At Wildwood Zoo, the snow came down so hard that even the people caring for the animals got trapped.

When a blizzard dumped more than two feet of snow on the zoo in Marshfield, Wisconsin, manager Kyle Kirk stayed at the facility for three straight nights to care for animals across all 27 species.

“This is the most snow I think I’ve ever seen in my whole life,” Kirk told WSAW.

At one point, the storm pinned him inside the staff building.

“There was a solid hour that I really couldn’t help really anybody because I was completely snowed in,” he said.

Once he could get back outside, Kirk started digging out smaller animals that had been buried under the snow, including quail, prairie dogs and skunks.

“I was able to dig them out… our skunks were completely snowed in,” he said.

Even in the middle of the storm, Kirk said there was a lighter moment with the skunks.

“It was kind of comical because I think our skunks thought that I brought the snow… they were stomping at me and saying, ‘Oh, you can take away the snow now,’” he told WSAW.

Kirk also carved paths through enclosures so porcupines and skunks could move around again. He checked on foxes that had already shed their winter coats to make sure they were warm enough during the sudden freeze.

Some of the larger animals handled the conditions with little trouble. The Kodiak bears lounged comfortably, and the lynx appeared well-suited to the deep snow.

“It was really fun to see him walking on top of the snow with his great big paws,” Kirk said. “He could have went for another two feet for sure.”

Not every animal managed as easily. Kirk said he had to lift sandhill cranes out of the snow after they got stuck.

For him, staying at the zoo through the blizzard was simply part of the job.

“A lot of other people can call in sick or get snowed in, but simply, I can’t,” Kirk said. “There’s really no reason to have these animals if we’re not going to care for them in the best possible way at our disposal.”