and produce can support us until all of our sustainable projects are fully operational.
An unexpected boon of claiming the zoo for our new community is the cafe. Not only do we have the soups, coffee, french fries, hamburger buns and hash-browns from the cafe freezer, but we have access to the fryer, ovens, espresso machine, and an array of seasonings.
Waking up at 5am, listening to the gibbons' trilling duet, and starting the day in good company over good coffee, I am more convinced each day that we chose the right place for sanctuary.
