tenth week at drumlin

aug 8/9

              This week we started work on the new black vulture cage. It is located behind the Drumlin Wildlife Care building up a small hill. It was constructed on the remnants of an old enclosure which was very broken down and unused. I drilled pre-cut boards together and helped apply mosquito netting. The black vulture is coming in Monday and we need to be prepared.

               
          In other news, the opossum's abscess grew back a little bit, and she needs to be brought to the vet to be checked out again. Jasmine also needs to be taken to the vet due to her not grooming properly (it may be arthritis because she isn't using her raised litter box like she used to).
We had camp again this week which I'm really getting used to. I enjoy leading the kids through cleaning and doing diets for all of the animals. It is a lot of fun to teach them the skills that I have learned. I also go to present the American kestrel to my camp kids. My friend Helen held the broad-wing hawk and we taught the campers the differences and similarities between them!
This week I also presented my deer diet paper to my bosses. I think it went really well and I just have a few more changes to make in it.  I was able to go into the deer cage to see which plants were present in the enclosure to better change my diet plans.

This week my boss Flavio also held a barbecue. It was extremely kind and super fun. All of the interns got together to talk about everything we learned and did, and we got to see his family! I really appreciated it and enjoy all the fun times that were had at this barbecue!

Ninth week at Drumlin

7/25, 7/26

This week was another camp week. I've pretty much got the routine down, and I enjoy seeing some familiar faces. Opossum is doing good after her abcess surgery, though she can't go outside for enrichment until it fully heals.
Paddy is doing good, the vet said its pretty normal for Peking ducks his age to get that sort of "condition" where their pseudo crop acts up.

Everything else is going really well! I'll be doing more bird handling soon too!

Seventh week at drumlin

7/11 7/12

       This week was another camper week. I spent Thursday morning getting the wildlife care building ready for them to come in and help clean.
       After everything was set up I go to go with my supervisor to the Odd Pet Vet in North Grafton MA. It was an amazing wildlife rehabilitation and veterinary clinic that accepts essentially every animal except for cats and dogs as patients. When I went I got to see a lot of different wildlife including raccons, birds of prey, and a blue jay with an underdeveloped wing that Drumlin may accept as a new education animal.
       We brought opossum and Louie the Peking duck -
     

Louie for the grapefruit sized lump that develops

 on his chest and rump after he eats

And opossum for her puncture wound that had developed

 an abscess on the back of her neck

         I'm glad I got the opportunity to go to the Odd Pet Vet because they performed an on-the-spot surgery for the opossum which I got to play a (minor) role in. I learned the procedure to put the animal to sleep, and the steps of flushing an abscess including cleaning, cutting, and clearing out the puss and blood. I also learned how to give fluids subcutaneously (under the skin). Opossum made it out fine. Louie had no official diagnosis, but the vet believes that his swollen mass had to do with him eating too quickly. Staff will try to feed him more slowly from now on. The opossum will be given medicine (SMZ - antibiotic, and Maloxicam - anti-inflammatory) through injections into her food.

sixth week at Drumlin

7/4, 7/5

My sixth week at Drumlin was a very hot camp week. The came kids came in and did most of our morning chores while we supervised and educated, which was really nice. When they were finished with cleaning the ducks and mammals I got to go outside and help clean the ARK raptor cages. It was a lot of fun seeing all the different raptors we have close up, like the American kestrel and the eastern screech owl.

We also had to spend a lot of time this week hosing the animals down. Its really important to keep them cool on such hot days

I had a talk with Flavio, my internship supervisor as well. He helped me decide that I will do a write up on how to incorporate a better feeding regiment for the white-tailed deer that is as nutritious as possible. I'll have to do a research paper for it but at least that will help me get back in the swing of writing again for school!

On Friday I got to do more bird handling with the eastern screech owl. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll be doing a visitor education with the screech soon.


 As a side note, on the fourth my friend Laura and I got to leave early to enjoy the holiday. I went out to Hampton beach with my roommate and family to have fun and watch fireworks. It was a really nice day once the sun went down and the heat went away.

fifth week

6/28 6/29


This week was one of the first times I worked with the Drumlin Farm camp kids. They are in assigned groups and come by to help clean cages and learn about the animals we have. I helped with the duck group that was sent out to put the ducks in their outdoor pens and clean the indoor pens. After ducks we went on to supervise mammal cage cleaning. This week was the first time I was able to go out into the three ARK cages to help the staff clean them. It was a lot like cleaning the cages on bird hill but more intense because the enclosures aren't as large.

After the campers left we had some extra time for bird handling. I was able to handle the American kestrel we have in one of the ARK cages. The kestrel was very loud but I had an enjoyable time.I'm getting better at bird handling and soon hope to do a visitor education with one.

On a side note, I caught Paddy the Peking duck attempting to rip female mallard's head-feathers out, so they got separated again. Paddy also has to continue wearing his ridiculous booties for the bumblefoot. I can't imagine he's too happy right now. But his bumblefoot is improving and soon will no longer need them!

Third week at drumlin

week of 6/13 6/14

       This week was mainly just a continuation of last week. Though Paddy the Peking duck got back with his female mallard friend on 'good behavior,' so that's pretty exciting. I got to do more work on bird hill, cleaning the turkey and turkey vulture's cages. The turkey is a special case at Drumlin, he was found with his feathers clipped. After getting checked out at a vet clinic he was brought here in hopes that he can recover and be released at some point. Its interesting because we have to keep up the somewhat fearful relationship he has with humans so he doesn't get imprinted. That means if he gets too close I have to make a sudden movement or loud noise to scare him away. He is recovering nicely though, Every time I clean his cage I find more clipped feathers, which means the new ones are growing in.

Fourth week, visitor education and a special rescue

6/20, 6/21

I started doing visitor education this week. After cleanings, feedings, and enrichment is finished in the morning I went out with my friend Laura to talk about Barred owls and Red-Tailed hawks. I had spent the previous day reading up on barred owls, learning the main facts about them and how to differentiate bird types using feathers. 

                We went out with wings, feathers, owl pellets, replica skulls, and a bunch of other cool related objects. I tried my best to make it interesting and fun for every age level. Younger kids really enjoyed touching the feathers and comparing the super soft owl feather to the very coarse turkey feather. Older kids asked a lot of questions about anatomy and history, and adults sat back and just absorbed the information they heard. Everyone learned something which made me feel accomplished. The table was set up between the barred owl and red-tail cages so visitors could visually compare the artifacts to their respective animals!

 

                I also started handling raptors this week. The entire process from putting the glove on to putting the bird in its bird box was explained. I started with one of the smallest raptors around here, an eastern screech owl! It was a lot of fun even though I made a few mistakes. I really hope to get good at handling so I can start doing visitor education with them. That’s definitely a huge part of this internship that I’m looking forward to. 

               As a side note, I had an interesting experience this sunday. On my way home from Maine I drove down a main street near my house and saw a poof of feathers flapping around on the ground. My father pulled up in front of it and I used a brown reusable bag to pick it up. Turns out it was an eastern screech owl that had been hit by a car. I put it in a makeshift birdbox overnight and brought him to Tufts Wildlife vet clinic in North Grafton, MA the next morning. Luckily enough he had no fractures or broken bones, just head trauma and eye inflammation. It was really strange though, considering I had picked up a screech owl for the first time in my life a few days before.

Second week at drumlin!

The week of 6/6/13 was pretty hectic. The interns are all starting to get into a routine where everyone is able to do certain jobs on their own. This was the first time I completed the duck pen cleaning on my own. It was a lot of fun herding them all and misting them with water. It was really hot that Friday so we spent a lot of time hosing animals down. Orville the turkey vulture was brought outside to bask in the sunlight.

Once the ducks were clean I moved on to Pidge the pigeon's cage. She had laid an egg a few days earlier so the staff took it away and give her a wooden one to brood on. She really wasn't happy when I had to move her off of it to clean but I gave her some straw to make a nest with after. She enjoys spending itme foraging for leftover straw from Paddy the Peking duck's cage.

After Pidge I cleaned some of the mammal cages and helped with the mice. There was time before heading over to clean Bird Hill so enrichment ideas for the crows were thrown around to stimulate them while in their enclosures. I decided to make a toy for Poe; a yogurt cup with layers of fruit separated by newspaper balls. He ignored it at first but eventually had some fun ripping it apart.

Stella the skunk enjoying her clean cage!

It was really hot when we got over to bird hill. Raptors were lightly sprayed with the hose and given fresh water to keep their internal temperature in homeostasis.

The day before, Thursday, was a lot of fun because we got to watch the anual cow checkups done at the farm; across the street in the main barn. The cows were given their shots, and checked for any injuries. There were two calves that got a special procedure done. One was tagged on her ear and the other was dehorned through cauterizing around the unformed horn stub. The whole process was really cool to watch.
I also got to see a broad-winged hawk get restrained for a very mild case of bumblefoot. We use different, special gloves when restraining the birds for medical procedures because they need to be comfortable with their regular handling gloves.

First Day at Drumlin

5/31
Today was my first official day at the wildlife care section of Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA. Drumlin Wildlife Care is responsible for all of the wildlife in the farm and across the street in the sanctuary. Foxes, a fisher, rabbits, woodchucks, red-tailed hawks, and barred owls are just some of the many animals that are taken care of.
My first official day of internship started off with a lot of cage and enclosure cleaning. It was our duty to ensure that all the mammals (the rabbits, the groundhogs, the skunk, mice, and the opossum) were fed and well cared for. We also had to clean the pigeon cage and the four duck pens.

The ducks are cleaned very systematically. There are five ducks and one goose, three pairs total. Mrs. Mallard and the call duck (above) are one mated pair. Louis the Peking duck and JP the Canada goose are two buddies who love spending time together. The last pair, Paddy and a second female mallard (below), enjoy each other's company very much, but unfortunately Paddy tends to get really rough during mating season around the small mallard and rips her head feathers out. This is a natural habit for Peking ducks but because she is more fragile than him she gets hurt. They have to be separated this time of year by a metal gate. 

 Once the ducks were taken care of it was time to move onto the indoor mammals and birds. Drumlin Wildlife Care has 6 main mammals; two woodchucks, two domestic rabbits, an opossum, and a skunk. There are also some cages for breeding mice. Because a majority of the mammals aren't domesticated they all have to be handled carefully and consistently. In Massachusetts captive wild mammals must be euthanize and tested for rabies if an accidental bite occurs. And more often than not a bite is caused by carelessness on the handler's part. Therefore thick gloves are used at all times when moving mammals, they are put in cages when enclosures are cleaned, and great care is taken when moving cages. On nice days when the weather isn't too hot a lot of the indoor animals get to go outside for enrichment in a large enclosure.

 When outside the animals are stimulated with a more natural environment and can romp, dig, and sunbathe; activities that cannot be performed inside.

Birds also live inside the Drumlin Wildlife Care facility. There are two crows (Bebe, seen below and Po), a pigeon, and Paddy's female mallard mate (until mating season is over!). The crows are staff only cleans because they are very social animals and sensitive to new people. Training and interactions have to stay consistent. Pigeon is much more docile (though she still doesn't like me) so cleaning her cage is easier. The female mallard is out in her day pen when we clean her cage. 

After the wildlife care facility cages are clean we head over to Bird Hill to clean out the raptor enclosures. There are two barred owls, a great horned, two red-tailed hawks, two broad-wing hawks, a turkey, and a turkey vulture. We are able to get right in the enclosure with the birds while cleaning and feeding, which is really cool! 

After the birds are cleaned and fed we head back over to do diets. Diet preparation is a nice, relaxing part of the day. Each animal has its own set dietary needs for the afternoon and the morning. Mice play a very large role in diets as almost every carnivore eats them. 

That wraps up my first official day of internship at Drumlin Farm wildlife care. I know I'll have many more great days after this! 

~Amanda G