Babies.

My first baby season officially began not too long ago. So far the influx hasn't been huge (at least in the time I've been there), but not even a day after I learned how to feed and potty baby squirrels, I was dreaming about it, in depth. Everything right now to how many ml of formula to give baby. My brain picks odd things to retain, but I can't say I wasn't grateful for it. Thursday, on my way through the door I was just early enough to to feed the squirrel, and I was able to do it independently, and with a pretty darn clear idea in mind of what I had to do. I think I did pretty well. The little girl managed to eat all of her food, and was still hungry afterward. It's great to see him so ravenous. She repeated herself later in the evening, once again consuming her entire meal. 

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Soon after, I was on to my usual cleaning. Though, today there was a bit of a twist. It's quite common for Sarvey to host groups of people interested in what we do. A portion of our educational animals are available to view on-site, and I have a tendency to be out there cleaning when a group shows up on Thursdays. This time around it was a group of very inquisitive children and their parents. One little girl in particular was having a splendid time, asking questions about the birds and taking pictures. I was in with Iya when they first arrived. I was happy to show the girl Pellets, and feathers (since everyone seems to be molting right now), and Tell her what kind of owl Iya was, and the types of things I do around the facility as a volunteer. She seemed to soak it all in, and was happy to repeat it to her friends as they joined her later. She had a sketchbook with her as well, which she showed me a few drawings in, as well as a few pictures she'd taken with the camera. As an artist myself, I love it when kids have a healthy passion for art when they're young. In any case, she was particularly taken with Iya. 

As we get closer to summer, Iya has been getting more talkative, and I suppose outgoing. (Can owls be outgoing?) She also however, seems to confuse herself when visitors show up. She can't decide if she's really interested in them, or really perturbed by their presence. In any case, visitors showing up while I'm in her flight generally means Iya comes down to visit. I don't presume to know why she does this. She sometimes visits when people aren't around, but it happens more often when they are. Whether it's because she wants to show off, or she just feels more comfortable being closer to someone she knows, it's pretty consistent. I think the only difference with her visit this time around was the fact that she practically landed on my head, and then decided to stay there. Not once that day, but twice, when I went to enter her flight later on (A friend at the center lent me her telescoping lens, and I wanted to see if I could get pictures of her up on her perch. Instead I got an owl in my face). 

Each time she did it, she appeared  fairly relaxed, and seemed content just to be near me. Especially when their were young, loud children ooing and ahing. I love this bird though, really, I do. Without her antics I would never have the chance to see such a gorgeous bird so close. The same can be said for others, such as Athena, who has cornered me in the past, although that wasn't exciting in quite the same way. For the duration of both visits she simply sat beside me, and stared, fixated. She seemed pretty intent to ignore the small crowd of excited kids, in favor of the exchange. If I talked to her she would twitter back. All together I was pretty amused with the whole interaction. She stood still for pictures (I wasn't about to waste the opportunity, especially with a content, cooperating bird), and then I told her sternly that I needed to finish cleaning her flight, as I had other things to do. This was more to let the kids know I was leaving than for the owls benefit. Even as I left though she tried to maintain the her proximity to me by moving to her perch closest to the door, while I carried out my tools. I almost get the sense that having someone she recognizes nearby makes interactions with the public more comfortable for her. 

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Today was the first time I had an opportunity to really get pictures of Baxter the bobcat. I've mentioned in the past that we use a solution, called Trifectant to help stop the spread of Zoonotic Disease from one species to another. We have pans of this solution in several places around the facility, ready to step in when entering or leaving the enclosure of any animal that could potentially carry these diseases. Well, today it was time to change out the solution. I found myself the unwitting recipient of the task, and after a small demonstration, I moved on to the rest myself with the help of a fellow volunteer to make the process faster. One of those pans sits in a padlocked area outside of Baxter's run. Naturally, I didn't get close to the chain-link separating me from the cat. Birds are one thing, but Bax is a whole lot of cat, and I've seen way too many when animals attack shows to let myself get within paws reach. However, I had the small advantage of my friends Telephoto lens, as well as only the one degree of separation between us. So while my partner was headed back to dump a bucket of old solution , I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of Bax.

I'm not going to lie, it was kind of a neat moment for me. It always is the first time I have the opportunity to take pictures of a new species. 

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I also met Cinnamon for the first time, though I suppose meet is kind of a subjective term, as the goal was to get pictures while staying as far from the Doe as possible. I needed pictures of her for a project I'm working on with one of the Staff, Kestrel. I would have been happy to send one of the staff in with my camera, but instead a staff member offered to go in with me, so that I could procure the pictures I needed. After all, who best to take photos of a subject, then the person who needs to use them directly? This is also where my friends Telephoto lens came into play. She just so happened to have it on her, and we both shoot with Nikons. So not only was I going to take pictures of a new species, but I got to play with a new lens while I was at it. Today was shaping up to be pretty exciting. The staff member and I entered the paddock, and made slow progress toward Cinnamon. Thanks to the lens, we were able to stay a good 30 feet back, while I snapped reference photos. The entire process went very smooth, and I was able to get the pictures I needed. Cinnamon has a bad ankle (which is the reason her leg is at an odd angle), and lives at Sarvey as an imprinter. Essentially, she's there to raise and fawns that pass through, and make sure they act and associate with other deer.

I was blessed to have my hands on the lens for a while longer, and used it to take photos of a few other educational animals I can't normally get close to, such as Ska ska the Merlin, Tadita the Barred owl, and Celi the Short-eared owl.

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After a quick break for lunch I was done working with the education animals, and I headed back inside to give baby squirrel her second feeding from myself (technically third of the day, as She was being fed four times a day), which as you know went well enough. As I was finishing feeding baby, another of the volunteers I typically work with arrived, and it was time to deliver food to the night feeders. Her timing is usually pretty convenient for me. She still needs some guidance, so I'm happy to assist her, and at the same time I can have her handle and deliver the rats that I'm allergic to. This means I don't have to dig out my gloves, and I can cement a particular task into routine for her and make her experience easier. While we were out there we delivered food to a particularly showing Barn owl. Thanks to this owl, I got to hear the god-awful death screech Barn owls make in person for the first time. She also gives us some brilliant displays of  Mantelling. This is basically Barn Owl for, Don't get any closer! As freaky as it can be to witness in person, this is great behavior for our Barn owl to be displaying. We want the animals we release into the wild to retain their fear of humans. In fact, it's a necessity.  

After the feeding was finished, the volunteer and I headed back toward the clinic. She's gone through this process with me a few times now. I think next time I'll have her do it on her own, and see how it plays out. She's progressed to the point where I can tell her what foods to prepare for the next day, and she diligently goes through the recipe book to make them. I've come to really enjoy the people that I work with. Everybody is friendly, and they've all got personality. Not to mention they all accept my eccentricity. I can be outgoing, and goofy on occasion, but I try to be diligent in my work, as well as efficient and helpful.

That was probably how I ended up helping one of the night volunteers catch and medicate an Opossum. Opossums, in my experience are actually fairly easy to work with. They make a lot of noise, but once you've got your hands on them they kind of freeze up and drool. Come to think of it, this is probably the playing dead, people reference. This particular volunteer is perfectly capable of doing the job on his own. The only reason I was sent out there with him was because this Opossum likes to climb the walls, and therefore make himself into a two person job. This pretty much ended in me holding a stiff, drooling Opossum, while he attempted to medicate it in a way that didn't allow the medicine to leak out of it's mouth with the drool. Opossums are messy. I essentially got drool and medicine all over my shirt. Which I proceeded to proudly announce to everyone in the clinic as soon as we returned. 

The rest of the even was easy enough. I caught an exceptionally pretty duck, to be medicated. I found it was surprisingly easy to do. I'm used to a lot more struggling, and attempts to evade my incoming pillow case or towel. While I was at it, I learned that we don't use towels to secure waterfowl. Instead we use pillowcases. It turns out that towels actually retain more of the detergent from the washing cycle than pillowcases do, and that can be incredibly damaging to the waterproofing of their feathers. I don't remember for certain what type of duck it was, but it might have been a Wigeon.

I also had the fortune of photographing a very well behaved Female Turkey staying in our clinic. She was comfortable in a nice secluded, closet-like, enclosure that we also use to house swans on occasion. Wild Turkey's are surprisingly pretty to look at. Just look at those colors! I wish I could show you the iridescence in the darker plumage.

That's pretty much all there is to say. I'll leave you with a few pictures of one of the cats that lives on-site.