Hours Covered: 160-170
The summer is speeding along and so is the progression of the animals. There are now five fawns in the large outside pen, and 7 cages of raccoons. We recently received five baby skunks, and they are adorable. I had forgotten how much skunks can smell though. The blind skunk we have on the education side of the center was someone’s illegal pet, and they had her destinked. The baby skunks are so little they can only dribble, but I learned a lot about skunks. The spray actually come from small holes that surround the anus. This way, when they spray you, it sprays in a parabolic shape and is designed to coat everything from the top down. The best way to handle a skunk is to use a towel, and keep it over their tail so they cannot lift it to spray you. Although I was warned by Jane that when rounding up the skunks for release, you usually get sprayed. Therefore, the interns will be drawing straws to see who will have to do that. Jane did tell us the secret to getting rid of skunk scent if you get sprayed. First, just dowse yourself and clothes in white vinegar. Let that dry on you and then wash yourself and clothes with a combination of baking soda and dawn dish soap. Hopefully, I’ll never have to see if it works.
The bald eagle we had was released and put into the empty nest successfully, and the two great horned owls were finally big enough to release. We released them on the property, and it was way less ceremonious than expected. Another intern that had been working with them was handed them to let go, but they kept clinging to the heavy duty gloves. One ended up flopping on to the ground, taking two hops, and then flew away. The other one didn’t fall, but it did end up flying off into the opposite direction we wanted them to go. Overall, the release was great, because it was good to see that all the hard work pays off. The coyote is getting bigger too, but probably still won’t be released until the end of the summer. The four small raccoons from the incubator are still being bottle fed for all four meals, but are now in the raccoon room. They were finally big enough to start their vaccinations. We also recently received a raccoon that is the angriest and most aggressive i have ever seen. Not only does it growl and try to bite, but it actually screeches and lunges at you. Hopefully, it will go outside in one of the raccoon cages soon so it can not feel so cornered and scared. The outdoor raccoons have been making a mess. One cage actually managed to pull down the tire swing that hangs from the ceiling, and another cage escaped. Luckily we have the hallway part and second door with a padlock, but they must have undone their inner door latch. They ransacked the items in the hall, but when one of the interns found it, they were all inside their cage sleeping. We ended up putting an extra latch on that door that day.
I’m not sure what to connect for this journal. I am wondering about the ability skunks have to spray. Since apparently it isn’t something they can do when they are first born, is it a skill they have to learn? I know they are born with a gland which is in charge of the production of the spray, but they can’t fully spray until they are adults. This is something that I would be looking forward to finding out in Comparative Animal Physiology. Maybe the juvenile skunk does not have the muscle capabilities to produce a large spray. If that is the case, do larger skunks have a larger spray than smaller skunks?
Nothing much has changed towards my opinion of this internship. I have never had a more fun summer in my life, and I am in love with the work. Looking back to when I was applying, I wish I had done the full time internship that would be 6 days a week. Because I am only there 3 days in the beginning of the week, I miss out on the later week events like weighing days and new admissions. However, it is exhausting work, and it’s nice to have a few days to recover. I don’t think I’ve ever done more physical work in my life. From mucking out the large fawn pens to dragging hoses from cage to cage for cleaning, it took a long time for me to get used to this much activity in a day.
