Wild Things

I was running a little late for work today (what a surprise!) and, as usual, I had to go back in the house a couple of times for things I forgot. As I was locking the door after my last return, I happened to look out at the dock and saw a HUGE brown bird taking off from it and slowly flapping back over the sunlit water. I wasn't sure what it was, but it had a larger wingspan than the bald eagle that lives In the woods not too far away. I am tempted to search for a couple of hours online to see if I can identify it, but it will be just as easy to ask at the Northwoods Wildlife Center (NWC) when I go in for training this weekend.

Volunteering there is one of those things that I should have been doing all along while I have been living up here. I know the director and his wife, I have the training, and I even volunteered at the Wildlife Rehab Center (WRC) at the UM Twin Cities for a few months feeding the wild avian patients (and soaking up the knowledge of vet students and people doing their doctorates).

At the WRC we took care of injured wild animals from squirrels to raccoons tosongbirdss to water fowl. Volunteers who were not vet students (me!) got to clean cages and fix wildlife delicacies for the patients such as fresh fruit and grubs (had to get over my aversion to bugs for that!) When we cleaned the cage of an injured bird, we had to transfer the resident to another holding cage, then clean the soiled cage,place the food inside, and transfer the resident back to the now-clean cage. Once, while dealing with a sick mallard,I tried to transfer him back to his clean cage. He was apparently feeling much better, because he FLEW right out of my arms, circled around the small room, and then flew back with his beak wide back into my arms and snapped his beak closed on my left boob! Very painful, but memorable.

I'm sure the NWC will be just as memorable. I was told I would initially be feeding the permanent residents. The NWC has several permanent residents - those animals who cannot be released back into the wild because of permanent injuries. They have a bald eagle, Phoenix, who was taken out of the nest as a nestling and kept in a small cage in someone's basement. By the time she was found,she was suffering from severe arthritis and was not used to being in the wild. She has been a permanent resident of the NWC since 1999.

Read more about Phoenix here: http://www.northwoodswildlifecenter.com/
education/adoption/phoenix.htm

No matter what I am asked to do there, it WILL be a great experience. And something I can feel good about. And of course, something to write about.