Hello my friends! I'm sorry I haven't been updating lately. This past Saturday I took off of BTN so that I could spend time with my LDR boyfriend and the week before was a very rainy day without much to write about. But here I am again! And I'm bringing you more pictures and stories.
So thank goodness I looked at the forecast before going in to work. I caught that it was supposed to be a very rainy day. So I grabbed my rain boots that my BFFL Maggie generously painted for me. They were so drab when I bought them from the Wal-Mart, but Maggie did some lovely color-blocking and now they look bright and friendly and fun! Though they're still very uncomfortable. I had to lay an extra pair of sock on the bottom so that my feet wouldn't scream at me. They're cheap-o boots and a half-a-size too small, so they pinch at the toes and have very hard unsupported souls. But they lasted me the time I spent at BTN. I also grabbed my blue poncho and headed out the door.
It was raining by the time I pulled into the back gate. Cats and dogs. I was scared driving down 50 to get there; I could barely see 10ft in front of my car. By the time I got to BTN, the rain was lighter because it hadn't caught up to us. But pretty soon it was POURING. Since the weather was so bad, we had to do rudimentary tasks only: Fresh food, fresh water and scoop the poop if we could. I had the task of taking care of the reptiles, i.e. the tortoise yard, the turtle enclosure and Spike's cage. We had to put a gopher tortoise with paralyzed back legs and Hercules into Spike's cage because it floods less.
So I prepared their diets, cleaned their water bowls, gave them fresh water and refilled Spike's pool. I had to place everything under trees or tarps that we had set up to create dry areas. It was really pouring. I should probably get a rain jacket instead, because a poncho is really awkward to work in. And the hood kept falling back off of my head. Thankfully, I managed to keep myself dry enough so that I didn't get a cold.
I finished quickly. It was pretty chilly out, and I noticed the reptiles were pretty lethargic. Especially Spike. He and the tortoises in his cage hadn't touched their food from the day before. But don't worry, this is normal in reptiles. The cold weather and their exothermy (cold-blooded) means they're less active and eat less. But I still wrote it down in the Critter Log like a good volunteer should.
We all finished quickly and then hunkered down in the baby room until our shifts were over. We helped out feeding babies and tidying up, but there wasn't much to do since Leslie and Kelly did a good job in there. An intern, Scott, was showing us his injury that he got a few days before. He was cutting something at home and ended up slicing his arm with a box cutter. Looking at it, we all agreed that he should have gotten stitches but it had started to heal, so that's good. Still, it looked red and a little swollen so the womenfolk gave him lots of tips on how to clean it and promote healthy healing.
Speaking of womenfolk taking care of men, John the intern was running around without any kind of protection from the rain. He came sopping wet into the baby room. We all told him to get some dry clothes from the laundry storage room like the rest of us did, but he refused. I told him to at least dry his hair so he wouldn't get a cold. Men, they never listen. Well, I'm not bringing anyone homemade chicken noodle soup that doesn't at least try to make sure they don't get sick. Suffice it to say, he went home still soaked.
Michy and I fed a few baby squirrels. They were squirmy and aspirated a lot, so we had to go really slow and stop often to let them get a breather. Afterwards, Stacey was cleaning a few cages that her babies were in and she handed me a couple to hold on to and.... one of them had diarrhea alllll over me (Ok, just on my shirt. Still) So then it was my turn to run into the laundry room and grab a shirt. The only thing left was a big frumpy sweatshirt, but it was clean and warm and dry so it was actually pretty nice to change into. Still, thanks kid.
Lovely....
That's the one and only photo I took that day. I'm sorry that it was such a gross one. I didn't freak out, I just handed the babies to someone else and went to go change my shirt. Bonnie says that we're not real interns/volunteers until we get ourselves a "Species Feces" shirt. Meaning getting covered in all kinds of critter poo. I've had my share of poop experiences, so I was a prepared veteran when this happened. Keep on working folks, nothing to see here. Top it off with the fact that Scott tried to scare me with a spider. A little spider was walking on the counter I was leaning on, and I told him to stay quiet because Cait and Stacey both haaaaate spiders, so he said "It's on your leg." Fooled him. I calmly looked around so I wouldn't step on it, and since Scott seemed disappointed I put two and two together: Haha, very funny if I was Cait or Stacey. I finally located the little guy and put him on a piece of paper and released him into a dry part of the yard. Be free, little spider! Eat all of the mosquito and roach larva.
We hung out and talked for a long time, bonding as it poured buckets outside. Then it was time for the volunteers like me to head out. I had stuff to do! My girls and I were going out that night.
So this Saturday I'll be back at BTN and I'll have more adventures to tell! It's starting to get chilly, so I'm glad to still have that sweatshirt to keep me warm. It can get muddy and poopy and I won't care. I'm just going to have to invest in better boots that don't kill my feet when I wear them.
See you Saturday!
The Wild Dimes has Fainted!
P.S. For those of you that missed it, I made a whole Facebook album with pictures of my summer internship. There isn't much commentary nor any stories, but it's fun to look at. :)
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