Sick days

Cheetah Cuddle Puddle! 

Hey everyone!

So as the title says, I have gotten sick. And man, does it suck. It started Monday and hit hard the last few days. Even as I post this my voice sounds funny and I am coughing my lungs out, but at least I can now sleep through the night without coughing and waking up my dorm mates.  I am hoping that this is a five day thing, and I start improving by tomorrow, but I don't know. I can only hope. Otherwise, I refuse to let this post wait another day, since I did say I was going to add a post with videos, and I haven't yet, kinda mad at myself for that....

Besides that unfortunate little fact, this past week has been pretty fun. Mostly.







This past week has been rather interesting. One, because Whitney and I have been on center pens quite a bit this past week, and so we hit two milestones: One - we are now surprised when we are not on center pens. And Two - we have now become Zen gardeners. For a few days, whenever we are on it together (quite often it turns out), we are making patterns in the sand. I tried a drawing once, it didn't turn out well..... Tried and failed, so sad. But it at least makes things interesting.

This is the terrible landscape picture I tried to draw. If you really look, you might be able to see the fish and the deer, but I
doubt it.... So sad. 

Also, this Sunday, I got to go onto the reserve. It was definitely informative and interesting to be on. Whitney and I learned how to mess with the camera traps, what to do with them, what to make note of etc. That took a few hours, plus we got to go out onto the reserve instead of stay in the office. ALWAYS a bonus.

I got to go on husbandry again, and I still find it a lot of fun. Plus, some of the cheetahs were moved around so B2 and Phoenix, the housecats we usually feed during husbandry, were switched around with the ambassadors and were fed during center feeding instead. It was kind of sad watching B2 run around, because he usually runs from where he picks up his food and goes into an entirely different area, but yesterday and today, he was stuck in the center pens. Poor guy.

This is Mendel getting fluids

Another really exciting thing for me was helping a staff member with giving fluids during husbandry. When the veterinary students visited, I got to watch, and Monday, I got to assist. I had the job of putting in the stick, so the cheetah could continue eating, and if he didn't like being poked by the needle, he would bite the stick instead of the persons hands. Plus, I got a few pictures of the cheetahs tail, show how flat it is in comparison to a normal felines. It was really cool! Plus, his tail stuck out, so I got a really good picture that shows how flat a cheetah's tail is in compared to other species. Since they use their tail as a rudder when they run, it has evolved to be a tad more flat. You can see it being used in some of the videos I have posted.

I'm so HAPPY! I got a picture that shows the tail of a cheetah. 

More Husbandry photos!

Also, during one center feeding, after all the people left, we got to feed the girls donkey heads. It was rather gruesome to take out. And let me tell you, the ear of a dead donkey feels cold and rather leathery, its creepy. But it was fun watching the girls go eat them. Rainbow didn't really know what to do, Aurora took hers into shade, and Harry just didn't want to eat hers. She is apparently not a fan of eating donkey heads.

I've got another scary bug to add, by the way. This, is a velvet ant. I have learned, via the internet, that it is actually part of the wasp family, and that the females cannot fly, but sting, while the males can fly, but do not sting. Interesting, and partially terrifying as I have heard that one of the staff members had a female in her boot, and another staff member could hear her scream from across the way. Ouch... I do not want to find out what that feels like, its a tad bigger than the bees back in Bend. So, no thank you.

The birds are very brave, I'm sure if I put bread in my hand
someone would try and get it. . .