At Asia
Dulary and Misty love the sprinkler when they aren't enjoying the pond.
Dulary looking utterly content.
Middle Tennessee has been experiencing a record heat wave, but don't worry—the Girls have been keeping their cool. Ponds, mud baths, showers, frozen fruit snacks and popsicles from the Caregivers have been helping our Girls beat the heat. Caregivers always feed the Girls in the shade and are quick to offer them baths whenever they are near a hose. Misty and Dulary have been swimming in the pond almost daily, and Sissy and Winkie have been spending time this summer in areas like Dr Scott's, the Pipeline, Select Cut Pines, Marcella's, and North Trough. Caregivers were surprised to find Winkie had wandered all the way out to the lake last week. And Shirley and Tarra are forever having their adventures wandering throughout the habitat. Tarra has even been known to take an occasional dip in the lake to cool off!
Happy Anniversary Shirley!
Shirley has been Finding Sanctuary since July 6, 1999
Over at Q
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Ronnie and Debbie splashing away in the pond.
With these hot days in Tennessee, each of the Q Girls has been keeping cool in her own way. Billie and Frieda have been staying up the hill, hidden in the trees. After a long day luxuriating in the shade, they will usually come back to the barn when dinner time approaches. Lizzie prefers to stay near the pond throughout the day. Even with her partially paralyzed trunk, she is very adept at spraying water all over herself, keeping nice and cool. Caregivers also help out by sprinkling her with the hose, but she is happy to do it herself with her trunk. When Caregivers check on Min, she is usually either in the upper pond or at a watering station splashing herself. If she isn't in the midst of water sports, it usually means she just finished, as her skin is normally soaking wet and a beautiful pink color. The other day, a Caregiver meeting was momentarily interrupted by loud squeaks and splashes in the pond. The Caregivers ran right over to see what all the commotion was, and it was just Deb and Ron cooling off and enjoying playful antics. Whenever Deb and Ron are finished cooling off in the pond, it's off to the dirt piles for some good old dusting, which is usually what these two are up to for their majority of the day.
Ronnie splashes water up and over her head with Debbie by her side.
At Africa
Flora lifts her trunk to catch some water droplets sprayed from the hose. Look at those happy ears!
Caregiver Kristy writes, "Tange and Flora have come back to the barn during these hot days, so I've tried to give them some relief by offering cool showers and long drinks from the hose during the hotter parts of the afternoon. I also cut up some watermelon and froze it so they have been getting watermelon popsicles. They have been a big hit! Here at Africa, we normally mix their dinner right before we feed and use lukewarm water to help mix in the molasses. I have been preparing the diets really early and storing them in the fridge for several hours so the water, grain, and produce are icy cold!"