Day 12

I was on the rehabilitation side once again today; except this time it was only me and the two rehab staff members. The new intern was with another intern on the education side. I started off feeding with the two staff members; I mainly prepared food dishes I believe but whatever I did not feed they fed. Once feeding was done, and some cleaning, I went outside and disinfected an outdoor cage. One of the rehab staff members and I then worked on it a little bit so that we could safely put a squirrel in the cage. Once the two cages were cleaned, fixed, and set up with food I then went back inside and with a different staff member we grabbed a squirrel and took it outside. We set the den box, with the squirrel inside of course, in a cage and closed the door. We then went back inside and did the same with the other squirrel though I must admit this too a bit because this squirrel was honestly a psycho. Way too much energy and practically crazy. In the meantime I axed some feeder mice with the CO2 chamber and began filling out feeding charts. 

I was honestly completely worn out today and feeling very down because of how much I missed family so when I grabbed mice my thoughts soon got the best of me and I had a slight break down. I knew it would all hit me eventually, I have been missing home for a long time, but once it passed and I was able to talk it through a little bit I was happy again. I finally feel like I settled into Northwoods completely and I am building some confidence. A lot of things just felt like they happened at once and stirred up my previous emotions so it was a sudden overwhelmed moment I guess. The staff talked to me about phones not being answered the night prior which I was not sure about since I was on my way to Antigo and did not get back till 11:30. I thought the other intern had the phone but I guess she did not and on top of that I did not know if she was necessarily trained or not. My mind was everywhere to say the least. I won't argue it though. I truly know I am a hard worker who cares a lot and although I am a clutz who makes mistakes sometimes I still do my best to fix them and try harder. I just absolutely hate it when someone else brings me down despite any efforts to help them so I guess this worked me up a bit. I understand we are all a team as well but all I am going to say is...I cannot stand know it alls.....at all. No tolerance. Every other know it all before now killed the tolerance and now it drives me insane.

I then started cleaning the cages with the two mice after talking to a staff member a bit about my feelings. I made sure to thoroughly clean them out and make everything look good for any new squirrels and so that the cage room was clean in general. It was looking pretty scary after moving squirrels and such. I was grabbed at some point though and read over Raccoon protocols though made by  a staff member so I knew more about what was going on with the baby raccoons; basically the process of raccoon rehabilitation. Right before this I was able to see a Red Crossbill for the very first time and up close even. Someone brought him in and believes he may have salmonella. He will be taken to REGI in Antigo later. I was honestly excited about going again because I wanted to see if there were any new birds. I gotta admit, im a bird nerd.....wish I had a t-shirt that said "Bird Nerd" with a black bird out lined in the background (or several). Ideas I say!

However, while reading protocols, with a random box on my head, I found out the bird passed on. One minute its sitting on its legs and the next its completely on its back. It would not have made it to REGI which overall is depressing but it did save a trip. I with the crossbill made it but things happen and he was not looking good at all. I love birds but not when they look like they are in pain/suffering, this goes for any animal. Hopefully more people will clean their feeders so less salmonella issues will spread. I almost wonder if the seeds I threw out for the birds in Nelsonville were ate up before they went bad or if I maybe caused more salmonella problems :(. I hope nope and they did seem to eat it all up fast but still, it's the thought.

After this I hung out some with staff and later fed baby raccoons. Once they were all fed and dishes were finished we went to lunch I believe. Once lunch was over I think I began to prepare food for rabbits and squirrels but suddenly the staff team called me over and told me to get ready because we were going on a rescue. A fawn was trapped in a storm drain; the pictures below saw it all. 

PS. These are the two rehabilitators at the center :)

As you can, it was successful! We returned back to the center with the young fawn and then finished off preparing food for all the squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons. Once everyone was fed by the raccoons everyone went outside with the food dishes and vaccinations in order to vaccinate the raccoons. After these two shots they receive they will soon be releasable. So once they were caught, vaccinated, fed, and watered we returned to the front and I finished off the day by mopping. 

Since I was on call tonight I answered a call regarding two more baby raccoons. It was honestly frustrating trying to talk to them and give them the most information but we worked through it. I feel I could have done so much better but it was a definite struggle and proof to me how much I need to work on my general animal knowledge. I personally felt like I jumped off the deep end and into ice at the same time; it was that bad feeling honestly. Everything was worked out though and later on the next day the raccoons were picked up and brought here. I will try posting pictures of them later as well.