Day 2

Today is technically my first day working. Yesterday was more of a welcoming/move in day though I got the privilege to help out on the bat survey as explained yesterday.

Started off the day at 8am and was given a run down of how the animals are fed. I always knew Mr. Buchanan was right when he said the sheets for recording feeding amounts would become important one day because they did today! We have to keep track of every animal, what they are fed, how much they ate compared to prior day, and any important notes regarding the animal. Today I helped feed the mice; which are used as feeder mice. I also got the chance to watch the three young Red Squirrel get fed PEP again (a liquid full of electrolytes and used to rehydrate the animal before they are fed formula and later solid foods). I also got to see the young Eastern Cottontail rabbits and the Gray Squirrel (black one) get fed as well. Then I was given a run down on the formulas, where the food is stored, who gets fed what food, etc. Overall it seems like common sense (herbivores eat plants and carnivores eat meat) but lets be honest I would probably ditz out and not know if not told. I have some really good teachers and it does help getting the refresher on all the species and their specific diets and such. I also learned quite a bit too; like how rabbits eat, poop, then eat their poop again for nutritional needs which is why their cages cannot be cleaned until I believe after 2pm and how egg shells are a good source of calcium for squirrels which was very interesting indeed. All residents and racoons fast on sunday which is why they were not fed today. Also, one of the gray squirrels was moved from inside to outside to prepare for being released which is great! Her name is Cupcake :)

After feeding, a staff member gave me a more official tour of the building and what can be found where. We were interrupted half way through due to a call from a man about four loons trapped in a pond. Loons need a water run way before they are capable of taking off so if they land somewhere without enough water they become stranded; this is why big pavement areas like Walmarts parking lot is a bad for waterfowl - they think its water when its not and become stranded. After gathering more information on the four loons we decided to wait at least until tomorrow to better prepare ourselves for a rescue attempt. We simply need more people, three won't cut it on a half acre pond, and hope to contact the Loon Rangers and assist them. Otherwise nothing else has truly happened yet.

Due to the interruption the tour was stopped and we actually ended up sitting down and talking for a good long while about jobs, school, grants, and so much more. The best two sites that everyone uses when finding wildlife jobs is Texas A&M's site and SCA (http://www.thesca.org/) for anyone interested in wildlife positions and such. I have heard a lot about Texas's site but not much was said regarding SCA (though I have came across it before when searching for positions). I have a pretty sturdy game plan on where I want to go and how to get there but I am not certain of the end result (like for permanent job) so it helps to know everyone is highly willing to help me find my niche. It is also awesome that I got this job at Northwoods because of how amazing it will look on everyone's resume. The one staff member helping me said she started here as her first wildlife internship too and has since then been to many states like Arizona, Texas, etc (shes from Illinois) and told me that there is a big rehabilitation center in Texas.... which is where I considered venturing too some day. Starting to see a new light at the end of the tunnel (though the tunnel im in now isn't a dark one anyway haha) so who knows, may end up in Texas rehabilitating Jaguars :)!

After talking for a while we figured we would take lunch till 12:20 roughly and will resume the tour once lunch if finished. Turkey/Pepperjack cheese pita pocket "sandwich", crab selects, starkist tuna pack, water, and a small piece of donated chocolate cake = my lunch for the day. Delicious! I do not have a scale to weigh in or anything so I am hoping that I can loose enough wait to where at the end of the summer I can go "WOW! I LOST THAT MUCH!?!" We will see though, it's a work in progress with eating healthy, drinking water, walking around a lot, Weight Watchers, and Advocare all helping me haha.

UPDATE:
So after lunch a kitten was caught and brought in by one of the staff. We loved on it and fed it though I must admit I didn't hold it too much or anything to prevent any sort of attachment. It makes me miss my two babies back at home without a doubt...especially Arthur since he is a big momma's boy. I hope he and Fergie aren't sad or freaking out about where I am. Especially since it will be a few months. Fergie is used to it due to college but Arthur - this is the first time he's been alone this long. He has Charlie to play with at least (mom's cat).

After much kitten love I helped clean the young cottontail rabbit cages and the squirrel cages. This was around 2pm. Cottontails are easily stressed and can die from being too stressed so much love and care is needed to ensure their safety for sure. All the baby bunnies were fine after cleaning and feeding of course. They received new timothy hay and water. The other intern and I started working on food preparation while we waited for next feeding round at 4pm. I did dishes and then helped. We returned to the office and gave more kitten love while chit chatting. I was showed two of the best videos ever today!!! You all NEED to watch them too if you get the chance because they are HILARIOUS!!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lOhvS-xyrA
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnydFmqHuVo

Once 3:30pm rolled around the two gray squirrels, three red squirrels, and the seven eastern cottontail rabbits were fed with fruits/veges. Rabbits received only apple/carrots but the squirrels received at least lettuce, pear, carrot. Water was replaced in squirrel cages. I was able to fill out the charts better so that part is learned. None of the residents were fed due to fasting on Sundays to mimic the wild; such as days they cannot catch prey. Kitty love was given again I believe and later the other intern and I cleaned. I finished off dishes and swept while the other intern took out garbage, fixed a light, and helped me sweep.

I received a project today - creating informational brochures regarding wildlife and the public. For example, pets and wildlife. Some of you know the dangers of outdoor cats; especially when it comes to birds. There are others issues of course that I hope to cover but we shall see what I can create. Hoping to refresh my skills and put them to the test so I can make some really good ones for the center to use and pass out to the public. Will keep them of course, especially if they are really good!

Tonight two staff members, the other intern, and I talked about going out to eat at a local place in Minocqua then I do believe we are all getting together with other staff/voluntters(?) for game night. Scrabble and who knows what else but cannot wait, shall be fun :)!


PS. I have not used names when mentioning the staff members since this blog is public.
PPS. Hope to start uploading more pictures to make the long wordy posts look more exciting!