Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society  

This summer has truly been one that I will never forget. I think back to when I first came to M.A.R.S. and can not believe all that I have accomplished during my eight-week internship. I feel that applying here was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Even though the days could be long and intense, nursing a bird back to health was truly rewarding and helped outweigh any hard days.

Things were a little intense at the beginning due to the fact that I was not sure what needed to be done, when it needed to be done, and who would be doing it. I quickly figured out the routine, thanks to Maj, Julianne, and the volunteers. I found that I learned about a task best when I was actually able to do it, rather than just read about it in a book. I had many chances to do things on my own since we worked from 8 a.m. until typically 8 p.m. We would begin each day with morning feedings and medications. Keeping an extremely detailed and updated daily record of each patient’s progress was key to knowing what needed to be done. I found this to be very easy to read and follow as well as helpful to everyone involved. The amount of reference materials available was also wonderful. I quickly learned that looking in more than one book for an answer was a must.

I enjoyed all of the animals that I got to work with over the summer. Whether it was a seal pup, bald eagle, pileated woodpecker (and their long tongues!), fawn, etc., they all had their own unique personality and characteristics. The seal pups were a joy to work with and usually provided a good laugh when they started ‘talking’. One female sub-adult bald eagle we treated will always stick in my mind. She was absolutely gorgeous and had the most snarky attitude! Actually, all of the bald eagles were special in their own ways. I also enjoyed the wood ducks, the Peregrine falcon, the raccoons, our hummingbird named ‘Miracle’; the list could go on and on. Throughout the successes and happy times, there were some patients I will never forget due to the sadness of their situation. Towards the end of my internship we received a turkey vulture that was in horrible shape. It was missing skin and muscle on its back, and even had some exposed bone. It is at those times that one realizes it’s best to put them out of their suffering. Some days it seemed as though we were euthanising more patients than we were rehabilitating. It was nice to have other people around to talk to and who would put things in to prospective for you, though. Instead of dwelling on the fact that one patient died, it is important to think of the other ten that were successfully rehabilitated.

Working with a variety of animals this summer helped me realize that there are so many more animals in need of help other than dogs and cats. I am entering my fourth year of pre-veterinary medicine and am truly grateful for this exposure to other species. Unfortunately, wildlife is not emphasized in the curriculum. Too many of our patients were brought to us due to human interference, but with a little educating, more wildlife could be rightly left alone. It was very frustrating when we would receive healthy animals just because people thought they were ‘doing the right thing’. On the other hand, each patient that came in gave us the opportunity to speak with and educate the public on how to handle wildlife situations. I was very impressed with the amount of education materials available to the public and how open people are to receiving the information. Along the same lines, it would be nice to have an informational booklet available to those who are going to be interns at M.A.R.S. Maybe mailing some information about how things generally operate a few weeks in advance would be helpful.

One of the greatest accomplishments I had over the summer was helping to raise money for fawns. Our Fawn Fund raised over $1,000 for orphaned or injured fawns. Two other interns and I wrote a newspaper article educating the public about fawns and asking for donations; needless to say the response was overwhelming! It was a wonderful project to work on throughout the summer and was truly rewarding. Unfortunately, many bird articles do not get the same response even though the birds are in need of money for their care. The fawns were wonderful to work with; the best part of dealing with fawns was knowing that soon they would be cautious of humans and would not want to come to us. It is then that we realized our job of rehabbing was done correctly.

Another extremely enjoyable experience from this summer was being able to shadow at local veterinary clinics. I was fortunate enough to be able to learn from the staff at Shamrock Vet, Sunrise Vet, and Van Isle Vet. All three clinics provided unique learning opportunities and hands-on experience for me. Shamrock was the first clinic I went to; I was able to observe a knee surgery as well as develop x-rays. Everyone was so kind and took the time to explain each procedure. Sunrise Vet had such a friendly atmosphere about it. Caroline, a technician, truly took the time to make sure I understood what was going on, as well as let me help out in every way possible. Van Isle Vet was the most fast-paced of all three clinics and was great. They made sure to involve me with every surgery they were doing; I also got to go to the SPCA with them and observe four neuters and three spays. The techs and doctors were a lot of fun to work with and were very helpful. All three clinics made lasting impressions on me and I enjoyed each of them thoroughly.

As wonderful as this experience sounds, it is definitely a challenging summer. It is not an eight-week vacation away from home. The work can be repetitious, hard, demanding, and sometimes goes without praise. No matter how much time you dedicate to an animal, the reality of the fact is that not all animals will survive or be eligible for release. It is very important to take initiative on your own—if you need to have people tell you what to do constantly, this is not the internship for you. Being able to communicate with others and take constructive criticism is a must—it is how you learn what will improve your work for the animals in the future. Living at the facility gave me a different prospective on things. Sometimes it is hard to be living and working at the same place—by being here, you are constantly ‘on-call’ (this includes the occasional late-night, early morning feedings). This also means that by living here, you are able to truly get the idea of what being a wildlife rehabilitator is all about. I also feel that we could have possibly been fine with not having as many interns at once—I think having a maximum of three at one time would suffice. It seemed as though having more interns around lessened the amount of work and one-on-one attention you could give to each patient.

Overall, this experience was truly memorable. I appreciate everything that all of the volunteers, interns, and Maj & Keith did for me to make me feel at home. For possible future interns: if you come in to this internship with an open-mind, a strong drive for working, and a love for animals, this could easily be one of the best summers you will ever have. It definitely has been my best summer so far!

Thanks again, Maj and Keith—you two are truly incredible. I will never forget either of you!

Laura Ken Stewart

Murray State University