<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-916" title="training_tales1" src="http://aecetia.net/gws/aazk/wp-content/uploads/training_tales1-1024x328.jpg" alt="training_tales1" width="574" height="184" /></p>

<p style="text-align: left;"><em>By </em>
<em>Jennifer Gale, Animal Enrichment Keeper</em>
<em>CuriOdyssey at Coyote Point, San Mateo, CA</em>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em></em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span>Training captive animals to receive vaccinations cooperatively is a goal of many animal keepers.  Cooperative operant conditioning helps to develop trusting relationships with keepers, lessens stress on both animals and keepers during medical procedures and can enrich the animals </span>by providing them the opportunity to learn and choose to participate in reinforcing behaviors.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The necessity to train our 2.0 North American raccoons (<em>Procyon lotor</em>), Lancelot and Merlin, became clear when rabies (every three years) and distemper (annually) vaccinations weren’t being reliably delivered with the use of an injection pole handled by our veterinarian.  Sometimes the needle would bend resulting in only half of a dose being given, or the needle would not stay fixed onto the injection pole, creating a hazardous situation for the raccoons having the opportunity to play with or chew on the syringe and needle while keepers would attempt to get the syringe back by any means possible. This usually resulted in more fear and distrust on the part of the raccoons.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">September 2007:  After watching a vaccination session go wrong, I decided to come up with a solution for all future injections for the eight-year-old raccoon brothers, Lancelot and Merlin.  The question was: How could I create an injection chute at little to no cost?  I began researching on many of the zoo keeper websites and newsletters (AZA, ABMA, AAZK) and decided to create a vertical chute like one I had seen built horizontally for otters using a large PVC pipe cut in half and attached to the caging.  Instead of purchasing a large PVC pipe, I searched around our Keeper Building for free supplies that would work.  I found a pile of old metal mesh pieces and decided that because it was pliable and free, I would make it work. I knew that it wouldn’t be a permanent fixture, so I was able to use duct tape to protect the raccoons from the edges of the mesh and found cable ties and four carabineers from old staff uniforms to attach the mesh “chute” vertically in the corner of one of the raccoon indoor runs.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span>Desensitizing to the new chute was the first step toward the final goal of reliable cooperative injections.  I was able to move through the process fairly quickly due to the fact that the raccoons were accustomed to their nightquarter’s furniture being changed and redesigned on a daily basis by Keeper staff.   The first step was attaching the chute to the inside corner of the run and allowing the boys to look at it, smell and touch it, which I would bridge and feed for, using their daily diet (Lancelot also enjoyed sitting on top of the chute). </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2200" title="raccoon_chute" src="http://aecetia.net/gws/aazk/wp-content/uploads/raccoon_chute.jpg" alt="raccoon_chute" width="440" height="587" /></p>

Hand cues were used to position the raccoons.  Here is the sit cue.
<em> Photo by Megan Hankins, Animal Keeper, CuriOdyssey</em>
<p style="text-align: left;">Once Lancelot and Merlin had no fear of the new object, we took the next step…</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Want to discover more great training ideas? Become a member of AAZK and get 12 issues of Animal Keepers’ Forum each year featuring this column as well as lots of animal husbandry and enrichment ideas and information. <a href="http://aecetia.net/gws/aazk/join/">JOIN NOW!</a></strong></p>