Creature Features

The sheep were sneezing, the golden lion tamarin was nursing an ear infection, a chicken with an attitude had pecked open the pig’s ear, and the gorilla needed a look-see after a tussle with his roommate left him with a gashed foot and a shiner.

It’s all business as usual for Santa Barbara Zoo veterinarian Susan Hoegeman. Following her on rounds is a little like going on safari with the cast of television’s “ER.”

And the public can do just that on a behind-the-scenes tour that the zoo has begun offering. A few times a year, people can spend part of a Saturday tailing Hoegeman in a program called “Rounds With the Vet.”

And it’s not the only opportunity around for those who want more of a personal, up-close encounter with wild and exotic animals.

If they don’t mind getting down and dirty, they can help bathe and groom an elephant during a popular daylong class, the next one Sunday, which Learning Tree University offers through its Thousand Oaks and Chatsworth campuses.

And for something less hands-on, Moorpark College’s exotic animal-training program goes a step beyond its weekend animal shows. Visitors can linger at the little zoo, observing feeding time and learning about animal diets.

Apparently it’s not just kids who are intrigued by zoo animals and their caretakers, the Santa Barbara Zoo found out when it started its “Rounds With the Vet” program last year.

“The adults were asking questions over the kids’ heads,” said zoo spokeswoman Kelly Rogers.

Surprised by the amount of interest, the zoo opened adults-only rounds. The next one is Feb. 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $25, $20 for zoo members. Kids in grades four through nine can take a similar outing with Hoegeman on Feb. 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., during the program, “So You Want to Be a Vet.” Cost is $35, $30 for members.

Tagging along with Hoegeman, you won’t see major surgery on a lion or slip in for a touchy-feely one-on-one with a monkey. But the program starts before the zoo opens and takes the group to some off-limits areas the general public never sees.

In the elephant barn, they’ll observe how Hoegeman and the keepers do their daily hoof-and-mouth check on Mac and Susie, two 27-year-old Asian elephants. At the “open” command, the pachyderms, both behind a gate, open their mouths wide and stick out their huge, fleshy pink tongues. Hoegeman has time for a leisurely gaze at how Mac’s impacted wisdom teeth have healed.

Another command, “rest it,” prompts the elephants to prop a foot on the gate’s railing so the vet and keepers can check their toenails, which must be trimmed daily.

Rounds aren’t always so predictable. While checking on the hen-pecked Vietnamese potbellied pig recently, Hoegeman spotted a problem with one of the other animals in the farmyard exhibit--a sheep with a possible eye infection.

A simple injection of antibiotics was the solution, but there was nothing simple about it. Using food, keepers spent 15 minutes trying to lure the skittish animal into a holding pen where they finally held it down for the shot.

There were other animals to look in on, such as the coatimundi (a racoon-like carnivore) whose tail was gashed in a recent fight. But much of the time, Hoegeman doles out interesting tidbits about the animals and how she cares for them.

Take the 15-year-old wallaby she had to treat for cataracts: “I got on the Internet with a vet in Australia--I got the best person.” Or the zoo’s efforts at preventive medicine: “We’re religious about cleaning everybody’s teeth.”

Although observers likely won’t see her perform procedures on the animals, that could change later this year when the zoo opens its new clinic. Until then, they will look at X-rays and try their hand at the dart gun used to anesthetize animals for treatment, contraception or sometimes to give vitamins. The target won’t be animals, but pumpkins, and the darts won’t have needles or drugs.

Those who opt for Learning Tree University’s “Elephant Encounter” course won’t find themselves at a zoo but at a private Fillmore ranch. Trainers Ralph Helfer and his daughter Tana Helfer Herbert, who work with Hollywood’s exotic animal stars, truck in a 3-ton African elephant for the occasion.

“It’s a complete hands-on day with an absolutely brilliant animal,” said Herbert, whose father originated affection-motivated training of exotic animals.

With buckets of water and brushes, the participants scrub down the elephant, help trim nails and polish tusks while they learn about training, feeding and breeding, as well as the animal’s status in the wilds. The group’s final reward is a ride on the beast.

“People come in casual clothes--they get dirty and sprayed with water,” said Herbert, who is based in Corona del Mar. Her father spends much of the year in Africa leading safaris.

The next “Elephant Encounter” is Sunday. A less hands-on seminar offered Saturday at the Fillmore location by the father-daughter team is called “Beauty and the Beasts.” They truck in animals--a tiger, bear, wolves, python or maybe a baboon, depending on availability--for a day of learning and behind-the-scenes Hollywood anecdotes. Both classes run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are limited to those age 14 and over. Cost is $115.

For a cheaper weekend family outing, head for Moorpark College, where students in the Exotic Animal Training and Management program put on animal shows and operate a small zoo.

Visitors can wander the zoo grounds and see about 150 animals. In the amphitheater, they can watch student trainers work with a variety of animals--everything from a camel to a macaw to a squirrel monkey. The grounds are open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for kids 2-12 and free for those under 2. Shows run at noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

But if you want more of a behind-the-scenes look at exotic animal care, stick around after the last show. At 3:45 p.m. you can watch a student trainer feed a carnivore, such as a hyena or snow leopard. Not only do you find out what the animals chow down, but what they’ll do to get it.

For some it’s a meatball-like goody made of horse meat. On a recent weekend, the snow leopard wasn’t interested in food. The trainer’s persistence paid off eventually when the animal, in heat, raised a paw in sort of a wave and took a meatball as reward.

The hyenas, on the other hand, were anxious to perform. On command, they would sit, roll over or jump up on their hind legs and hop. For their efforts, a young trainer fed them chicken necks, meatballs, baby chicks and bird wings, which they quickly devoured, feathers and all.

BE THERE

FYI--For information or to register for classes, call: Santa Barbara Zoo, (805) 962-5339; Learning Tree University, (805) 497-2292, or (818) 882-5599; Moorpark College’s exotic animal compound, (805) 378-1441.