Hours Covered: 90-100
So everything has been going really well at my internship. More fawns and raccoons have been coming in daily. Unfortunately one fawn had to be euthanized right after its arrival. Someone found it laying on its side after being on its own for too long. Jane brought all of us interns into the operating room to see the fawn. When its tail was lifted up you could see the matted feces against its butt and it was crawling with flies. The fawn was struggling to breathe too. This is what Jane was talking about when she emphasized keeping the fawns clean. This was by far the most upsetting thing I had seen at the wildlife center. Of course, we didn’t have to be there for the euthanization, but seeing the animal in such pain was awful. In relation to death, but with a more positive outcome, I found out some really terrific things one of the staff members has been doing with turtles. A lot of the turtles that get brought in have been hit by cars. Sometimes their shell can be repaired, but sometimes the turtle is in too bad shape to save. However, Nicole, the staff member, decided that since she’s encountered many gravid turtle, that she would at least try to save the eggs. So she created a sand pit on the far side of the property and after harvesting the eggs, she buried them in the sand according to how turtles would. Each area gets a marker with the type of turtle eggs they are and the date they were buried. She also set up pens around the sand pit so that should the turtles hatch overnight, they would be safe until someone could get to them. The sand pit has been very successful, and many turtles have hatched. Most of them have been map turtles and painted turtles, but I know she recently buried diamondback terrapin eggs. Last time I asked, Nicole said she had about 400 eggs buried in the sand pit! Because they are expecting so many turtles, they have actually converted on of the old sheds into a “turtle” shed. Right now we have so many there are turtles in the reptile room, the front ICU, and the lab. The staff also collected names for the turtle shedd, and they decided on Shell Shack. Most likely the shed won’t be ready by the time my internship is done, but it is wonderful to see that they are constantly growing the place for the animals.
All the information on turtles has reminded me of conservation, and all we can do to help preserve species. While we don’t have any endangered or threatened species of turtle in New Jersey, I feel that it is important to practice conservation. So, even if the mother turtle cannot be saved, trying to save her babies is a great way to have her genes passed on and increase the diversity of the gene pool in the species. Conservation then loops back to the importance of releasing animals back in the county they were found, as I had discussed in a previous journal. Additionally, I would be interested in learning more about how one goes about fixing turtle shells. I have seen a lot of “DIY” techniques, but I would be interested to learn if there is a tried and true method. So far at the wildlife center I have seen thin wire used, bandages, and what looks like a larger version of a zip tie.
I am constantly learning new things at the wildlife center, and it is amazing. I was worried that I would get bored or just be doing very menial tasks day to day, but this has been the opposite. While each day has the same basic structure of what needs to get done, there are always new animals and more to do. I love have responsibility for these animals too. For example, I’m not constantly supervised. Of course I make sure to go to Jane or another staff member with questions or concerns, but when everything is fine, I just go about my day. The door sheets we have also make this easy, because if you want to find out if something is done, you check those and/or the animal’s paperwork to see if the current day’s information is filled out. I feel that the wildlife center is very efficient in its organization.
