The end of 2013 marks the half-way point of my wildlife rehabilitation internship at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. I’ve witnessed and been a part of many amazing things this year at WCV, and it’s hard to name just one memorable moment ... so I won’t; I’ll pick two.
The story that grabbed my heart this year is of a critter that never entered our doors.
I’d really like to take this opportunity to focus on what made this experience of raising 16 rambunctious cubs “bearable” – our rehabilitation externs and interns.
Early in 2011, in preparation for my initial volunteer assignment as a tour guide for open houses, I was introduced to the named education animals, and also to a Great Horned Owl known only as “the Chimney Owl.”
My position at the Center is the diagnostic intern, and one of my responsibilities is cytology -- the study of cells.
I participated in a three-week externship at the Wildlife Center of Virginia during my fourth year of veterinary school.
It was a surreal moment ... was I really standing on the top of a cherry picker, 30 feet up in the air overlooking beautiful Smith Mountain Lake, with an Osprey in my hands?
A memorable moment for me involved learning to feed the baby birds, and in particular, the baby grackles of which there were MANY in the spring.
Sitting at home in Vancouver, British Columbia (CANADA!), I find myself reminiscing on my experience at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
One night this past January I was reminded of an old Scottish poem I had learned as a child about not being afraid of things that “go bump in the night”.
See who is currently featured on the Center's Critter Cams!