Not Goodbye...See You Later

And so all good things must come to an end. This is officially my last post on this particular blog, however, there may be another one in my future someday.

The last few weeks have been pretty uneventful. The staff is even surprised at how un-busy the center's been; apparently it's pretty abnormal for this time of year. Word on the street is that in the next few weeks the pace is going to pick up again as the baby squirrels start arriving. I'm sad that I'll be missing this phase - I just missed it when I arrived back in June and I'll be missing the second wave as well, which is sad because they are quite adorable....

I have gotten to work with some other really cool animals recently though...We've had an egret, a green heron, (another) bat, a lesser night hawk (similar to a Poorwill), and one unexpected guest, a rattlesnake that took up residence in our intake area. One of the interns heard it rattling at her one morning and apparently the ensuing extraction process was quite a sight. Poor Jo, the hospital manager, had to deal with the snake on her birthday of all days, but something like that probably keeps you feeling young. (Update: so we got the snake out but then it came back and so now we've removed all the furniture from the intake area and cleared the space where the snake is supposedly hiding. As far as I know it's still there...)

Possum face

The baby skunk that I was bottle-feeding finally moved out to the outdoor enclosure with the big skunks! She remains to this day extremely friendly so I worry about her chances for release (I imagine she'll have to stay at the center for a while, gradually learning how to be a wild skunk again. It should help that she's now surrounded by real skunks rather than people all the time. When she was in RVU with one other skunk, she would stick her nose through the bars of her cage and sniff whenever we entered the room, occasionally sticking her paw out too to try and push the door open. (so cute). When I went down to clean the big outdoor enclosure the other day, I was sad that I wouldn't be able to recognize her among the others. But as I was squatting on the ground picking up some poop, I suddenly felt a nose push against my leg and I looked down to see a face peering up at me. She curiously sniffed at the bag I was holding and then attempted to climb into my lap. So much for not recognizing her :) Sadly I don't have pictures of this encounter, but it was quite special and i thought of it as a great goodbye from her.

I got to do a hawk release, which was quite a special experience. Unlike other birds where you can just open the box and let them fly away, you have to give hawks a lift, either letting them take off from your hand or gently throwing them up in the air, forcing them to take off. Hopefully I'll be getting some pictures/maybe even a video of this soon to post! It was definitely a special moment when the hawk took to the air and soared away, free once again.

I had a strange moment a few weeks ago when I was instructed to show one of the new interns how cleaning of RVU worked (aka, cleaning out the little skunks). There were only two skunks in a single cage, so it wasn't too much of a lesson, however, I realized how cyclical the whole event was: almost three months ago exactly I was in the role of the "new" intern, being instructed by the older intern on how to clean out the skunks in RVU. As the famous line goes in Starwars, "at last the circle is now complete when we last met I was but the learner now I am the master..." ha ha nerd moment :P

Today was my last day at the center :( It started out pretty normal - I did diets for most of the morning as there wasn't much to do in ICU and we had no volunteers to help out. Around midday however, Jo asked if I would take some of the Western Scrub Jays out to Simi Valley. I thought it was a fitting end to my time at CWC since these jays were some of the birds I helped to feed and raise when they were in babycare, so setting them free would be a poignant last event.

Like a cautious parent, I made sure the jays wore their seat belts

such a beautiful new home! 

Not sure if they enjoyed the ride....

Unlike mammal releases, releasing birds is a lot less stressful. The birds can immediately adjust their locations if they don't like it, and you don't have to worry about them getting hit by cars. (Although my roommate told me a story that involved her releasing some doves and just as she let them out of the box, a huge (wild) hawk swooped down and attempted to catch them. Luckily it missed). I found a nice park ahead of time, in the middle of a quiet neighborhood in Simi Valley that was nice and deserted when I arrived. One of the birds shot out of the box immediately, while the other one needed some gentle nudging. This release was a bit more poignant than the others, since I knew the animals "personally" and as it was my last time doing one. But I know I will hold on to that incredible feeling of releasing those animals back where they belong, and watching them go free again.

Tomorrow I fly home, to start my life as an unemployed, graduate, and my time at the CWC officially ends. I cannot express how incredible this summer has been - I have learned so much and experienced so many new things, as well as met some pretty amazing people along the way. I don't know when I'll be back, but I know CWC and CA are not out of my life forever. Until next time..

Peace, Love and Wild


Below are some pictures that were taken with my "nice" camera :)

Camels take CA

New branch of Emerson College in LA! It's a college built in a box!