My least favorites are Ostrich, kangaroo and zebra.So question, what was the most difficult animal for you to work with? It can be for any reason. That just all sounds so awesome!
And sorry to here about the temp no work. I'm a groomer and I'm non essential too. Kinda hurts your feelers lol.
Ostrich are just big dumb, aggressive birds. Their eyeballs are bigger than their brain. After a day of working with one of those, you feel like you've played in an NFL game. You have to struggle, push and shove them all around all day and try not to get kicked, or let them kill themselves. Its no fun. We consider it a good day if the bird and the trainers all get home safely.
Kangaroos are relatively easy to handle, but because no one understands them or has any experience actually handling them they don't understand why we manhandle them the way we have to. It just looks bad, even though it isn't bad at all for us or for them. You get a lot of "Awwwwwe... The poor thing..." You have to lead them by the wrists, or with a collar around their chest and a leash, or guide them by their tail. Usually its all of the above depending on where you are and where you need to get them to go. They don't "lead" like a dog or a goat. They just flail around, never understanding or even beginning to grasp the concept of "Hey. It would be a lot easier if I just walked along nicely with these people who feed and care for me every day..." None of this bothers the animal at all, and we would never hurt them or allow them to be hurt, but people just don't understand because no one has ever laid hands on a living kangaroo and tried to move them around. They are utterly untrainable and always want to do the opposite of what you want them to do. To say they are like a big dumb giant rabbit would be an insult to rabbits.
Zebra are either in full panic escape mode, or full on attack the human mode. There is a razors edge fine line in the middle of those two extremes that we try to keep them on, but man, it is dicey. Zebras aren't stupid. They are constantly trying to figure out how to kill you to get away from you, or just to make you dead. They want to hurt you and they know how. Its like a chess game and you have to be thinking two or three moves ahead. When you touch them they are always tensed up like a coiled spring just waiting to explode. They just don't relax. This makes sense when you think about how and where they live. Relax for one second on the African plains, and a host of predators will be upon you in an instant, or your herd mates will usurp your standing in the dominate hierarchy. They can't just stand with you and be cool and let you pet them like a horse. It sucks.
Conversely, my favorites would be baboons, reptiles and dogs.