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Ed Yeates ReportingWe're now into day five of blistering heat and still breathing air that's not good. Until something moves both the bad and hot air out of our valley, the folks at the zoo keep doing everything they can to keep the animals cool.
Today, it was frozen sheets wrapped around a frozen ball to both entertain and cool off the orangutans.
"Some animals are very tolerant of the heat and love it, and other animals we have to watch very closely."
Some of the llamas were shaved, not to bare skin, but enough to lower their body temperature a bit. Even so, they preferred to stay inside.
Nancy Carpenter, DVM, Hogle Zoo Veterinarian: "We do let a lot of animals have access indoors, so the public will find some animals they will not be able to see when it's this hot out."
From one end of the valley to the other, animals and people were cooling themselves. The experts were again advising all of us to avoid peak hours of sun and heat, and with high ozone levels, to minimize exercise time outside. That's exactly what the All About Kids day care center was doing.
Janet Smart, Asst. Director, "All About Kids": "We'll limit their time to about twenty minutes, but when the air quality is like it is today, we limit it to about ten to fifteen minutes. They really need to straighten their legs and run around, but we really don't want them inhaling this bad air."
The "snowcone kid" had his homemade stand out today again in his neighborhood, offering a reprieve, for a price of course.
And one man, whose family prides itself on making kettle corn on the spot over the fire, was hotter than all of us.
McKay Young: "I've honestly, after a while, gotten so used to it being 130 degrees, that now by the time it's about 82 degrees, I have to wear a coat."
Incidentally, the South African penguins, who love hot temperatures, even found it more comfortable indoors today.
