So the title of this post is slightly misleading, I didn't make an igloo. But there WAS a snow day last week! The first one at MSU in 36 years or so. very exciting. Most people grabbed sleds and snowpants and spent the day outside, playing, making giant penis sculptures or riding on their upturned kitchen table being pulled by a car down the snowy streets. I however stayed in all day and studied genetics. A very disappointing way to spend a snow day, but very necessary with my knowledge of genetics.
As for the Ice cream, tasty twist is good at any time of the year. Always.
But moving on to the actual purpose of this post, my internship, which the closest thing to an outdoor adventure I've had recently. A few weeks ago I started a wildlife rehabilitation internship at Howell Nature center. Its absolutely great except for the 50 minute drive there and back.
Ive been there for a few weeks and I think I'm getting the hang of it now. Everyday you come in and feed all the animals in the infirmary (including several songbirds, possum, flying squirrels.. etc) and clean their cages. There are animals that live outside also that you have to take food to also. Next there is usually a meeting with Max, the vet, about the other things that need to get done for the day. Also everyday the waterfowl must be brought outside then back in again before you leave for the night. Waterfowl= 3 geese, 3 ducks, and 2 swans. Now Have you ever tried to pick up a pissed off goose? Well, I hadn't either before this. And they are very wiggly and often try to bite you in the face while you are carrying them. But it was also extremely exciting my first day because all I could think of was 'oh my god! I'm carrying a goose right now! A real live goose!' Now its pretty much second nature to go outside, scoop up them up with a towel and bring them back into the infirmary.
Recently someone brought in a Grebe to the nature center. If you don't know what a Grebe is they are sort of like ducks but they have small pointy beaks and their feet are all the way at the back of their body so they are meant for an almost totally aquatic existence and they can't really walk at all. which makes them adorable and somewhat pathetic. So several times a day we we have to pick up the grebe (aww) and bring him to a large tub of water that he likes to play in (all the way there he is kicking is little feet trying to get away). He swims and plays happily in the tub for hours and it is just adorable. He catches fish like a pro also.
The other day, I met Woppie, the nature center's own friendly beaver. You can go right into the cage with him and feed him with your bare hands. Hes very sweet and very large and when you offer him a carrot he looks up and you then slowly ambles over and takes it gently from your hands and eats it. He lets you pet it and cuddle and is just the greatest beaver I have ever met.
Yesterday at work, it was donation day from U of M! The Howell Nature Center gets donations of rats and mice from the lab that we feed to our various carnivores that we have here at the center. So mine and the volunteers job yesterday was to sort through big bags of frozen dead rats and mice. The first bag I opened was full of headless bloodly rats that were all frozen together in a big block. after trying to chip away at the deformed bloody bodies for a few minutes so I could sort and bag them, I found all of the decapitated heads at the bottom of the bag. This may have been unpleasent for some, but luckily these things don't bother me very much. But it did get a little tiresome after the 3rd bag of large headless rats my rubber gloved hands looked like I had just performed a complex heart surgery of some sort. So when we opened up the next bag we were delighted to see the bag full of small, cute, mice with heads! We had a great time sorting through the mice picking out the cutest ones and taking pictures with our cell phones. I know, we are very strange. After the sorting of at least 15 bags of dead rodents I got to help Max feed our Coopers hawk! for a bit of background information, this hawk is very dehydrated and very thin and is refusing food. So we have been having to tube feed the poor little guy. I get to hold to Coopers while Max feeds it. It may not seem that cool to others but it might be my favorite part of the day (especially yesterday). Hawks are so cool and before this internship I never got to see one up close, let alone hold one. So despite the dead rat sorting the day at work was great.
Alright thats all for now. See ya!
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