Counting Crows

Can't believe it's already July. Guess it means I'm having a good time here (which I am). The days feel both long and short - so much happens in a single afternoon that sometimes it feels like separate days, and yet the hours seem to slip by quite rapidly. Next thing I know it'll be August and almost time to go home :P

It's hard to remember the exact details of every day (and to be honest it probably wouldn't make for very interesting reading, so i'll just highlight the cool/interesting parts).

Friday: The past two weeks we've had a problem with a local wild bobcat who has been visiting the center at night and catching and eating some of our animals, especially enjoying big crow dinners. We lost at least 5 or 6 birds to this one cat, with the bobcat killing several all at once and only eating maybe one at most. We couldn't figure out how he was getting in until one day, just at close up, someone noticed him in one of the enclosures. (Unfortunately I wasn't at the center that day so I can't provide lavish details, however from what I heard, the vet on staff used a tranquilizer to shoot the cat and then once it was knocked out, it fell into a net that a couple of the interns were holding. Then later that night they relocated the bobcat in a crate to a nearby park. Apparently there's a rule with bobcats (and possibly other big cats) that you cannot move them beyond a 3 mile radius to ensure that you won't be releasing them in another cat's territory). So we thought we had solved the problem. Then we discovered that the cat was back (at least we assume it was the same one), and it was yet again terrorizing and killing our birds. So the vet team set out a trap for him and managed to catch him again, and this time, they decided to euthanize him. They realized that in all likelihood he was going to keep coming back and killing more of the animals, and it was impossible to cat-proof the entire center.

Before we caught the cat however, Jo decided that as a precaution we should relocate the crows to a larger, and also more secure enclosure. This meant that we had to catch every single crow, record its band color and then put them in boxes and move them to the other enclosure. I didn't quite know what this would entail, until the next thing I know, Jo's handing me a long handled net and telling me to start catching them. The enclosure was long and the crows kept flying back and forth, avoiding our nets. (It reminded me of a large, interspecific version of that playground game, "Fishy, Fishy Cross My Ocean," except with birds this time). Jo was really good at catching the birds and could snatch them in midair with her net, the rest of us waited until we had them trapped in a corner. We eventually boxed up all the birds and moved them to their new home.

Later that day I was also tasked with creating some enrichment for the ravens. Enrichment is important for animals that get bored easily, like raptors, crows, jays and skunks, providing them with entertainment as well as honing important skills (like digging, puzzle-solving; stuff that mimics natural instincts they have in the wild etc). Since the animals are best motivated by food, the most successful enrichment often include tasty treats (or sometimes just their regular diet thrown in). As it was my first day being in charge of enrichment and I didn't feel that creative yet, I decided to rely on the big binder of enrichment ideas we have at the center, and create a "food log." This entails filling a long, heavy plastic tube with holes drilled in, with fun food treats and then the ravens have to pick out the goodies by sticking their beaks in the hole (much like they would have to use their beaks to dig out worms and bugs from a tree or hole). It took me a while to set up and unfortunately I never got to see if the ravens actually enjoyed it. Due to the recent bobcat attacks, the ravens and crows were both a bit spooked and were reluctant to explore anything new in their enclosures, so its likely they weren't that interested.

I also had to come up with some enrichment for the skunks. I found some discarded cardboard boxes and poked some holes in them and filled them up with some of their diet. I hadn't seen the outdoor skunk enclosure (where we keep the older young skunks before we release them) and I was shocked to see how many we had. There are close to 24 total now, and at first I got a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of little skunks coming towards me (i was bringing them their dinner so they were hungry and waiting at the door when I arrived). Surprisingly there was no odor, since they're living outside now, and since they have more space to move around I don't think they feel as trapped and scare as easily. They make the cutest little squeaks when they interact with each other, as well as adorable chewing sounds when they eat.

So many skunks! 

Checking out the enrichment! 

Baby possums 

Baby frog we found living in the ICU behind a storage container 

A common poorwill 

Some friends I met on my walk to the center one afternoon! 

Bambi's mother is our neighbor and often comes to visit in the early evenings 

Saturday was pretty uneventful, just more time spent in baby care. I did get the opportunity to help with an exam on a Great Blue Heron, which was pretty exciting and unique. I was also instructed to single-handedly clean, feed and weigh all the baby skunks in the RVU by myself, a task that previously I had only done with assistance from another intern. I also was supposed to medicate half of them and move four of them out to the bigger, outdoor enclosure with the rest of the older skunks. One slightly smelly hour later, I emerged successful, with all the cages cleaned, skunks fed, watered and medicated and a box of 4 small young skunks in hand. 

On Sunday night however, one of my family friends invited me and my roommate to the premiere of the second season of the tv show, Drunk History, that she had been working on as the head of the artistic team. It was an amazing opportunity to get to see the real "Hollywood" part of LA. My friend wanted the two of us to show up early to help with some set up (it was held in this beautiful retro theater in Glendale, and we had to help set up decorations and props). 

Chilling with some historical friends

Themed drink menu

Monday: Since I usually don't start work until 12PM almost every day, I try to spend my mornings productively. I usually try to go for a run. The scenery in the area is quite beautiful, especially in the early mornings when the mist is still on the mountains (see mountain pics below). Today was a late day - didn't get out of work until 8:35PM, and at the last minute we had a cormorant come in that had two fishing hooks stuck in its feet. 

Young rabbit that I had to hand feed formula. It was just like feeding a human baby - occasionally some excess formula would dribble out his mouth and I would have to wipe it up with a towel.

Jo checking on the neurological state of a squirrel patient

"Yo."

CUTE ALERT! Baby Killdeer  

It was very sad, he wouldn't stop peeping for his mother for at least a couple of hours after he was brought in. He ended up being transported to a facility in another city where they specialize in raising/rehabilitating difficult and delicate birds like Killdeer.

He seemed to feel less lonely when he had "another" killdeer in the box with him ;)

 

California myotis (bat)

Going on the weirdest (CWC style) picnic! Apparently I'm bringing deer formula and skunk food for everyone! 

More duckling patients 

Tuesday (today): my roommate, another intern and I had the day off today so we headed to Fairfax to visit this dog boutique someone had told me about where they also adopt out rescue dogs from local shelters. You can come in and pet, play and walk the dogs any time and as we were all in need of some puppy loving, we wasted no time in checking it out!

Puppy heaven (for both dogs and human)

We also stopped at a nearby sports bar for lunch and managed to catch the end of the epic (and disappointing) US/Belgium world cup match. The fellow restaurant patrons were very loyal fans and it was almost just as fun to watch all their reactions to the different plays in the game. Now that the US is out of the game, my loyalties are probably going to Costa Rica :) My parents are visiting CA and tomorrow they're coming out to visit the center and pick me up, and i'll be staying with them for a while to celebrate the 4th! Talk about a collision of worlds!

Until next time! Thanks for following! Peace, love and fluffy baby ducklings