Graduation!!!

Saturday May 16 9:30 AM Memorial Union, Madison, WI
Lunch at noon at my house:)
(email me for directions and details!!)

more wildlife center, then onto the raptor center!

WHEW!!! it is INSANELY busy at the wildlife center! WHAT A BLAST!!!

Speaking of squirrels (see pic above;), I had a lot of sad cases while I was at the wildlife center, but probably the saddest cases involved squirrels. I had admitted two squirrels, a red squirrel and a grey squirrel, from different people, where the finders had found the squirrels as babies and instead of bring them to us, had "raised them".

First, these squirrels were incredibly lucky to have survived being raised by non-licensed rehabbers; most die from diarrhea due to a bad diet, such as dog milk replacer. At the center, we use a special squirrel formula, special medications, and techniques.

Second, since these squirrels were raised by non-rehabbers they were severely habituated and slightly imprinted. These squirrels had no fear of people. They would run up and down us while we tried to transfer them to cages, jumping off our heads and running around the room. You cannot release a squirrel that's going to run up and down people at the park. It's dangerous.

Making these guys "re-wild" is not an option as they were adults and had been raised since they were little. There is no hope at that point, unfortunately. Other than having no fear of people, these guys were healthy; my stupid bleeding heart was grasping at straws and i tried setting each one up in their own housing while i could try to contact zoos to see if they had a squirrel exhibit.

The grey squirrel turned how to be not only habituated but also aggressive, biting my glove when handled. No zoo keeper is going to want to get mauled whenever they enter an exhibit. The red squirrel was literlly going insane in his large outdoor pen; he could not mentally handle being in captivity, and even if i found him a HUGE exhibit, he would also run up and down the keepers which isn't safe and not a good example for the public.

So I was forced to euthanize two healthy adult squirrels because people were either trying to help, or thought they were cute---either way, they were not responsible and did not seek out the appropriate resources when they came across these guys. It's a sad situation that happens all too often.

Sorry--i'll get off my soap box now:)

So now i'm at the raptor center!!! I've come on at an odd time, i'm told, as they have a companion bird rotation going on at the same time...so far i've...
-performed an endoscopic exploratory on a LIVE (but anesthetized) quail
-went birdwatching (for the first time--quite fun!)
-went to the zoo
-observed a surgery to repair a humerus of a red-tailed hawk

hopefully i'll get to see more surgeries as i hope to learn a lot about avian orthopedics.

ok, i'm finally done:) thanks for reading:) and SEE YOU AT GRADUATION WHICH IS IN 2 WEEKS!! AHHHHHHH!!

this is a box turtle we found while bird watching...he has a transmitter glued to his shell and some red paint so the scientist who is tracking him can find him a bit easier...very cool!

The Wildlife Center

I am finally at the wildlife rehabilitation center...finishing up my third week here and it has been AWESOME!!!! AHHH!!! I'm working super long days, but loving every minute of it--my passion for veterinary medicine is renewed:)

Here are some pictures so far:

Here are some baby bunnies. Starting about my 4th day of working at the center, we got hit HARD with baby bunnies. I think right now we probably have somewhere between 75-100 baby bunnies to feed every day. People think they are helping the buns--b/c they touched it or their dog found it--and some people are just ignorant....here are some facts:
-mothers will not abandon their young b/c you touched their babies and they can smell it (it's a myth)
-if you disrupt a nest and the buns are not injured, you can just reassemble the nest with their materials or leaves and such and the mother will come back
-the mother rabbit only comes 1-2 times per day so you will NEVER see her. She watching and if she sees predators (including you) she won't go anywhere near the nest so she doesn't draw attention to it
-if your dog finds the nest, but the uninjured buns back and leash your dog for 2 weeks--that's all the time it takes for the buns to grow up and get out of your yard:)
-i understand that people have gardens and rabbits can be a nuisance, but even if you "relocate" them to another area, more rabbits will set up shop in your yard...the only way to keep them out is to "rabbit-proof" your whole yard...and besides, they were there first! just fence in your garden. simple.
-baby bunnies are SUPER HARD to raise...even the best bunny rehabbers can only save about 25% of the orphans they take in...so leaving the buns in the nest is always the first choice.
-if you're worried the mother won't come back, put the buns in the nest and place a string in a design (like a circle or square) on top of the nest...if it's disturbed the next morning, you know mom is taking care of them...if not, it's ok to bring them to a rehabber

whew!!! that was a lot!! i've had to repeat that schpeel a lot these past few weeks;)


I have depressing videos of a raccoon and a coyote with distemper but they are sad so i won't post...the main message is to make sure to vaccinate your dogs!!!!!!!!!!!!! distemper is deadly!!

and here is a cute picture of a ruby-crowned kinglet:)
more to come later!

holy crap i got a job!

so after I didn't "match" i was scared....I had been watching the job market for months and NO ONE was hiring for the job I wanted (working with exotics/wildlife). It terrifies me to work in a practice with mostly cats and dogs...i think i'm just really burnt out on them....

In desperation, I emailed random exotics practices across the country and found one last exotics internship that was still hiring in WA. I talked to the vet and booked a flight to seattle...rental car...and hotel...expensive...

So i'm in the airport on a layover when i get two voicemails from clinics looking to hire.

to shorten the story...one of the clinics owners was INSANE!!! Seattle offered me the job...and the next day, a clinic in chicago offered me a job....they were comparable jobs (working with exotics and birds) and after a lot of thought i took the job in chicago.

I'M GOING TO BE AN AVIAN AND EXOTICS VETERINARIAN!!! yay:)

now i'm on externship at the minnesota wildlife rehab center and it is AWESOME!!!

today we gave a blood transfusion to a swan!!! AHH!

i'm having a blast:) more later!