"Remembering Grumpy"

A few weeks ago Karin and I were giving enrichment to Grumpy. Try as we might, we couldn't get him interested in coming out of his den to try the frozen chicken-cicle we had made for him. After several failed attempts to get his attention, Jake helped us by locking him in his den and placing the treat about 5 feet from the entrance. We opened the gate and waited for a few minutes to see if he would come out. He seemed very disinterested. In fact, he didn't even acknowledge our presence. 

We finally gave up and left.  We turned our attention to Kazuri and as we were watching him happily devour his treat, I looked over into Grumpy's enclosure. I noticed that the chicken-cicle had vanished and Grumpy was nowhere to be found. We went and looked into his den and there he was, on his side, just as he was before. The only evidence was a wet runny stain at the spot where Jake had placed the treat. "Sneaky!"  

We closed the gate and Jake dropped another treat right in the same place as before. This time Karin and I we went to the far side of the enclosure. After a few minutes we could see movement in his den. Then, out popped Grumpy's head. He looked to the left. Then he looked to the right. He licked his lips and slowly wobbled forward. He took a step, reached down and grabbed the treat with his teeth. In the same motion he reversed direction and carefully backed up. He stopped at the entrance and with his mangled paws perched on the lip of the den; he quickly adjusted the treat in this mouth. He took one step back and disappeared into his den. 

Photos and Article Written by:  Robert and Karin Saucedo, husband and wife, volunteers at In-Sync Exotics.