(Post dated for when this was first written on another blog.)
Today was my first day at Sarvey Wildlife Care center. Website here. It was really an awesome experience. I mainly worked with birds today, helping clean their flights. But I also got to work with some turtles. Myself and another volunteer put together a new home for them inside, and got them all acclimated. The birds are awesome, powerful animals, and amazing to see up close. I was surprised to find that I wasn't as afraid to get in the flights with them as I thought, mostly wary, but that's a good thing. They're wild animals and they can be unpredictable, especially in an unfamiliar situation, and some some degree of caution is a good thing. I went in expecting to be working mostly with birds, but I wasn't expecting to be able to get in the flights with raptors on the first day! I can't even explain my excitement.
Cleaning up the flights is pretty straightforward, and not something I think I'll have many problems with. I think what I'll have the most trouble with initially is just the food preparation. I don't have any issues handling the frozen food animals, or picking up bits of them. This was another surprise for me since I was expecting to have a hard time with it. I've kept tons of rodents over the years and seeing anything happen to them tends to make me sad. I was able to compartmentalize my affection for rodents, and the necessity of food animals in the work I'm doing. I think it helped that I fully expected to be handling them. All of the animals have specific dietary needs. It's all written out for us, but it's going to take some practice, getting to know the animals, and learning where everything is kept.
I think my favorite part of the day was helping tube feed an injured Northern Saw-whet Owl. They've got sharp little talons, but they are absolutely adorable little birds. The pygmy owl was very cute as well. I have an even greater love and respect for raptors now, and that's only after one day around them. This has been such an awesome experience so far. It was hard, exhausting work, but I'm already incredibly excited to go back, and getting to jump right in made it even more exhilarating.
Today was my first day at Sarvey Wildlife Care center. Website here. It was really an awesome experience. I mainly worked with birds today, helping clean their flights. But I also got to work with some turtles. Myself and another volunteer put together a new home for them inside, and got them all acclimated. The birds are awesome, powerful animals, and amazing to see up close. I was surprised to find that I wasn't as afraid to get in the flights with them as I thought, mostly wary, but that's a good thing. They're wild animals and they can be unpredictable, especially in an unfamiliar situation, and some some degree of caution is a good thing. I went in expecting to be working mostly with birds, but I wasn't expecting to be able to get in the flights with raptors on the first day! I can't even explain my excitement.
Cleaning up the flights is pretty straightforward, and not something I think I'll have many problems with. I think what I'll have the most trouble with initially is just the food preparation. I don't have any issues handling the frozen food animals, or picking up bits of them. This was another surprise for me since I was expecting to have a hard time with it. I've kept tons of rodents over the years and seeing anything happen to them tends to make me sad. I was able to compartmentalize my affection for rodents, and the necessity of food animals in the work I'm doing. I think it helped that I fully expected to be handling them. All of the animals have specific dietary needs. It's all written out for us, but it's going to take some practice, getting to know the animals, and learning where everything is kept.
I think my favorite part of the day was helping tube feed an injured Northern Saw-whet Owl. They've got sharp little talons, but they are absolutely adorable little birds. The pygmy owl was very cute as well. I have an even greater love and respect for raptors now, and that's only after one day around them. This has been such an awesome experience so far. It was hard, exhausting work, but I'm already incredibly excited to go back, and getting to jump right in made it even more exhilarating.
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