more highlights in my fascinating life
wolf hollow...
tuesday:
--gave meds to a great blue heron
--swept the floors!
--got bitten by a squirrel. yes. although i guess if i were being held by one person and being swabbed with ointment by another (that would be me) i'd be a bit, well, squirrely too. it twisted around out of the grip of the staff member holding it and totally chowed down on the back of my wrist. but i so far haven't contracted any horrible disease. but, i mean, i got bitten by a squirrel. i've never really liked them much anyway, although they're adorable when they're babies and you hold them on your lap and feed them with a little syringe full of formula. they stand up and grab onto it with their tiny little paws and suck on it, and if you don't keep pushing the end in they grab it tighter and give you scandalized and what-are-you-waiting-for?? looks. but then they gow up and just get crazy.
thursday:
--more sweeping and mopping. woohoo.
--feeding half a quail to a peregrine falcon. peregrin falcons are awesome.
--the great blue heron had to be put down. it had some illness from an insuffiency of certain nutrients, or from eating rancid fish possibly, or something, which caused fatty nodules to build up all over its abdomen, and apparently on its organs too. which is apparently extremely painfull, and the long-term prognosis wasn't good. they asked if i wanted to watch, and i said okay, figuring it would be an educational experience, and one that (thankfully) doesn't come up that often, in my life anyway. so they took a blood sample, and then injected sodium pentabarbitol, which is what they use for lethal injections in a death sentence too i think. it's very quick-acting, going through both the circulatory and central nervous systems. but it was really weird to watch. it's a beautiful animal. and not like swatting a fly. you could see its breathing suddenly decrease dramatically, then stop. i was kind of surprised to find myself getting really dizzy and feeling like i was going to pass out. so i left and got some water and sat down for a while, then came back when it had died and asked about some of the scientific points and how the toxin worked and everything, and felt the lumps which were all over the poor thing's body. a really interesting experience. i'm kind of embarrassed about almost fainting though. if i hadn't left when i did i think i would have. i totally hadn't expected that. maybe my aspirations of being an e.m.t. are a bit unfounded. although in urgent or emergency situations in the past, i've been fine. it's just afterwards, or when there's nothing i can do. just sitting helplessly and watching isn't something i do very well with. but maybe you get a bit used to it over time, for better or worse.
in other news, i ran six-and-a-half miles on tuesday, and five miles today. sweet! it feels so good to be exercising again.
tuesday:
--gave meds to a great blue heron
--swept the floors!
--got bitten by a squirrel. yes. although i guess if i were being held by one person and being swabbed with ointment by another (that would be me) i'd be a bit, well, squirrely too. it twisted around out of the grip of the staff member holding it and totally chowed down on the back of my wrist. but i so far haven't contracted any horrible disease. but, i mean, i got bitten by a squirrel. i've never really liked them much anyway, although they're adorable when they're babies and you hold them on your lap and feed them with a little syringe full of formula. they stand up and grab onto it with their tiny little paws and suck on it, and if you don't keep pushing the end in they grab it tighter and give you scandalized and what-are-you-waiting-for?? looks. but then they gow up and just get crazy.
thursday:
--more sweeping and mopping. woohoo.
--feeding half a quail to a peregrine falcon. peregrin falcons are awesome.
--the great blue heron had to be put down. it had some illness from an insuffiency of certain nutrients, or from eating rancid fish possibly, or something, which caused fatty nodules to build up all over its abdomen, and apparently on its organs too. which is apparently extremely painfull, and the long-term prognosis wasn't good. they asked if i wanted to watch, and i said okay, figuring it would be an educational experience, and one that (thankfully) doesn't come up that often, in my life anyway. so they took a blood sample, and then injected sodium pentabarbitol, which is what they use for lethal injections in a death sentence too i think. it's very quick-acting, going through both the circulatory and central nervous systems. but it was really weird to watch. it's a beautiful animal. and not like swatting a fly. you could see its breathing suddenly decrease dramatically, then stop. i was kind of surprised to find myself getting really dizzy and feeling like i was going to pass out. so i left and got some water and sat down for a while, then came back when it had died and asked about some of the scientific points and how the toxin worked and everything, and felt the lumps which were all over the poor thing's body. a really interesting experience. i'm kind of embarrassed about almost fainting though. if i hadn't left when i did i think i would have. i totally hadn't expected that. maybe my aspirations of being an e.m.t. are a bit unfounded. although in urgent or emergency situations in the past, i've been fine. it's just afterwards, or when there's nothing i can do. just sitting helplessly and watching isn't something i do very well with. but maybe you get a bit used to it over time, for better or worse.
in other news, i ran six-and-a-half miles on tuesday, and five miles today. sweet! it feels so good to be exercising again.