Livin' the Dream

Sure, most of us like our jobs, but some gigs are just more fun than others. Meet seven people who should never have trouble getting up in the morning.

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Photomelissa pedersen Craig Granger fishes with disaster while feeding one of WOW’s two tiger sharks.

Work With Animals

WHO DOES IT: Craig Granger, 32, Senior animal keeper, Wonders of Wildlife
At first sniff, you might think this job stinks. Then you realize the smell is just coming from the Tupperware container of mackerel you’re holding, and you’re getting ready to feed it to a hungry, 200-pound tiger shark. Craig Granger and his team of assistants feed the four sharks in the WOW saltwater tank twice a week. They take lots of precautions. The fish are held at the end of a six-foot pair of tongs; usually the sharks play nice (or as nice as you can with razor-sharp teeth), but sometimes they pull the tongs into the tank with them, as happened twice in a span of five minutes as we watched a struggling Craig fish the floating pole out of the water. The feeding goes smoothly; the sharks have been trained to come to a specific colored target at feeding time. Full and happy, they rarely turn on other fish in the tank unless the fish in question is sick or dead.

Sometimes the keepers swim with the sharks (no, really). All of the aquatic staff members are SCUBA certified, and twice a week staffers and volunteers dive to clean the massive tank. Again, the sharks are usually indifferent—though Craig says he carries a pocketful of fish just to be safe. The danger factor is there, he says, but no worker has ever sustained significant injuries from an animal at WOW. Animals to be particularly careful around, according to Craig: those cute, diving otters (“Keepers have lost fingers.”) and the museum’s surly alligator snapping turtle.

ADVICE: The key is a love for animals and a passion for spreading a message of conservation.

MAKE IT YOURS: Wonders of Wildlife (500 W. Sunshine St., 417-890-9453) has a volunteer diving program, so you might start by getting your SCUBA certification; we suggest Aquasports Outfitters (5601 S. Campbell Ave., 417-883-5151). Other volunteer programs exist if you want to get your foot in the door at WOW. Contact Cheryl Dandridge at 417-225-1120, or check out wondersofwildlife.org. If you’re looking at animal keeping as a career, it helps to have a degree in wildlife biology (Craig got his from Missouri State).

Get GO at home!