Thousands of pounds of old fire hose that could have ended up in landfills will instead become toys or rope ladders to liven up animal enclosures in zoos across the country.

The nonprofit Hose2Habitat hosted a workshop in Redding this weekend to teach animal handlers how to repurpose materials such as fire hose into useful items for animals.

Hose2Habitat was hosted by the U.S. Forest Service inside its fire cache warehouse in Redding for a three-day workshop. Organizers were surrounded by thousands of pounds of fire hose spools.

Hoses were chopped, punctured, stretched and ripped to show a variety of useful items that could make their way to animal sanctuaries and zoos.

Items put together included a fire hose cube for a bobcat at Redding's Turtle Bay Museum and Exploration Park, a mat for a skunk, others still to entertain vultures and beavers.

“The purpose is to stimulate the animal’s mind, to entertain them, because just like humans, animals can get bored too,” said Tony Slamin, co-founder of Hose2Habitat.

Heather Paddock from the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens weaved together old firehose into a hammock for a sea otter – or a wolverine.

She’s not sure yet who it will go to.

“It depends on how it will fit into the enclosure,” said Paddock, an as-needed zookeeper.

Staff from the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose made the trip to the North Zone Fire Cache in Redding for the workshop. So did Marie Ussery from Mid-Valley Veterinary Hospital.

Enhancing animal habitats is nothing new. Many zoos across the country use repurposed materials, like fire hose to brighten up an animal’s enclosure. There are protocols for which animals will respond to those items and how durable those items can be with animals.

Ethan Riepl and Emily Bowling from the Saint Louis Zoo showed participants how to make fire hose cubes, which are durable enough to be handled by small animals.

The concept of enriching an animal’s world while in captivity was on the minds of everyone at the workshop.

“Enrichment is always evolving,” said Riepl a primate keeper.

Bowling said the items they create are inexpensive, but durable, like a fire hose cube or PVC pipes made to look like tree branches.

Materials handler Lisa Usser with forest service said it was a no-brainer to partner with Hose2Habitat.

“This year we have kept out 20,000 pounds that would have gone to the landfill,” Ussery said of the pilot program with Hose2Habitat.

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