Where the Wild Things Are

1/2 a rat is better than none
"The only problem some volunteers have is they might have to cut a rat in half," Molly told me on the phone a couple of weeks ago when I interviewed to be volunteer at the Northwoods Wildlife Center. Animal care volunteers feed the permanent residents, mostly raptors and reptiles that cannot be released into the wild.
"Uh, okay..." I said, not letting on how horrified I really was.
We chatted about volunteer's responsibilites for a few more minutes and then she asked if I had any questions before I came in to train.
"Just one," I said, steeling myself for the disappointment I would feel when she laughed hysterically at my wimpiness and hung up, crossing me immediately off the volunteer list,
"Uh, those rats we have to cut in half – they're not alive, are they? 'Cause that would be one thing I might have a problem with..."
Silence on the other end of the line and then stifled laughter, "No, they're frozen. I can't think of a situation where we would have to cut a live rat in half." she finally said.

I learned today that this comment of mine was the talk of the center for a couple of days, but hey, it was a reasonable question – I thought raptors might need their food moving before they'd eat it.

I started my first day at the NWC as a volunteer and it was everything I hoped for. I learned that different raptors, including a red-tailed hawk, kestrels, and owls, although meat eaters, prefer different kinds of meat. Even different owl species like different meals, for instance, Barred Owls prefer mice and Snowy Owls prefer quail.

Top chef
I had the pleasure today of tearing a dead quail's delicate skin, making a slit under the breast, stuffing both breasts with a ground meat mixture, pulling the still-feathered skin back over the stuffed breasts and carefully tucking the loose end under the wing. This is done to fool the Snowy Owls into thinking th e quail are meatier than they are. Snowy owls are very fussy eaters and the quail they give them are not meaty enough to sustain them. But judging by the fact that the cage is strewn with the meat they've spit out, they aren't really being fooled, I guess.

Rat woman
"So, do I just kind of hack, or use a sawing motion?" "A sawing motion, and you'll notice the spine is really hard to cut. And uh, just to warn you, they tend to stink." This conversation transpired while I was cutting a rat in half to feed a Great Horned Owl.

A mouse in da house
One of the Saw Whets, tiny owls about 6" tall, was glaring with a mouse pelt from yesterday still grasped in his talons. Of course who am I fooling - all owls look like they are constantly glaring.

Biting humor
The resident wood turtle, appropriately named "Woody," is allowed free run of the place when there are no visitors. He also attacks feet, hisses, and bites pant legs. It is rather cute until you have to pick him up to put him back in his cage.


Watching too much Food Network?
The turtles/tortoises get meat and cut up fresh fruits and veggies. I found myself putting the chopped produce in separate piles of complimentary colors on the plastic lids that serve as plates for the animals. I realized that I am probably watching The Food Network a little too much "It's all in the presentation." (Ironically, the turtles ate healthier than I do!)


Carrion, my wayward son
Hortense, the resident Turkey Vulture, has most of the workers intimdated since she has no problem, even with only one working wing, attacking the legs of whoever is in there – and it hurts! She gets the meat left over from the day before by the other residents. This seemed kind of mean to me until I realized that vultures eat carrion. Well, d'oh!

We ended today's training with the replenishment of the various frozen rodents for the next day, and I was given a pop quiz so I could figure out what was needed. I didn't do too badly, although I got the idea that I should have been taking notes all along.

Even though I only fed the residents, and did not care for any sick or injured animals, I walked out of there feeling like I had made a difference. This was sorely needed and I look forward to next week.



Current favorite travel quote this side of Bill Bryson
by Seth Stevenson from "Trying Really Hard to Like India" in The Best American Travel Writing 2005:
"In the mid-1970s, famed author V.S. Naipaul (of Indian descent but raised in Trinidad) came to India to survey the land and record his impressions. The result is a hilariously grouchy book titled India: A Wounded Civilization. Really, he should have just titled it India: Allow Me To Bitch at You for 161 Pages." (Appeared in Slate magazine)

OMG, if I could write like that I would be in heaven.