Vet Day Take 2

Today was a vet day for large cats....this included 4 cougars and 1 lioness.  


It was a lot of running around trying to make sure everything was ok for the vets.  I was able to help out the keeper when she was tranquilizing one of the cougars for the physical and we had to separate the male cougar from the female.  It took some ingenuity, but she finally left the inside area where the male had been tranquilized.  I also helped carry one male cougar from the area they did the physical to where his inside area was....it was AWESOME!!!!  I also got to help paint paw prints by holding his paw and pressing it onto paper.  I also learned cougars have the largest papillae on their tongues....the sandpaper type things.


Anyways everything went great and really fast....tuesday we have another vet day for the smaller cats.


I only have like 3 and a half weeks left....crazy how time flies


I am waiting on an email from a zoo to see if I got an internship for the fall.


Meanwhile....I want to see a concert.....preferably Maroon 5....yep

roadtrip

I am heading to Minneapolis today to see my future in-laws.  They came all the way from Texas to see me....well sorta they took a round about way to see family and decided to come visit....anyways I get some steak tonight and I am super excited!!!!


thats all for now...

planning for the fall...and random things

Basically my life is in limbo right now as my internship draws to an end here in Minnesota and I am looking for a new adventure for the fall.  Internship or job....not really sure but my life is starting to become a constant checking of the email to see if anyone wants me for a job.  


and now to the random things.....


I miss steak....good medium cooked steak....and baked potatoes....and rolls....yum


Basically any red meat.....brisket, steak, ribs, anything grilled....


I think that is the one thing I will miss most from down south is grilling....and Freebirds


Maybe some tex-mex.....or at least taco cabana


Anyways thats my random food cravings for now....I guess i will resort to the always tasty subway....but I have to add my normal mustard.....no i dont want dijon or honey


Oh big news!!!!  I finished my project and you can see it on the website:  www.wildcatsanctuary.org/residents/
I did the bios for bengals, chausies, savannahs, F1 bengals, domestics, and Abby the jungle cat

until later!   CAT IN A BAG

Hey all!

I am blogging 2 days in a row!!! be shocked!


Anyways I have a half day today so right now I am sitting in the grocery store using some free internet....good stuff.  


They have a giant inflatable slide outside that I kind of want to go slide down...but I don't want to be that close to all the kids on it.....did I mention I am not a fan of them.....now I did.


I came to the store earlier to pick up lunch for people at the sanctuary and heard something very interesting.....A lady was telling her kids they could get drinks and said "now y'all can get some pop".  I don't think northern words should mix with southern it sounds really odd.


Being up north in "foreign territories" (as my dad calls it) allows me to hear lots of different accents especially the different usage of the letter o and words like pop.....but everyone looks at me funny when I say y'all so I guess I am the weird one up here.


Also I have never seen so many canoes and kayaks in my life.....is everyone here outdoorsy?  I think yes.


Also I have never seen so much use of sausages as hot dogs and almond butters....


I know this blog is really random...but whatever

Extreme Heat in Minnesota? Is that even possible?

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Monday through wednesday of this week were....lets just say really close to temps at home.  Monday was 100 degrees here with a heat index of 110 and we had to take special care to check on the cats several times that day.  We had 1 cougar overheat and had to crate him and rush him into the hospital to be given fluids and mist him down and cool him off with a fan.  We had to work a long day to wait to feed until it got cooler outside, which was around 8pm.  Then when letting the servals out of their lockouts after feeding one of the enclosures has 4 servals and 1 bobcat...the bobcat is more food aggressive and attacked one of the smaller servals who had found food left on the ground.  The head keeper had to rush in and get her crated to take into the hospital because she overheated from the tussle and was taken to the vet the next day to check if damage was done.  The bite wounds were superficial on the neck, but better to be safe and get them checked.


Tuesday had some relief from the heat in the morning with rain, but by the afternoon the heat had resumed and we continued checking cats and misting them down.  We also made lots of popsicles for the cats including tuna, blood, turkey hearts, and different spices.  Then another intern and I went to Duluth to get industrial sized fans to put in the cat buildings for circulating air.  We also picked up more hose misters and hose splitters to maximize the area we can run hoses to.


Wednesday was hot, but breezy and we began the preparations for the heat to come later in the day.  We connected hoses and misters....ran hoses around to all areas and put the fans into the serval, big cat, and cougar buildings.  We then made more popsicles for the cats and I bought more popsicles for us.  We took frequent inside breaks as to not overheat and drank a lot of water.


Thankfully the heat wave has broken and were back into the 80s today.  This weekend is supposed to be in the 70s and that will make life so much nicer.


Meanwhile I have 5 weeks left of my internship! goes by fast

Duluth field trip with the other interns

Last wednesday we all went to Duluth to the Lake Superior Zoo and then the Great Lakes Aquarium.  We got behind the scenes tours at both of the places.  It was a really fun day with the other girls and I love getting behind the scenes tours with keepers.  Its nice to talk to fellow animal professionals where they understand the passion for animals.  I was so excited to see the pallas cats at the zoo, which I don't think I have ever seen before.  Its a small zoo, but has really nice terrain and many of the buildings were built during the time Roosevelt was in office just as a way to create jobs.  


The aquarium is right off Lake Superior and the girl who walked us around for the tour was super excited to actually talk to the public about all the fish and animals there.  She showed us the holding areas and the bald eagle they have and then told us that old mast boats would be coming in the bay if we wanted to see them so we watched the boat come in and a lift bridge go up to let the boat in the bay.  Here are some pictures of the boat.

Bobcat claw

I was hooked by a bobcat yesterday with the claw.  He thought the bowl I was carrying had food....it had diatomaceous earth in it....very different.  


I went to the hospital on my dads request and basically was given antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection and swelling.  The doctor barely looked at my hand and didnt even clean out the wound....sure it doesnt look bad...but isnt that doctor protocol?


Anyways I thought maybe you would want to see pictures of it.  Dont worry I don't have any bloody ones.....but lets just say i was bleeding pretty well for a while.

right after I cleaned the wound and it stopped bleeding

after I soaked the wound...I thought I had loose skin so pulled this out of my hand.....at this point it is still attached inside my hand....hurt really bad to pull on

today....still swollen on hand and cant move pointer finger much....may be stiff from swelling

hot day + humidity = im disgusting

Building a new enclosure for a tiger yesterday and today.  Yesterday was amazing weather and we had a group of volunteers come and help get the walls up.  Today felt like southeast texas.....my pants were sticky and hard to climb ladders in.  Put up 2 rows of hotwire and fastened the walls to the poles more securely.  I drink so much water and yet I think I sweated it all out on my clothes today.  Lets just say it was a character building day.


We have a field trip this week to the Lake Superior Zoo and to the aquarium!!!!!  Behind the scenes!!!!


Anyways hopefully tomorrow will be cooler...and my sunburn will go away.

hard work....and poo

yes poo.....today i vacuumed a pool that had a layer of slime and poo....and i was standing in it determined to get all the poo out.  That was just part of the day I also cleaned all of the hybrid cages and fed them.  I then tried to mow with one of the 3 mowers that all dont work very well....i got maybe 10 feet before it died and would not start back up.  SO I cleaned the prep room earlier than normal.


Lunch ensued


Then I went and started the vacuuming of the pool.  I then helped clean the cougar outside areas by picking up poo and smushing the grass at the side of the enclosure.  Back to vacuuming the pool...more smushing grass...raking poo and taking a pool to the trash.  I then helped take pictures of a car we are trying to get rid of and hauling meat that was thawing rapidly out of the truck into the freezer.  


Tomorrow is a group day and we are working on the enclosure walls.


Anyways new pics from Duluth!

day off.....DULUTH

I am currently sitting in a starbucks in Duluth Minnesota.....lake superior is beautiful by the way.  Will be going to the aquarium here and over a really cool looking bridge.


While here we came across a sidewalk festival and and ate at a hip pizza place.


It's really nice here.  I never will get past all the people thinking it's super hot outside when its 80 degrees....this is heaven for me....ah to get away from the 100+ degree weather down south.


I also saw a place called electric fetus....why in the world would you call a place that?