Fall

Goodbye to that horribly humid, stenchy, and hot summer! Hello to the frosty morning air, and the colourful leaves flying all about! 

Can you tell that I love fall?!

It's getting so chilly one of the chickens even needs a winter coat!!!

 This week has been a strange one. Sue is gone for two weeks, so that means us interns get to mind the house, and the farm! My responsibility is the barn, which I am quite happy about! I like the feeling of having a barn to myself for a few weeks!

We have also been managing a little kitten rescue of our own! We have about six kittens right now that need some medical care. Hopefully within a few weeks they will be all better, and find forever homes!

We have also been very successful with our rat pups! All their eyes are open now, and we no longer need to syringe feed them! 

Photo Creds: Meghan

The girls got creative and created them a little fun!

To celebrate our success Lucinda bought us each a chocolate rat!

 Meanwhile our permanent resident for the winter is doing very well! She really enjoys the fresh branches we bring her!

And we still have our beautiful owl! He is doing very well and was moved outside!

Still loving the horses!

Feel the Calm!

 Finally our hours are getting shorter, the clinic less busy, and there has been time to reflect, and have a little fun with each other after hours! For the first time since I've been here I was standing in squirrel room thinking,

"What should I do now?"

I mean of course there is a tonne of cleaning left to do! But normally there is so much that absolutely has to be done, that there is no time to think "What should I do, or what can I do?!" 

(I am kind of liking this change!)

Anyhow, finishing at about nine in the evening has allowed us interns to break out the crap food, and watch some movies! They have introduced me to the Harry Potter series and I got a little weirded out when not long after we received this mysterious creature at our doorstep.

I half expected him to say, "Your a wizard Jacinta!" 

Because we have less patients coming in, I have begun to notice personality in a lot of the patients that we have. My favourite being the porcupine! 

She was found on the side of the road by a police officer, and was brought in. When I first saw her she was barely moving and was pretty scratched up. However, now she is climbing on everything  and wobbling around quite happily! 

 We still have our flying squirrel from the summer. Flying squirrels stay with their parents for about a year, so she will be spending the winter with us! Although she is easily frightened, I sometimes catch her peering out at me curiously from her hat! 

We may have less hours, but we still have night feeds. Someone brought in a litter of nine rats! They are so adorable, and they are actually doing really well! My family is kind of alarmed that we would bother saving rats, but once you have one of these little critters sucking on a syringe from your hands you instantly fall in love!

Days off are much nicer now, because it isn't as stifling hot! I can do more with the horses, now that I don't have to worry about them over heating! 

The horses and I chilling together!(photo cred: Alex)

 

  However, it is still warm enough to bike to town! I used to bike to town on my own before Alex came, but now (if we have the day off together) she comes with me, which is great! There is a lovely little coffee shop in Napanee that we like to stop at. The man there knows us well enough now that when we order something he knows I like whip cream on it, and Alex doesn't! I never imagined I would be a coffee shop regular!

 Us interns have been bonding more as a group. I am gluten free, so the other interns sometimes buy me gluten free sweets, which I find really touching! The other day Rose suprised me with a batch of gluten free cookies she had bought me! I was so happy and gave her a hug, forgetting all about the heat packs I had warming up in the microwave.....

They almost exploded!

But the cookies were great!

Anyways, I am home for the thanksgiving weekend! I was actually really upset to leave Sandy Pines, even for the weekend. It has kind of become home for me! The other interns and I are kind of like sisters now. We may have our differences at times, but we have decided to "agree to disagree." If only everyone in the world would do that. 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

           

Bye, bye Raccoons

I was very lucky this week, and got to go on a raccoon release!!! I wasn't sure that I would be able to, because there was only two pens of raccoons left, and my day off was already pretty full of activities. I had a lot of work that needed to be done with the horses, and the vet was coming, so I had to be ready for that as well. Thankfully though, by the time Leah was ready to release the last pen of raccoons I was free, and when she asked me if I wanted to go...

I almost jumped out of my skin with excitement!!!

I love going on releases! Its so rewarding after working so hard to keep them alive to finally see them run off to freedom! My favourite release was when I released some killdeer with Sue! I opened the box and they all came flying out! I kind of felt like a Disney princess! 

Anyhow, Leah takes great care in finding the perfect spot to release raccoons. The drive took us almost half way to my actual home! It was the perfect spot though, and it was quit the adventure getting there! We kept going down random roads and at one point Leah asked, "Are we close to the lake anymore?"

"No, but I think we are pretty close to trespassing," I exclaimed as the road ended up leading into someones driveway.

We released the raccoons near a little stream and swamp. They were so happy to jump around in the water, and climb the trees. It made me realize why we provided them with moss and logs to play with while we had them in cages. Now they have endless amounts of enrichment! It was kind of sad to see them go, even though their enclosures were a pain to clean. Still, especially for those who work here full time, there will always be more raccoons to love next year!

Half Way!!

Can you believe it?!!! 

I can't believe it! 

I am half way through my internship! I feel like I only started yesterday, but I also feel as If I have been here forever! It's weird to think that in two and a half months I will be done...this experience will be over......

....but I'm not done yet!

The last few weeks have been immaculate! Who knew one could love a fifteen hour shift so much??? It sure beats a seventeen hour shift, let me tell you! This place is actually slowing down a bit, which I honestly thought would never happen. It is so much more enjoyable now, because I can actually slow down and appreciate the experience. Before I was always trying to frantically organize what needed to be done in my head. Here are some of the animals I have had the pleasure of working with the last few days!

We have three swans right now! Before I came here I had never handled a swan, and rarely ever saw one! (They're not native where I come from in Ontario) I actually thought the swans would be a little tricky to carry, but its kind of like carrying an over sized football (that bites!).

We also have some young turkey vultures right now! I never knew that turkey vultures imprinted easily on humans. They just didn't seem like that kind of bird to me. Anyhow, because they do, we have to wear sheets so they don't think we are human. It might be a little hard to move in the thing, but it is definitely worth wearing to watch the little vultures gobble down their meat!

 We also have a porcupine  right now, who is the cutest little bugger ever! I haven't been quilled by her yet, so we are still at good terms with each other!

And last but not least the opossums! I didn't know they existed in Canada, but apparently they do! They are also way bigger then I had imagined! I thought they would be the size of a muskrat, but they are more like the size of a young raccoon!

And boy do they stink!

They smell so bad, almost as bad as skunks! However, despite the smell, I have the pleasure to say I have handled an opossum! (How many Canadians can say that?)

Looking after the animals isn't the only part of the intern experience though! I introduced Lucinda to the Terry Fox run this past week. I thought Terry Fox was common knowledge, but I guess not in other parts of the world. Anyhow, we had a lot of fun walking 5km together in support of cancer research!

During the summer Sue took some of the other interns and I to Melon lake! It is absolutely beautiful and I had a lot of fun this summer exploring the landscape around it!

And last night Sue took us to a local barn dance that was raising funds for Sandy Pines! I am quite used to the country atmosphere, so the dance wasn't strange to me, but the other girls were truly having an experience! I was glad that they had the chance to hear some traditional Canadian fiddle music, and get a good taste of the country culture! I think we all had a fabulous time, and I wouldn't trade these girls, (or Sue) for the world!

And last, but not least, I love every second with Sue's horses! Over the summer I have formed a bond with them. They may not listen to me all the time, or be polite, but we trust each other now! They have become more like friends then anything, and sometimes I wish there was an extra hour during the work day where I could work with them too!

Cookie is quite the chore to clean, and to make it worse she rolls in the dirt right after! However, you can't help but love the little bugger!

Saffy and I happy to be out for another ride! (well...at least I am!)

Summer is over and fall is here! More of the animals will be leaving soon, and I am really looking forward to the cooler weather!

This summer was far too hot!

The Intern Life

The intern life is definitely different from that of everyday normal individuals. This past weekend I went home to visit my family and I realised how much this experience has changed the way I see things and how people see me! I was only home for about a day and I got a message from my neighbour saying he needed advice about bats in his attic! Mom says I'm known in town for having experience with wildlife! I guess that means I'll be expecting quite a few more phone calls in the future!

I've also realised that I no longer care a whole lot about parasites, or bugs. I was petting my cat back home and my sister exclaimed, "He has fleas Jay, you might not want to pet him!"

" I don't care!" I replied, "Considering half the animals we get are flea infested, I probably have fleas myself!"

I was doing the meal worms the other day, and was amazed that I wasn't cringing! When I first came here, I couldn't stand the site of them. Now they don't even phase me! Heck, I even had one in my hair once! I can't say I particularly enjoyed that, but I feel my stomach is a little more hardy now!

I also wake up at 6am every morning, even on my days off! It's just a habit! I also woke up my first night back at home at around 3am, and I was convinced I had a squirrel night feed until I clued in that I was at home...

 and there were no squirrels to feed!

A few weeks ago we were buying corn and discussing how much the raccoons would love It! A lady near by gave us the queerest look ever, then walked away. I laughed! We must sound crazy sometimes!

Here are a few other things that make me feel us interns are different from typical individuals.

• We wake up at 3am to feed squirrels
• We discuss animal feces at the dinner table
• We might shower every 3-4 days
• We eat a lot of pasta!

We are such a great group though, and we all get along! It was one of my worries that we wouldn't, but when you work as hard as we do, and struggle together I believe it helps form positive relationships! We are all very different, yes! But we all use are differences to get things done and keep the animals happy and alive!

The new intern, Alex, and I chilling at the riverside park in Napanee after biking for awhile!

Lucinda and I ready to learn!

Releasing turtles

Chilling at the drive in theatre

Working together is fun even after 10pm!

We are a cool bunch!

Hello and Goodbye

Hard to believe, but another month is almost over! It really doesn't feel like I've been here that long! I can hardly believe summer is over already....

and with that comes a lot of goodbyes and hellos.

Goodbyes

Unfortunately it was time for...

 not one...

 not two...

 but THREE of our interns to head on home! So absolutely terrible!!! All three were a terrific part of the team, and things just won't be the same without them here. It's weird at the dinner table now. We aren't crammed together like sardines anymore. It's also a lot more quiet!

Some happier goodbye's have been the releases! So far we've released the following animals

Fox

Killdeer

Skunks

Bats

Raccoons

Hello's

Out with the old and in with the new! So there have been a few things to say hello to as well! Number one our second wave of squirrels!

Secondly, we've been saying hello to all the turtle hatching's! Over half the totes are hatched and there have been successful hatches for pretty much every species of turtles we have here!

Musk turtle

I've also been saying hello to hellish hours thanks to the lack of interns, and the influx of baby squirrels! My bed is now my best friend!

I've also migrated to the bedroom upstairs, so I've said hello to a much more comfortable bed! Before I was sleeping in a bottom bunk, and was constantly hitting my head off of things! Now I have avoided a constant headache each morning! Plus I share the room with the fabulous Lucinda! It's just the two of us right now, but not for long!

We get a new intern this week!

There is always something to anticipate at Sandy Pines!