Vet school

I just realized that some of you (my readers) may not know that I have been accepted to vet school in Perth Australia!! I will be starting in Feb 2011. I have to get one more class done before I go, so will be taking that at U of I next fall (yes, one more semester at U of I, and I thought I was done). :P I'm glad though, then I get to see people there one more time. :) My new Uni is called Murdoch University. :) I am very excited. David plans on applying to the University of Western Australia to do his PhD in linguistics (it's just across the river from Murdoch). :) It'll be a big move, but it will be a fun adventure I think.

The workout and then freedom

Today we weighed all of the seals in Pool 4, which is the pool we put all seals in last (they graduate up to this level) and so here is where they gain all the rest of their weight before they are released. We try and release seals when they are at least 60 lbs, so most of these are between 50 and 70 lbs. Now, I have to get all geared up in fisherman pants, a rain coat and wellies. To weight these buggers we have three people weighing and one writing down the weights. They drain the tank, and so one person (me in this case) gets down there and wrangles a seal into a net, and then lift the seal up to the other two people (with their help). They then attach the net to hooks on a dangling scale and take the measurement. The seal is then let back down into the empty pool and the whole process starts again (until they're all weighed). :) So, you can imagine, lifting 50-70 lbs about 10 times up and down is a pretty good work out. :P I enjoyed it though. They are so damn cute I can't stand it! They of course are not supposed to be friendly and like people (that's the hope) but they are anyway. There is one seal in pool 4 that is really bad (friendly) named Vivian. Every time I scoop for extra fish in their pool with the net she always chases it and bites it or sits in it (which at first is cute, but quickly becomes aggravating), and when I was cleaning the deck this morning she came up and sat next to me the whole time. And of course, when I move she follows. When I was in the pool clearing the fish from the drain so it could continue to drain the pool, while the other seals tried to see what I was doing and occasionally sitting on the pool and biting my pants, she was constantly getting in my face (luckily she's friendly and doesn't bite) and I guess thinking she was "helping" but wasn't. She's so cute, she's got a little green spot (they all have colors on their heads to distinguish who's who), but she really shouldn't be so nice, that's not good criteria for releasing.
Anyway, after weighing we found that 4 were well over 60 lbs, so they will be released on Sunday!! It was going to be Saturday, which would have been great cause then David could have gone too, but for one reason or another they had to change it. That brings me to my next point, DAVID'S COMING IN THE MORNING!! We are both a bit worried about him being able to catch his ferry (he's taking one ferry from Anacortes to Sidney, then has to catch a bus from Sidney 5 km to Swartz Bay Ferry). Technically he should have enough time, but that depends if his ferry is on time and if he can walk to the bus stop in good time, and then if the bus is on time! I am hoping all goes well, cause if he can't catch the 11:00 ferry, the next one isn't until 1:00, which would suck (for him cause he's got to wait, and for both of us cause I only have 2 days off... precious time!). Anyway, we should have a good time, I have a kayak trip planned and have been trying to get a hold of the people that give horse rides up Mt. Maxwell, but every time I've called so far I've gotten an answering machine (and as I don't really have a good # to give them I have to just keep calling).
On one more note, we had 6 seals in quarantine (so the smallest ones) and we moved all but 2 out into pool 1 today!! I even got to learn how to pick one up and I carried him (Princeton... we call him Prince) to his new home. He's one of my favorites, he makes the cutest noises (which sound like he's blowing bubbles) and he's nice. I tube fed three seals again today with Marielle (the vet) overseeing (I needed a few more times being watched before she would let me do it on my own), and I felt really good cause she had nothing to say, all she said was "C'est parfait" (she's French), which means, perfect. :P I felt really good! :) She told me that she's almost never seen anyone learn tubing as fast as I have. :) Well, that's about all for now, can't wait to see David!!

two lives lost, two lives freed

On Monday our new intern (and the last) came; her name is Saffrina. She was my room mate for 2 nights, but then as they had an extra cabin (due to one of the staff having to leave do to some family health problems at home) she moved in there so as to try and let everyone had their own room. I was sad about it at first, cause I've been feeling a little alone, but I am ok with it now. It will be nice to have the whole place to myself.
The same day Saffrina came we got a new little seal in. She got to name him too (appropriate), and she chose the font Bembo (wich ironically is the nickname she has for her sister and hence why she picked that name). Little Bembo was about 1 or 2 months old they think and should have weighed about 30 lbs, but was only 16 lbs. The poor little thing was so thin that you could clearly see his pelvis and you could even SEE his heart beating!! Sadly, he died the next day around 4 PM. On the other hand, we released two of our older seagulls, and that was a neat sight. One seemed to make friends right away and was at home sitting on top of a light pole, the other took a bit to get going, he just was looking at us like "well, now what?". Finally a dog came and so he took off. I didn't see it but we also let our robin and sparrow go, so that's good! One of our Cedar Waxwings are now gone, send off to a man who has more that he's going to release together as they are migrating right now. We don't know what'll happen with the other one we have as he has to grow back his tail feathers before we can let him go, and as they're migrating right now, he might have to stay over winter, which may or may not work well, we'll have to see. Well, I am exhausted so should head to bed. Tonight we went out to eat all as a group, so that was nice. I have been kind of emotional lately too, which is annoying and probably taxing. I get two days off this week!!! Friday and Saturday and so David's coming up and we're planning on kayaking and (if I can get a hold of the people) horse back riding! We were going to try and stay in some cute little cabins, but they're booked, so it's camping for us. :) That'll be good too, that just means that David has to bring our tent and sleeping bags on the ferry with him (and he's walking on). Oh well. :) I am really excited, I know we'll have a blast!!
Ok, off to bed now.

P.S. David will be bringing with him my camera battery and charger so I'll be able to take pics too and thus post them!!

spider!!

So I was cleaning a seal named Forte's tub today in quarantine and so I had my hands full. I felt something fall on my chest, and so with my wrists I tried to wipe away the sensation. It went away but I still felt a bit icky. Once I got done with Forte I took the gown off and my gloves and was wiping and looking for what caused the sensation. I was shaking out my shirt etc. and then I felt something on my leg... I looked down and there was a BIG SPIDER there!!! I freaked out and brushed it off (with a slight scream). I thought from the beginning that it might be a spider, which is why I felt so gross, but I didn't think it'd be that big!! I had the jitters for like 30 minutes afterwards... just thinking about how long it was in there and that it had traveled all the way down!! YUCK!!

Anyway, in other news, three more seals got moved to pool 1 today from quarantine! Yay! I also learned how to tube feed a seal today, I might get to try it on an actual seal on Saturday (tomorrow's my day off and I'm spending it in Ganges). I am going to bike to Ganges (about a 20 min bike ride, and very hilly) and then hang out there all day and see what there is to see. :) I am also going to look into kayaking for David and I when he comes up next weekend!! I am very excited for him to come!! Well, that's about it for now. :)

Changes

Well, I guess I should should start by saying (even though it's sad) that the seal I named died the night after we brought her in. We're not quite sure the exact reason, but such is life. The same night a lady came in late bringing a baby squirrel that was attacked by her cat, that also died in the night. On a happier note on Monday I started on seals! I have been learning a lot!! I have learned a lot about the sanitary precautions needed (especially in the quarantine area); it's really strict cause they don't want anything passing from one seal to another. One thing that can really take down a large part of a population of seals is worms (nematodes), which has happened at the center before, so they are very careful. You have a gown and gloves that you wear for each seal and when you switch seals you can't touch anything, you take off the gloves and gown and wash your hands then put on the gown and gloves for the next seal you'll work on. Most of the seals are being moved out of quarantine into the pools (they are graduated up pools according to size, so pool 1 is the first, then when they get to pool 4 they are about ready to be set free. There are only 2 seals still being tube fed in quarantine, and one of which is now being force fed (once they are used to tube feeding we start force feeding them because they need to learn the swallowing action, then once they are comfortable with that it's hand feeding, then free feeding.

I have been on seals since Monday, and I don't go back to birds until Tuesday. The other day we got in a juvenile turkey vulture! I got to watch it being tube fed the other day, they make some really scary noises!! I don't know all of the new stuff in birds as of right now, but I'll find out soon enough. :) I did hear that the pelican is getting sent off today (they're going to helicopter to a site and release it there I heard). I am happy for the pelican but sad cause then we won't get to see her anymore. :P Oh well. :) Big news is that we had a two seal release a few days ago!!! It was great! Prima and Nina were their names and they stuck together even after being set free (which I would do too if that was the only other seal around!). They sat there for a while getting their bearings, but then slowly made out into the water.

As far as I go, I've been feeling a bit down lately, and for reasons that I don't really know. I love everyone here, they're great, but I have been finding it hard to completely fit in, which is understandable cause they have all been here together for longer and so are really close. I am sure things are going to change as two of them have already left (one of them this morning) and we got one new person and will get one more, then that'll be it. The new girl, Lauren, was going to be my roommate but now it's going the be the next one. :) I am looking forward to getting a roommate actually cause everyone here lives with at least one other person and I'm off on my own, which I think has also added to the lonely feeling (and of course being away from David again) :) It's really not bad at all, I just think that my mind's making it worse. I am doing much better now though.

In other news, I finally decided to sign up for the Shimongwe Veterinary Experience in South Africa! I sent off my booking info today along with my deposit. There's no turning back now (well, there is, but only if I want to be out my $400 deposit). Now I just have to raise the $!! I also found a job at the Tacoma, WA Point Defiance Zoo and I sent in my application today. I only found out about it last night and the deadline is tomorrow, so I had to act fast!! Anyway, I am going to go enjoy the rest of my split (3 hours off), and I have tomorrow off!! I am going to bike into Ganges and explore. :)

pigeons and a baby seal!

Today I was on birds (everything but seals) all day. Me and another intern named Crissy fed the birds before we went out to collect browse for the fawns (we mainly get ocean spray because that's what they seem to like best). I also had fun picking and eating some of the blackberries that can be found all over the place. :) Oh, and when we went out we also got to release the crossbill!! That was neat, I have a pick of me and it that I'll put up later when I get it off of Crissy (as I still don't have my camera battery). We got a canadian goose in the other day that is really emaciated, we think she has worms. Poor thing keeps throwing up when we tube feed her, but I think she's getting a little better.

For lunch the center bought sandwich supplies and we all ate sandwiches together, that was nice. Later on I was sent out to take the ferry from Vesuvius Bay to Crofton (a 20 min ferry ride) to pick up two pigeons. The other day I did the same thing and picked up a Cedar Waxwing that had a bum leg.

At the end of the day I went with the vet, Marielle (she's French), and another intern (from Germany), Anne-Marie, and we picked up a baby seal from some people that brought it from another island in their sail boat. It is of course so cute!! Poor thing is really skinny (about 17 lbs when at that age they're supposed to be about 30-40 lbs), and she is missing her left eye (it's all pussy) as well as has bites all over her fins. Marielle let me name her (the name theme is type fonts) and so as she's a girl I named her Aquilina. :)

Other than all of that I just made food dishes for animals, fed them, cleaned, did some laundry, etc. I don't actually start on seals until Sunday, but I am really looking forward to it! :)

Island Wildlife Rescue Centre

I have just arrived at the Island Wildlife Rescue Centre on Salt Spring Island, BC Canada! David, his dad John, and I all got up at 5:30 AM to head out and catch the ferry at 10:20 at Tsawwaasen (essentially Vancouver). We left some extra time for getting through Seattle traffic as well as crossing the boarder, but ended up having an extra hour at the ferry docks. We ate a little then walked around near the water and while making our way back to the van we heard a call that it was our rows turn to go so we ran. Luckily there was one car parked in front of us who's people hadn't gotten back yet so we didn't feel so bad. :P The ferry ride was about 3 hours because Salt Spring was the 4th stop out of 5. We talked a lot, looked at the scenery as well as had a bite to eat. It was really awesome, we saw two different pods of orcas!!!! That was my first whale sighting!! How awesome!! Later we also saw a sea otter, we barely saw him cause just his head was above water, but boy was he cute. :P

The centre is really neat, very beautiful! I will take some pics when I get my camera battery back. David and I went to Idaho on a camping trip to visit some of our friends from Moscow who live in Idaho City. We had a blast, but I accidentally left my camera battery in it's charger plugged into the wall, so one of my friends is sending it to me. :) One of the bosses here, named Yoch (a woman in maybe her 40's) showed me around a bit today. She's really kind of odd, but I like her a lot. :) She is a bit of a gypsy (she said so herself). She was an intern here last year and now she's on staff. :) She also spent some time in China, so I'll have to talk to her about it more as David and I want to go teach English there for a bit. :) Anyway, I should finish getting unpacked and such. I'll write again soon when I get the chance, it seems that I'll be fairly busy here. I have tomorrow off to get settled in a bit but will also be learning about birds. It's kind of sad they had two eagle chicks that they just released into the wild yesterday, so I just missed it. :( Oh well, :P There aren't any more raptors at the moment, but they have:
pigeons, squirrels, fawns, raccoons, a robin, starling (and two other such birds), a pelican (they plan on releasing her soon), 3 seagulls, and of course lots of seals. :) They are sooooo cute!!!!