Busy busy busy

*Fore note before I start. I would like to thank Jeanne and Mary-beth for some of the pictures I have been using in prior and future blogs.*

This week was a busy week with me working Wednesday thru Sunday. Wednesday was a laid back day. I came in and helped feed the birds like usual and handled Chico for a little bit. I was able to jess him up and unjess him with no problem at all. Brenda had Dakota out too, just a bit of bird handling to pass the time. Then we took Chappy out to Bolton for a health check at the vet. We needed to get this check done in order to complete the paper work that will accompany his transfer from CT to ME with Hope from Wind over Wings. We got to go in thru the back door and see everything that was going on. All of the surgery prep work, and of the animals in holding. Oh my it was busy...Me, Jeanne, and Brenda kind of tucked ourselves into a corner near the X-ray room and people were going back and forth, carrying dogs, going in and out of rooms. Everyone was very interested in what we had in the box. After about 45 minutes or so we finally got to see the vet and get the check done. Chappy was pretty good for being in his box the whole time except for when he went and nipped Jeanne on the arm. But hey, it was a stressful situation and he hasn't been inside too too much.

Thursday ended up being cleaning day since we wouldn't be there on friday. Everything pretty much went as usual...except for Julian. He proved to me how smart Corvids are that day. Usually when we clean aviaries we let him out to run around the property. Lately he has been peeking around the Eagles aviary, looking under the walk in. Well today he decided that he had enough information and jumped climbed up the short side of the Eagle aviary. It took a bit of bribing, but he finally came down. He didn't exactly want to go back in his aviary either, he wanted to play with us the whole time. Silly Corvid...Our last task was to clean out the rehab cage and weight the owlletts. It's amazing how big those guys get in such a short time.

Friday we drove down to Clinton to help Hope sort out her house for the tag sale she's having before she moves. It was fun because while we were there Hope told us stories about Blanca (sp?) and all the experiences he's had with different groups. I can't wait to see him this week! The last thing we did that day was Hope gave Jeanne a chance to hold Skywalker, her Golden eagle. I was so happy for Jeanne, and I don't think the smile on her face could have gotten any bigger.

Saturday was the big day, the first of the farewell tours. It went amazingly well even though not that many people showed up. It didn't help that Stratford had some sort of festival going on so it was super packed. I got to meet all of Hopes volunteers and see how they did things. The program went so smoothly and was a nice way to end years of service to the state of CT. Me and Brenda ran the booth at the end where we were passing out information. We had a few people stop by.

Though out of everything this week I was reminded that you always need to stay on your toe when it comes to animal care. If we didn't notice Julian was MIA who knows what the Eagle would have done to him or how stressed he would have become. Its all about assessing the situation and acting in a swift but calm manner.

-Heather