Thursday, July 23, 2009

Everyday is a day at the zoo

One very interesting aspect of working at Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital is one of the member doctors is a big-time exotics vet and is the vet for the Akron zoo. What that means for me is we see all comers, whether that is dog, cat, bunny, ferrets, tortoises, etc. I also "get" to see wildlife to a certain extent. Technically, we're not supposed to treat owned wildlife, but we routinely receive "Good Samaritan" drop offs. In the past couple of weeks, we've had 10 or 11 "orphaned" baby bunnies (I put orphaned in quotes because they're not really orphaned, but momma wild rabbits don't sit on the nest like people think they do so people assume the babies have been abandoned), 3 wood peckers, a weasel, and a double crested cormorant (a big, blue bird that looks like a crane only with duck feet.) By far, though, the coolest wildlife has been the two raptors that have come in. We received a Peregrine falcon from the local police...he was found in a garage and seemed disoriented, but was fine, and a Barred Owl who sat in his cage and clicked at me everytime I walked by. Birds like that are unbelievably impressive up close and, although I didn't do much but get them checked in and call the exotics folks, it's cool to think that I was part of rehabbing them.

I wouldn't begin to pretend that I've become even marginally competent in treating exotics, but I'm slowly getting, at least, comfortable with examining them and having an idea of what needs to be done. Sadly, most of the exotics don't do well...generally, by the time a bird or other prey animal shows that it is sick, it is REALLY sick and there's not much that can be done. Occasionally, though, we make a difference and it is definitely a learning experience.

If nothing else, I enjoy walking through the exotics ward and checking out all the animals I wouldn't get to see otherwise.

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