I'm going to be breaking down the past week for you folks back home over the next couple posts and try to incorporate some education in it for you as well. I know a lot about these species from the years of experience I have working directly with them and also from learning from those in the same field (my peers and supervisors). I realize not many of you have had that same opportunity so I will try to help you get a better understanding of the species I am working with so that you can have (hopefully) more enriching encounters with them in the future.
The first thing you need to understand about any wildlife hospital (or human hospital probably) is that we are ruled by the great and powerful whiteboard!
The rules of the board are:
1) at the end of the day, all tasks must be completed
2) when working on a task you must cross it out and inital it so that no one does it twice
3) erase said task only when it is complete!!
4) Remember Remember! to mark off completed tasks and update update update if there are changes so everyone is on the same page.
We bow to the almighty whiteboard and only leave when it has been satisfied hahaha
That sounds a bit dramatic....and maybe it is.... a little. Some days it definitely feels that way and some days just looking at the board at 4pm and seeing how much needs to be finished is quite depressing. But everyday we get it all done (or put it down for the next day) and we head home tired and ready for a good meal and some solid sleep.
I've had small anxiety attacks when I see something had been crossed off but it wasn't done or half completed and now your schedule is thrown off!! AUUGGHHH hahah
This particular day included heavy browsing for vegetation for the bears and fawns....
here Monica is showing me the proper way to...attempt to pull down a tree without tree clippers... lol We've gotten very efficient at defores....browsing for our larger mammals which rely heavily on eating a variety of local flora. (See previous post on browsing) At this point, the fawns have been weaned to morning formula feedings and only have apples, grain and browse for the rest of the day/night. The bears also need to get used to browse because when they are released, grazing native vegetation will be a huge part of their diet. We have about 30 fawns and 16 bear cubs so browsing is a huge endeavor everyday...meaning we do ^^this quite a bit :P
I was also able to release another little cottontail into our backyard :)
Good luck little bun!
We also recieved a third Snapping Turtle, take a look at this 20 lb dinosaur
It is important to handle a Snapping Turtle the proper way since their head can reach the front half of their bodies and they are faaast. For this reason, we grab them by the very base of their tails, then lift them vertically with our other hand under the back half of their body. It requires quite a bit of forearm strength (especially with this dude) and you definitely do not want to carry them very far if at all possible...unless you are looking for a killer workout.
Here are some more close ups of the giant.
Turtles are surprisingly awesome climbers...even ones as big as these Snappers. We have to make sure their tubs are always covered with a heavy mesh frame or they will quickly escape...see below.
Ok! Sorry, this is short but I NEED to pass out! Tomorrow I'm tubing every possum and baby bunny in Virginia (it feels like) and any day now we'll be adding baby squirrels to the mix! I'll have more on that as well as some cool video I've been collecting of Buddy the Bald Eagle and the bears in their new enclosures. Goodnight all! Enjoy your weekend, for me it's Wednesday :) :)
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