40 degrees and sunny

As the title suggests the past few days have been 40 degrees and sunny! I love walking to class without my winter coat and without freezing my face off. Although, on my way to genetics I managed to find the only patch of ice left on campus and fall on it. As I was picking myself and my dignity back up again, I slipped and fell once more. I sure am talented.

So the majority of work yesterday was scraping half thawed rat guts off the stump in a hawks cage and picking up hawk pellets. I also forgot rubber gloves and was too lazy to tramp through the mud back to the infirmiry to get them. So i used the inside of the garbage bag to pick up all these delightful rat chunks. yum.
The day did get more inetersting though when we got a small red screetch owl in that got hit by a car. I picked it up out of the box and he was so tiny he felt like he weighed nothing. His right eye had been gouged out and his other eye looked up at me sadly, I don't know if he could even see me. He didn't struggle at all as Max set his broken wing and gave him a shot of fluids. It was very upsetting as he layed there in my hands, his small talons gripped my glove with what little bit of strength he had in him. It makes me so sad that people are the reason that most of these animals come into the center. There are a few scattered cat and dog attacks but the majority of animals coming in through the door are hit by cars or harassed by people. Its very upsetting. It was five thirty and I had taken off my scrubs and was heading out the door when a women with another screetch owl came in. So i was lured back into the infirmiry for another car accident victim. The odd thing was that he had almost identical injuries to other screetch- a badly injured eye and a broken wing. This one was also left in a box in a parking lot with a note written on it- "Hey to whoever finds this, we found this little guy in the parking lot and didn't want to leave him on the ground." I don't understand why they can't take 5 minutes to call someone for help. Anyway this little owl was a lot more feisty and was trying to fly away from me despite the broken wing. We now have 4 hurt screetch owls at the nature center.

Max, the vet I work with, is awesome. She is so positive about everything, very helpful and explains everything she is doing so I am learning so much from her. Also every single animal that comes she refers to as "little muffin". Whether shes tube feeding a ferocious hawk with large talons or a tiny cottontail. Its so cute.

Working at the nature center is also a really great way to learn about people. There are so many different types of people that work there and it really changes your perspective on your own life. On Tuesdays I work with the young crowd of volunteers. Stephanie is 23 years old and wants to make documentaries about wildlife rehabilitation. Shes super nice to everyone and fun to hang out with. Jessi is 27 and is a single mother with two kids. I hear horror stories about her ex husband who still harasses her and manipulates her kids. I have learned a lot about their personal lives and relationships and they are so different than mine. Most of the people I hang out with are on pretty much the same path as me: school, friends, families. But it just makes you wonder how other peoples lives and experiences can be so different from your own. On Thursdays I work with a lively bunch of older women who are really fun and talkative. Ive learned about their lives and kids and hobbies, and it just makes me wonder where I will end up at that age, and I hope I'll be half as fun as these ladies.