Last night was the very first time I ever volunteered at the local zoo for a charity event called Zoo Boo. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a special Halloween-themed event (minus the frights) for little kids where they come in costumes to collect candy, participate in small activities and interact with the costumed volunteers and performers. For my volunteer position, I went for the costumed character one in my own fursuit with several of the other local furs, and I actually had a good time. :)

My time during the event was mostly spent standing around near the building where the main entrance is, waving to the children and giving them high-fives, fist bumps, hugs and getting pictures taken with them. The whole event is in a large loop around the zoological grounds, and our group was at the very end of the loop, so I suppose you might say we were saved as the best for last. lol

It was a neat experience to actually interact with the kids while I was in my fursuit, because I got to be spontaneous and have fun with them. I even recall being asked to hold an infant in my arms while the mother took the photo on her phone. Though this is a bit minor, most of the people kept mistaking me for a reindeer, even though my character is a whitetail buck; I probably blame this a bit on Sven from the movie "Frozen." lol Speaking of which, a couple of the volunteers dressed as Anna and Elsa from the aforementioned film were walking by before the event started and I told them, "Tell Sven I said hi!" and they giggled, saying "Okay!" long before they came back over to have me take a selfie with them.

Since there weren't enough handlers for last night, not a lot of us got any breaks during the event (I was in suit for about 4 hours and didn't get the chance to stop for a break), so it was tough standing around the whole time and keep my playful energy going, though I was able to keep my endurance up by frequently kneeling or standing on my knees to keep my body going. Also, the weather was fortunately on the cool side and the occasional breezes were very helpful, so I didn't suffer in my suit all that much.

This is one volunteer event I'll never forget, and I may consider doing it again next year. :)