Hours Covered: 110-120
I do have some sad news to report in this journal. One of the newer fawns I noticed didn’t look like it was doing too well. It wouldn’t eat and it seemed very lethargic. I was advised to put it out with the other in the small pen for the day and just keep an eye on it. About two hours later I went to check on it, and it was laying down weirdly. Normally they curl up like kittens with their head upright, but this one was on its side, legs outright and head on the ground. I alerted a staff member and they had me bring it inside. I can’t even describe how awful it was carrying that poor fawn inside. It was still breathing, but its body was limp and its head rolled to the side. I placed it inside a cubicle in the back ICU, but I knew it wouldn’t recover. I found it later after it had passed and I had to bag it up and remove the body to be taken out later. As awful as this was, I am including it in my journal because it was a significant part of that day, and I feel that I was important for me to experience this. Sometimes, you can be caring for an animal, and things just go south. Jane had said that fawns are very hard to care for, but so far they had all been doing really well. Coming to terms with the fact that death is part of this job was really hard. Especially because sometimes it happens to an animal you have been caring for for a while. It’s important to stay unattached to these wild animals, but it can be difficult when you see them so often and you see them starting to make progress.
To try and lighten this journal up, I will discuss some really interesting ducks that were admitted. They are wood ducks and they are adorable. However, they are very high stress animals, so they need to be handled as little as possible. Basically, we only move them to clean their bin in the morning, and don’t even put them outside because they are too little. They have this behavior, I’ve noticed when anyone gets close to them. Unlike the mallards that just scatter and run around, the wood ducks start to jump. It looks like as the get bigger, we will have to put some sort of lid on their bin, or they might jump out overnight. Actually, we did have an escapee mallard a couple days ago. The pond room door wasn’t closed overnight, and when we came in in the morning, there was a mallard duckling sitting by the back door. When it saw us, it then proceeded to run around and find its way into the kitchen where it hid under a pantry shelf. Fifteen minutes later and a large net, the duckling was caught and put back in the bin it belonged. At least the duck was not hurt and that it wasn’t a racoon that escaped. One of the second year interns told us about a time that one of the racoons escaped and ended up tearing apart the raccoon room. I have seen them trying to use their paws to open the carrieres, but it is amazing to think one actually figured it out.
With the wood ducks, I am again reminded of animal personalities. However, this time I’m thinking species to species. What makes the wood ducks such a high stress species? If it is the same for all wood ducks, it is not individual differences. But is it genetic or environmental? I would be very interested in looking into wood ducks and their behaviors and personalities. In relation to my courses, I am also reminded of the fawn that died. I do not know what happened and why the fawn got ill so suddenly. I wonder if it had something to do with it’s rescue, or if it was just a random occurrence.
This week was definitely hard for me with the dying of the fawn. Previously I had seen animal be in the center one day and then not the next, which meant they were put down. However, this was the first time that I had really seen something die. I can at least take comfort in the fact that it was fast, and the fawn did not spend days suffering. Even as bleak as this was, it has not changed my mind about this work. I am still loving it, and the rewards are always apparent. I just think back to the four raccoons in the incubator that are getting bigger and louder every day that I am there. I know that pursuing a career like this will have its ups and downs. Sometimes, some animals just can’t be saved. But when you can save them, and see them finally be well enough to be released, it is so rewarding.
