Independence Day at the QWR

Working at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge: December 15th

Today, while working at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge, my mentor was out sick and I had to do the majority of the wildlife feeding on my own. Regularly, my mentor takes care of this, but the staff member who was there needed to take care of other tasks, so I was given the job of feeding the wildlife animals on my own. This included taking the proper measurements of each food item, and tracking it on the food board for each individual animal.

First, I did put aside herbivorous and omnivorous meals. These were for the turkeys, pheasants, and our Fish Crow. The staff member who I was working with had already taken care of those animals. I was tasked with feeding the fox, Barred Owls, Screech Owls, Red-Tailed Hawk, Coopers Hawk, and the Great Horned Owls.

I gave the fox a mixture of venison meat, baby mice, and dry dog food (for vitamins and minerals). Next, I gave him some fruits and veggies until he had about 350 - 500 grams of food in his dish total. After that, I moved on to the defrosted rats that gave to our large carnivorous birds, except for the Screech Owls. I had to dissect each rat and remove the stomach, intestinal tract, and anus in order to avoid unwanted fecal bacteria from entering the animals' bodies. Once this was complete, I had to measure out each rat, and estimate how much to feed each animaI. After I measured it in coordination with each animal's weight, I placed each animal's portion on the food tray.

I had to follow the process outlined above, even when feeding infant mice to the Screech Owls and fox. This meal preparation procedure proved to be especially difficult with smaller specimens. After completing the meal preparation, I tracked all of the measurements for each animal's food on the board. Finally, I covered them in a vitamin complex called vita-hawk that is given on every even day of the month.

These are two examples of what we feed our Fox, Carson. On the left, he has venison with chicken. On the right, he has dry dog food and rodent meat.

There are three main items that help the staff members and volunteers ensure they are giving the animals the correct amount and type of food.

The board on the left is the tracking board. It is used each day to track the amount of food each animal receives, and the type of meat they are served. On the right, notice the two boards posted on the refrigerator. These outline two very important tasks. The yellow board shows which meat each animal can have, and it specifies all of the different foods each can/should receive. The green board informs the staff members and volunteers of the current weight of each animal, and specifies how much food they should receive each day based on their weight.

During my time interning at the Quogue Wildlife Refuge, I had never completed the outdoor wildlife tasks and feeding on my own. However, this day provided me with the opportunity to put my knowledge to the test. Of course, the staff member I was with reviewed what I had prepared before the food was given to the animals, but the entire preparation and feeding process was completed by me.

At first, I was a bit nervous about completing these tasks independently. However, I knew the knowledge and skills I had developed over time with the aid of my mentor would enable me to complete these tasks on my own. Taking on these responsibilities and using what I learned from my mentor to successfully complete these tasks was a very important part of my overall learning experience. Being independent and using past knowledge to aid you in unexpected situations is a key aspect of being a veterinary surgeon . . . and having the opportunity to exercise a little independence in this regard made me feel like I had taken one of many first steps toward my ultimate goal \of becoming a veterinarian.