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The Only Bearcat At The Zoo By maeven perliCh chase and jASMINE ROMERO

This past summer, Senior Blair Baker spent her early mornings chopping discarded fruit for the monkeys, bears, and kinkajous at Zoo to You. She tossed frozen mice through the fence for the owls and falcons, and measured out feed for the motley-colored macaws. To Baker, these are not chores, because they mean hanging out with the animals.

Baker started volunteering at Zoo to You last January. During summer break she spent four to six days each week with the macaws, opossums, kinkajous, chinchillas, eagles, alligators and other rescued or injured animals living there. For her senior year, she requested a reduced schedule in order to continue being a part of the program after school and now volunteers four to five days a week.

Baker holds a red-tailed boa constrictor called Dusty. She handled him for an event at Filoli Gardens, walking around telling people about him.

“Over the summer I got there early in the morning and started meal prep but now that I don’t get there until after 4th period I just do whatever is left to do. This usually includes cleaning in the reptile room and doing all the dishes from throughout the day,” Baker explained.

Conservation Ambassadors Zoo to You is a refuge and educational program for animals that have been abused, displaced, or injured. Volunteers clean cages, do household tasks, prep and dole out food, and give educational talks about the animals at events such as the Mid State Fair.

Ferrets are illegal to have as pets, which is why this one (Senor Slinky) ended up at Zoo to You.

“I show up and do whatever is needed that day. I regularly clean enclosures, feed animals, change waters, and do yard work. When we get new reptiles, I get to decorate their terrariums,” Baker said.

Her favorite animal at the zoo right now is a red tegu named Magma. This reptile lives in savannas, swamps, and rainforests in the wild, is native to western Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, and can live for up to 20 years, according to animalspot.net. Baker loves how “sweet, docile, and highly intelligent they are. They need to be played with and they need to be snuggled,” Baker said.

Baker holds her favorite animal at the zoo: a red tegu named Magma.

“I love animals so I obsess over animals and learn everything about them. Basically if I get interested in something I look up everything I can about it and just fall in love with it even more,” Baker said.

Baker’s mother, Dorian Baker, said that Blair’s love of learning is a delight during dinner.

Baker poses with a baboon, who thankfully had a diaper on!

“Blair’s dad and I are very proud of her. We love Blair’s many unique gifts, including her talent for imparting random but interesting facts into discussions. [She] has enriched many a dinner conversation with her trademark ‘Did you know...tidbits of animal or plant trivia,’” Baker said. “I’m especially glad that, through her classes and some terrific teachers, she has developed an interest in science, especially botany and zoology.”

Blair Baker’s AP Environmental teacher, Mrs. Lamb, her National Ocean Science Bowl coach, Mrs. Lincoln, and her Marine Biology teacher, Mr. Ewing, have helped solidify her interest in biological sciences.

Blair Baker is also pursuing her interest in art. For Zoo to You events, Blair paints murals and signs for exhibits. For a company party at Filoli Historic House and Garden, Blair painted a jungle-themed, lifesize stand-in mural, complete with monkeys, butterflies, and frogs. She also painted signs for otter, alligator, and bald eagle exhibits. She has taken art classes at PRHS for three years and is a student artist in residence at Studios on the Park. Her art teacher, Clarissa Wilson, described her art as “one of a kind” and said that she has “made many beautiful large artistic signs for the different animal enclosures” at Zoo to You.

Baker combines art and science to keep track of tides throughout a week and identify different types of marine life through water color.

“When I think of Blair as an artist I think of so many of her art projects, not just one. From acrylic buffalo eyes, sunsets, detailed fine line pen of trees, bears, dogs, and flowers, torn paper, mixed media, and experimenting with new concepts. Most of all I think of her soft watercolor flowers and succulents,” Wilson said.

Blair has been accepted to Southern Utah University, where she plans to major in art and minor in biology. She says that her time at Zoo to You has given her “a love of animals with a special passion for reptiles.”

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