Week two got more exciting as I have gained enough experience to be able to complete tasks on my own. This week, I was allowed to prepare medicine and medicate/tube feed birds by myself. I quickly found out that medicating ducks or geese is usually a two person job as they naturally do not want to hold still to have a syringe or a tube down their throat.
I was also able to feed the raptors for the first time this week. At Possumwood, there are two glove trained hawks named Lyla and Kyra. Interns are not allowed to feed Lyla but we are allowed to feed Kyra. For this, I went into her cage with a staff member. Before we enter the cage, we have to hide the food out of the bird's line of sight. Then with our glove, we quickly put a mouse or chick into our hand and move our body so that our front is facing away from the bird and so that our arm is perpendicular and the highest point of our body to serve as a perch for the bird. She will then land on the glove, grab her food, and fly to a perch to eat. This was a little bit scary at first but it was awesome to be able to do! Possumwood has other birds who are not glove trained such as Kingsley an American Kestrel, Bart who is a Vulture in glove training, and various other Vultures and Owls. As a potential vet student, it is important to have experience working with all kinds of animals, rather than the typical dogs and cats.