Second week - big birds

My second week at paws was short again - only two days, as I then took the weekend off to go do my first half iron-man triathlon! (But that story belongs to another blog...)

This week the laundry and cleaning situation was way more under control, and we finally caught up from last weeks mountains of dirty items. I learned that Wednesdays are nice - because we have a ton of staff - it is the day of the week a lot of us overlap. Even so, my days are so busy that I come home and I can barely remember what I did and saw - all I know is that a lot of it was exciting!

We have a juvenile Hawk - and I watched him get fed his dinner of mice, since he doesn't want to eat on his own yet. He is super cute - he's got the the big sharp looking talons of a mature bird, but his head and fluffiness gives away his young age. He looks a little like this young hawk:



Up close his mouth doesn't look that big (though sharp!) and the rehabbers simply open it up, and shove a whole half mouse down his throat! He then closes his mouth, does a little swallow, and *poof* its gone. Though once or twice there was a tail sticking out of his mouth, and he had to be prompted (rub his neck) to remember to swallow the rest. Young Hawks are pretty cute - not quite as intimidating as the mature ones.
The next day I once again tube fed a bunch of Raccoons - though now we're down to only 24 as the bigger ones are weaned and eating on their own (yay!). One of the seasonals showed me how she holds the raccoon still and the tube in place, and it seemed to work well for me. I think I finally got the hang of it! Also once again, baby raccoons sure are cute! (I'm pretty sure the theme of this blog is that baby animals are cute...).
In the evening I got to feed a great horned owl. It mainly just means I threw some (dead) mice into his cage, but I got to see him - and he was so fluffy. He seemed less excited to see me - and clicked his beak at me.
I also got to do subQ on an oppossum - which is different than an raccoon as they are smaller and the skin is less thick. But at least it didn't scream at me!

I think those are the highlights of the week. I'm leaving a lot off, but its hard when we fit so much into the day...