Pox

This morning, I got bit by our education raven on the lip. I grabbed him to put him on the table but he is smart and quick. He managed to give me a nice cut that bled for most of the day and my lip is now a little bit swollen and bruised. It hurts.

The bad news is that both our crow and raven have avian pox. This is a virus birds get from a biting insect that causes lesions on the non-feathered parts of a birds body. Usually, corvids get over the virus without too much issue in a fairly short period of time. We can't do too much to speed along healing since it a virus, we just have to make sure the sores do not get infected. We have put in additional protocols to limit the possibility that we spread it to our other birds since it is contagious.

Fingers crossed they heal quickly!

Mob the crow

 P.S. - Don't worry, I can't come down with avian pox. I did however fill out an injury report form just in case my lip gets infected or I get sick because of the bite.

Back to Work

After a lovely week off, Vancouver, snow storm and a migraine it was back to work for me on Monday.

Its always hard to get your mind back in the game after a break but my week has kept me fairly busy. On Wednesday, I took the new group of interns down to The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. The kestrels needed a coping and then we met with a trainer to get tips. I always get excited to go down there because I learn something new every time. This time was a great review of animal training basics and trouble shooting the problem I am having with one of my birds.

Potters Snowman

I also built snowmen for the corvids (you have to love your job when you can go play in the snow for an afternoon!) I thought that it would be a fantastic enrichment idea but neither bird seemed interested in the creature that appeared. SAD!

Ice on Grindstone Lake

The other thing everyone was talking about this week was Grindstone Lake freezing over. The ice formed in a pretty cool way and I went out and took a bunch of pictures. I loved the way the ice crystals formed, it makes it appear there is snow out there even though there isn't!

Close up of the ice #1

Ice Close Up #2

Trick-Or-Treat Corvids

I have been feeling a little swamped at work lately and am starting to feel like a workaholic.

The most entertaining part of my week, was doing barn today. There is something that I really find relaxing about working in the barn alone with the animals. Since I had a little extra time in day, I decided to try out some new enrichment with the crow and raven. These birds are part of what many consider to be the smartest family of birds, the corvidae family. Because of this, we give them daily toys to keep them entertained.

Mob the crow - he like shiny things...like my camera. I call this one "whatcha doin'?"

For the past month or so, I have been wondering what would happen if I hollowed out a pumpkin and stuffed all their food into it.  As you can see, I even carved a jack-o-lantern for our crow.

My AWESOME pumpkins!

Potter, the raven, used his typical technique to get his food. DESTROY! Anytime we stuff his food into a container, it comes back with large holes thanks to his strong beak. This time was no different and he made short work of his pumpkin.

Potter investigating the pumpkin

Mob, the crow, was a little more interested the round orange object. He walked around it a few times before deciding to hop tentatively towards the pumpkin. He grabbed the stem and the top came out. He quickly put that on the ground and walked over to investigate further. Once he got all his food out, he went back to the pumpkin and pulled out the few remaining seeds to eat as well.

Mob checking out the pumpkin

"What other treats are in here?"

Not only was it entertaining for me to watch Mob and Potter get their food from the pumpkins, I think they enjoyed it too. When I went back to check on them a couple hours later, Mob had pumpkin stuck to the side of his face :)