What I Demand

Never again will I settle for someone who won't play the "I love YOU more game", for someone who won't buy me flowers, even though they know I'll kill them by accident almost immediately. Someone who doesn't understand my pets are my children, and precious and to be nicer to them than you are to me. Who would rather go to the movies than go on an adventure. Someone who won't put as much work into the house as they expect from me. Never, ever will I fall for words without action again. I demand these things, because I deserve these things.

Midterm Hell

Midterms were today, which are just never any fun for anyone. We also got our primate test back, which I just assumed would be my worst grade of the semester... until I got it back and saw I got a 93%... LOL. Whatever! I'll take it! Monica and I managed to be almost nice to each other though, so that was interesting. And more things are making their way into the apartment. YAY!!!! I just bought a new, black, faux fur comforter the other day. I'm beyond excited to snuggle in it. ^.^

White Oak #2

I'm in love. With a place called White Oak. So let's see... where did my day begin? It started with cleaning, just picking up old hay for the antelope. Then I got picked up for all the vet procedures of the day. We started with birds, and the baby wattled crane chick, he got some blood drawn and some vaccines, and I got to hold him and take him back to his parents. I then got to see an annual exam on an adult wattled crane, such beautiful birds! We then went to the Curassow's [blue-billed and wattled] for their annuals exams. They have really, really pretty head feathers! After that it was time for giraffe! On the ride over we watched a Bongo female in labor, she only had two little hooves out so far though. And then I was given a reason to actually work on my fear of heights! An adult female named Rags needed some medication so she was put in the squeeze chute, and I was on a platform near her head 10 feet in the air! SO SCARY! I always believed Josh when he said giraffe could kill you, I just didn't realize he meant they could kill you totally and completely on accident. GIANT! I had to duck just to avoid getting plowed by her horns because she was being silly and didn't want her meds. Next they put Wally, a much younger male in the chute, who thrashed around A LOT and panicked a little. I nearly panicked being that high in the air and being shaken around so much, but it definitely taught me I can handle it, and if I want to do some aspects of this I need to work on getting over my fear of heights. On the way out of giraffe meds, we stopped back by Bongo to see a new, wet little baby on the ground! Too adorable, the whole herd crowded around to get a look at the new baby. :] Next was a 4-day old Lesser Kudu calf for it's neonatal exam, I got to hold her for the exam, and my goodness, why so cute? A tech kept holding her head so she wouldn't bash me in the face when we bothered her, but, I would have been way ok with it!! After we released it again it wanted to follow us out, which was really cute, but also really bad for the calf if it had persisted. Luckily she figured it out and made it back to her herd pretty quickly. We also checked on a Gerenuk that is having some medical issues named Sparkle. I think after that it was lunch time, where I met and talked to a keeper from Jax Zoo who was really nice. Then it was back to cleaning, and eventually time to feed out. Fed: zebra, roan antelope, black rhino... and more I'm sure, so much to do! One of the cutest things of the day was feeding a hand raised lesser kudu calf though, she didn't want more than a third of her bottle, and really just wanted to play, so instead of drinking her milk, she nuzzled and licked me, then came right up to my face, and playfully licked my nose! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE! I know there is more amazingness I can't remember, the days there are so packed with awesome I can barely contain myself. I really, really, really want that internship!!!!

Best. Day. EVER.

"Orientation" day at White Oak today. !!!!! SO AMAZING! When I first got there, watched a procedure on a sick male cheetah, who was bigger than I expected. Went in, harnessed, held and walked a 3 month old cheetah cub [OMG!]. I saw a three day old wattled crane get pinioned, per the studbook keeper, and run around with it's parents [superrrrr cute]. I went in with maned wolves to feed them, like, feet away. AMAZING. I saw a week old white rhino, relaxing. Lots of somali wild ass and all sorts of other totally amazing, amazing things that I can't even remember the names of right now. SO AWESOME. AMAZING, amazing, fantastic day!!

Future

This week has been a whirlwind! Things that have been uncertain for almost a year now have been settled. I'm moving into a new place, with new roommates, and starting a brand-new chapter in my life. I don't want to dwell on the past, and what could have been. I see more adventures, new things and a wide-open beautiful future ahead.

True Friends

I'm already dreading my graduation from the zoo program, not because I'm fearful about doing this "for real", but because I won't have my friends there to have my back every single day, in and out of the zoo. We can talk about our dreams, futures, annoyances, problems, and more. We giggle like school children, and we back each other up, always. We see ourselves, who we want to be, and where we've been in each others days, triumphs and struggles. Thanks to some of the best people I've ever met, I know you will be part of the reason for my success, and I hope you all will be able to say the same about me. <3

Introducing Ellie and May!

Ellie and May is what I've decided to call my little rat girls. Here they are perching on the back of my neck as I study Order Carnivora:

Aren't they adorable? May is the one to the left, my phone camera has this stupid yellow tinge now, but she's a cute brown color with splotchy patches, while Ellie is on the right, and is a charcoal black. May is generally more eager to come out, while Ellie is more shy at first. But Ellie is more adventurous once out, and May likes to stick close to me and her sister. :]

Makes You Think

Tragedy sparked really close to home today. There was a massive pile up, leaving 10 dead, and many more in the hospital. The road was so foggy, even after rescuers arrived, they couldn't see the people they wanted to help, they could only hear their screaming. You can read the details here. The only tangible effect on me was that it took longer to get home, as all the traffic from I-75 was rerouted directly onto my road. It's crazy to think about though, I've driven that road so many times when visibility was really low, coming up on cars I had no idea were there until I was nearly on top of them. I was always cautious, but... 10 dead, that is crazy, a lot of people just on a Sunday morning drive. Can you imagine being one of the people that saw what was coming on and got out of their car, walked a ways, and walked right into a horror scene? Cars on fire and smoking, people screaming and crying. Yikes. My thoughts are with everyone who was effected today. Those still in the hospital, the families and friends that have to bury their loved ones, and those who witnessed something they won't soon forget. Cherish life EVERY day, every minute. You never, ever know when it's your time.

Liar!

I'm a big liar. Why? I told myself no more pets, I don't know if I'll even be in the states for more than another year, and hauling my small zoo of 8 is going to be difficult enough already, but... 2 sweet little rat girls were abandoned at one of my stores this week, and I fell in love. I'm naming one Ellie, she's white with black and more timid. I haven't decided on the other one's name yet, maybe Poppy? Or May? Izzi and Mischka are both tremendously curious and excited. Izzi probably remembers the "city" rats I had in high school (Paris, London, Venice, Berlin, and my little oddball Pinkie), Mischka because, she's a husky and all things are exciting. :]

A list of my home zoo is as follows:
Almost 2 year old Siberian Husky: Mischka

The Quaker Parrot I've raised since he was 6 weeks old, and is now 7 years old: Izzi

The Quaker Parrot that I rescued about 4 months ago: Akela

 

My Dumeril's Boa: Inkie

My Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula spiderling (only the size of a quarter currently): October (she just got her name today, took my nearly 3 months to come up with one!)

My rescue Guinea Pig: Edward

His companion Guinea Pig: Gunny

The salt water tank with: the Blue Damsels Hyde and Zeke and Chip, the Chocolate Chip Starfish

 

as well as Urchin

 

and Piperfoot the Horseshoe Crab

There is also my first true love, my biggest baby, and best friend, Piper. He lives with my mom and not with me and I miss him terribly.

                                         

Beautiful Week

This week I got to spend half a day in an aviary with 4 hawk-headed parrots, an iguana, and 2 Guam rails, which are extinct in the wild! How cool is that? I also snake hooked an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake and got to feed it, got a Bald Eagle to eat more than he had in days, and got chosen to participate in a behavior study. Still anxiously awaiting the rest of the training team announcements, as spots are opening at the zoo for the animals that have a training team.

I'm also proud of my little Akela, she is becoming such a good little talker! She says "Good boy!" really clearly now (don't tell her she's probably a girl), I really need to get her and Izzi DNA sexed, I don't need any little green feathery babies! :]

This next year promises a lot of growth, and I'm really excited to see where I am this time next year!

De-Railed and Loving It

I have had many detours from my once very set path in this journey of life. So far, I have to say, I think I prefer my trail that is windy, green, sometimes hilly and even rocky, but always beautiful. I started on this detour when I realized my 21 year long dream to become a veterinarian was starting to seem more like a nightmare. I then fell into my current program of study in zoo animal technology. Now in, I have not looked back, instead I've marched on smiling at the beautiful trail ahead. I found a place I belong, peers who matter to me, and where I matter to them. Animals small and large, winged, scaled, hooved and more to care for, to learn from, to admire and adore.

This will be a guidebook into my detour as well as  hopefully a place to put down the stories of some of the amazing animals and people I encounter and love.