The Rosamond Gifford Zoo will hold its third annual Art Gone Wild! auction 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. The art on display at the zoo was produced by its residents, and is as wild and diverse as the species themselves. Zookeepers have found unique ways to include the most surprising animal artists. Birds, mammals, amphibian and reptiles have all taken part in the zoo’s Art Gone Wild! exhibit. “Animals paint in a lot of different ways,” said Lorrell Walter, director of public relations. “We definitely use brushes with some of the animals and they either hold the brush in their mouth, in their paws, or their hands. In the case of the elephants they hold it in their trunks, an extension of their nose. Some of the animals just walk through the paint.” Sarah Kohler is the outreach keeper at the zoo, and works with small animals in the “Zoo to You” program. She handles lizards, snakes, owls, parrots and other amphibians who travel to schools, hospitals and retirement programs. Many of her animals have participated in the art program at the zoo. “Sand boas are usually one of our most popular because when the snakes move, you get a really good feel for their motion. It’s cool to capture that with the paint,” she said. “The parrots are another favorite. They walk through the paint, then walk across the canvas. Most of them do it for a pine nut.” Painting canvases for the Art Gone Wild! exhibit provides an opportunity for keepers to build a relationship working one on one with the animals, which enhances the animal’s training. “It’s about husbandry. If we can access the animals in a stress free way through good training, it’s just better all the way around for everybody,” Walter said. In general, the art is a collaborative effort between the zookeeper and the animal. Keepers have to decide the best way for the animal to apply paint to the canvas, and train the animal to use the tool of their choosing. They also pick colors for the animals to work with. Sometimes they paint a background on the canvas before the animal applies his or her own style. Once the canvas is prepared, it’s up to the animal to apply the art. Different creatures have different styles. In the case of the parrots, most of them walk straight across the canvas, focused on their pine nut reward. One of the parrots, though, tends to dance around on the canvas, creating a maze-like design of parrot foot smudges across the piece. The small, energetic Siamang apes tend to paint more haphazardly, often running up to the canvas and blasting out a few strokes before tearing off after their next adventure. In the case of the zoo’s four Asian elephants, there are four different approaches to the canvas. Siri, the veteran matriarch, has been painting for more than ten years. “She is very thoughtful in her painting,” Walter said. “She sort of turns her eye and looks at the canvas.” Romani, a slightly younger elephant, holds the brush in her nostril and makes more of a scrubbing motion. “It’s definitely a style all their own,” Walter said. “Siri has much longer longer strokes that tend to weave down and fall off the page where Romani’s will be concentrated on one section of the canvas.” Karina is the youngest of the group, and has yet to learn how to hold the brush. She uses the tip of her trunk like a finger, and “finger-paints.” Some of the pieces are more hands-off than others. Because zookeepers do not share exhibit space with lions or tigers, keepers tape large canvases to the ground, and smear paint around the paper. The curious cats can’t help but explore this new set-up, and end up walking through the paper leaving their perfect prints for animal art connoisseurs to admire. Paintings typically sell for between $15 and $500 dollars in the zoo’s annual Art Gone Wild! silent auction. Proceeds will be used to support the 2012 American Association of Zookeeper conference, being held in Syracuse.