First day of my internship at the zoo!

Disappointing stuff first: the majority of my day was spent doing paperwork. The vet wasn't there for most of the day, so there wasn't a ton of stuff to do. So that was kinda lame, but the things I did get to do totally made up for it...

First, I got to help (sorta) with taking care of a Geoffroy's marmoset that wasn't eating well. Not super exciting.

But look how cute they are! (I didn't get any pictures of my own because I'm not sure if they want me to post them on the internet, but I'll ask next week.)

Then I got to hang out with some giant tortoises. One started coming at me at full tortoise throttle, and I seriously thought it was going to run over me. It had its neck stretched out and its mouth open, and it was terrifying (the thing was the size of a smart car... almost.. ish). I quickly jumped the heck out of its way. Turns out, it just wanted me to scratch its neck. :/

This is not a perspective trick. That's really how big they are. (Sorry random person whose picture I borrowed..)

Then I met two adorable red foxes, but you guys know what those look like. They were adorable, but very, very smelly.

And finally..... I got to catch/hold a Barn Owl and a Great Horned Owl. It was awesome.

They are so pretty. I wanted to steal the one I met today (not really... well.. kinda).

These guys look a little grumpier.. they are normally more aggressive than the barns, but the guy I worked with today was too weak to fight me much. :(

The zoo's hospital does raptor rehabilitation, and these guys were brought in today (not the ones in the pictures, but they basically look the same.. just less healthy in the great horned owl's case). The barn owl was completely blind, and someone found it on the side of a road. I'm not sure about the great horned owl. He seemed to be kinda old and was super skinny and weak.

The vet tech I was working with was like, "Normally I make people watch me catch one first, but you've had other animal experience, so I trust you." It was a little sudden, but I wasn't going to complain. She explained the best way to catch them, and off I went.

I struggled a little with the barn owl. Aside from his blindness, he was in really good shape, and he clamped onto my arm like he wanted to eat it. He also bit me (no damage done, though; I was wearing those super protective falconryish gloves). The great horned owl was super easy to handle, though, which is not a good thing.

I've never gotten to work with birds of prey like this, but I've always wanted to. I felt like Harry Potter. It was an awesome experience. And now I'm going to be WAY more disappointed if I don't get into vet school because I know that the vet school has a raptor rehab program, too.

Just a few more months... April, please be good to me.