Hollow Happenings

So check out Hollow happenings, it is blog that one of our volunteers does for us and she did one on our seal releases.. interesting photos and play by play of how things really do go down, in "seal poopy pants"ville....

disconnectedness blog

Okay check it out, I am going to go make some seal poop angels. :)

A week full of animals

So, this week has been a very busy week in the animal perspective. We have had 2 seal releases, 3 seals both times. I have also had many on call incidences this week. A fox at Deadman's Bay, the only good part -- I got to see Orcas breaching while I picked up a fox I would have to Euthanize. A HBC, layman's terms, hit by a car, deer who was DOA and I brought him back to butcher him up for meat for our carnivore critters. Making today one of the most on the go, exciting days?? in a while. It started with seals, one of them had managed to get himself twisted in a net (pls don't ask I don't want to explain), then onto feeding some squirrels -- getting scratched in the process by the oldest babies. Onto the deer butchering... not much to say there. I also learned how to give an oiled bird a bath today, with a gull we got in that had some trashed feathers from being in a Chemical warehouse in Anacortes. Just enough time for a quick bite and then onto the afternoon.

Prepping for the seal release, so much goes into this process. First we weigh them, then, we have to do rectal swabs on the seals we did on intake. This is a research project we have going to study the E.coli bacterium types and counts on admission and then the changes upon release. Next comes the hard part, doing DNA sample collection and tagging. Boys tagged on left rear flipper, girls on the right rear flipper. This involves using a leather punch to punch a hole through the flipper (you hear a hard crunch-- way to think of it, a cartilage piercing), after applying blood stop a red roto tag is placed in the DNA punch sight. I was shaking so bad on the first one that Serena had me do it was scary. The tag is used to ID them if they are ever seen on beach with illness or dead. The of course measuring their straight length, crating them up, and taking down to our release point. Open the crates, let them go, and watch them play in the water for awhile is a nice break from actual work, except for the fact that I got stung by a bee at the end.

Back to the Hollow, leads to looking a gull we had for the past 2 or so weeks that had a very bad neuro balance problem and waterproofing issue. After discussions we decided that he just wasn't getting any better. So I got to work on my venipuncture with him, yeah not something I don't want to practice, but something I need to for when I am on my own. Loads of paper work followed and me getting a little loopy meant it was time for my week to end!!

So here I am sharing my crazy, wacky, and sometimes not so fun work times with you, but I have included photos of the releases plus our lovely Great Horned Owl in all his glorious fluff & defensive pose.

Release #1

Nilas and Drizzle

Nilas, Drizzle, Ice Cube

Release #2

Monsoon, Deeno, Ice Cap

Piggy backin babies!!

Ice Cap leads the way, Deeno follows while Monsoon swims underwater behind

GHO

Bonus picture:

This is what Rehabbers really do, scrounge behind the counters for loose mealworms!!

Ode to Surgery Fawn

We did what we could,
We took cultures and samples of your nodes and knobs,
But yet we could not save you.

We monitored you for weeks,
Removed a growth on your head.
Worked you through a hyperextended leg,
And gave you surgery to remove the boney growth on your cheek.

I don't want to say we failed,
But there were so many things to fix.
You had antibiotics for infection,
All the food you could want.

In the end the antibiotics didn't work,
Your face became abscessed and infected.
You just couldn't shake to runs,
And your jaw was misaligned for eating.

All I can hope is you are at peace now,
I have taken you to a better place.
A place where you can prance til your hearts content,
And there is no pain (at least for you).