Exotic Petting Zoo

It has been waaaaaaaaaay too long since I composed an entry here. That said I haven't really had much of significance to post until recently. I've been super busy between work and my classes and the most I could really have put forward in terms of updates would have been brief mentions of my performance in Principles of Chemistry I & Medical Terminology. Speaking of which I am doing well in both classes for the moment though I am trying not to let myself get cocky. Especially with chemistry. This last week and change was spent focusing on thermodynamics [primarily as it applies to chemical reactions] and it left me feeling much more overwhelmed than the previous units have. Due to an annual convention of the union which the staff at MCTC are a part of our mid-term exam that will cover this content has been delayed by a week which means I will be studying the quantum-mechanical model of the atom, a subject that I will not be tested on for the mid-term, while trying to review all of the course content that I has preceded that topic to date and complete a couple of labs. And the mid-term is on the evening of the anniversary of my marriage (though my wife has class at the same time so it could be worse). If any of this reads as though I am the least bit stressed or frustrated about this situation I am and it should. *sigh* At least I'm doing fairly well so far. Let's hope I can sustain that.

On to more pleasant topics. Yesterday, after having lived in the upper-Midwest of the United States for over 29 years I visited a corn maze for the first time ever. It was a pleasant (though tiring experience) to share with friends and family. There were plenty of attractions at Sever's Corn Maze all of which are described on their website (a site I wish I had visited as Google Maps failed to provide me with remotely accurate directions to the maze) but the special treat for me was Vogel's Exotic Animal Petting Zoo. It was incredible and a rare opportunity for me to spend time in close contact with the large animals, particularly small-ruminants, that I so greatly hope to serve as a doctor of veterinary medicine some day. They had a huge goat pen and I truly could have spent all day with those wonderful little guys and gals. Additionally there was a young dromedary camel and some llamas but there were a lot of other very interesting animals too including spider monkeys, lemurs, a dwarf horse, a zebra, ostriches, golden pheasants from China, multiple varieties of antelope, deer and gazelle, some large South American rodents, miniature deer (muntjacs), tortoises an albino wallaby and several other animals I didn't even have an opportunity to interact with (though at a distance I am fairly certain I saw what were either more wallabies or kangaroos and some breed of ox or yak). I'll say it again; I really could have spent all day in there. It was very pleasant for me.

In other long-term career related news my Mother informed me while driving me over to visit her and my Father this morning that the newest member of one of her book clubs is married to a recently retired veterinarian who had worked at the Minnesota Zoo. She offered to let the new club member know about my career interests and attempt to help in arranging for some contact between me and this fellow. Talk about an offer one can't refuse! It would be great just to have a chance to conduct an informational interview, but if I'm being really optimistic here is somebody I might be able to find a mentor in or at least a friendly acquaintance who might be able to help me in arranging volunteer opportunities working with animals and/or be willing to throw together a letter of reference someday, when I finally have the necessary educational and volunteer background to apply for vet schools. If you're reading this please pray or cross your fingers for me as is appropriate to your sensibilities that this may be the start of an exciting new opportunity for me.

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully I'll be writing here again sooner rather than later.

Tell Me Where It Hurts Pt. I

I pushed through what probably should have been my bedtime last night in order to finish Tell Me Where It Hurts by Dr. Nick Trout. This book was really great, a sort of composite memoir based on the professional experiences of Dr. Trout, a veterinary surgeon in the Boston area. I'd like to revisit the topic of the book at some point and review it a little more thoroughly when I have it at hand (at the moment I do not) to reference and perhaps quote excerpts from. That said I will sum up my reaction by saying that this was an excellent book that did a good job of reinforcing my desire to pursue a career in animal medicine. Having had a rough week last week I have backed off my pursuit of volunteer opportunities in veterinary clinics and/or animal rescue operations for the time being. Part of me still wants to hold out for an opportunity, sparse though they are in a community with the suburban sprawl of the Twin Cities metro area, to work with large/food supply animals, but I now feel that there is just as much for me to be gained by working with companion animals at an urban clinic or shelter for the moment.

In other news I joined an old friend who [entirely coincidentally] lives half a block away from me for a trip to the gym last night. I had a pretty good workout and didn't feel too sore afterwards. I also, despite going to bed later than I ought to have last night, felt much more well rested than I have in over a month. Maybe the good workout helped. Maybe the adjustments I've made to the supplements I'm taking are proving beneficial (I've stopped taking vitamin D pills. I'll start again when the time available for me to be out in daylight wanes again as winter approaches). I think a major factor has to do with the changes in weather conditions that began a few days ago. It is a bit cooler, and humidity & barometric pressure levels have dropped significantly. I really think that this has helped my ability to sleep comfortably significantly (yes, even with the air conditioning in my bedroom). I know I have actually had dreams the last evening or two. I don't recall exactly what I dreamed but I know I did dream which suggests a deeper and more restful sleep than I've had in ages. Thank you, God.

Inspiring Birthday Weekend

Yesterday was my birthday, and over the course of the weekend I've had a lot of things come my way to encourage me in my career pursuits. A lot of this came in the form of gifts. Kristin gave me two books: Tell Me Where It Hurts by DVM Nick Trout and the Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook. The former is, as near as I can determine, the only contemporary memoir by a veterinarian describing modern veterinary techniques and interactions. It's very good so far, fascinating and compelling, but I wish there were a similar text written by a food supply vet; Dr. Trout is a veterinary surgeon in Boston and so far all his tails [*rimshot*] have featured dogs. On the other hand that means that maybe there is a need for a latter day James Herriot to author a book that does deal with food supply/large animal work in the present day; a need that could be filled by, oh, I don't know, an aspiring large animal vet who enjoys writing *wink, wink*.

Elsewhere in the gift department my Parents and Sister purchased me some very helpful items. Foremost of these (from a practical standpoint) is my textbook with online package for Principles of Chemistry I this Fall semester. This has saved me some money and shows support for my efforts to fulfill the necessary curricula to begin applying to Vet schools (slogging though my pace may feel right now). They also surprised me with some Schleich toy company animal figurines. I am now the proud owner of an imaginary hobby farm consisting of juvenille food supply animals: a donkey foal, [my personal favorite] a dwarf kid, a lamb, a Scottish highland calf and a Swabian-Hall piglet. I find myself sorely tempted to expand upon this collection in the future, but for now these delightful miniature farm friends offer me inspiration and motivation not to let up in my pursuit of a career in animal medicine.

Speaking of not letting up in my pursuit of a career in animal medicine, I had a conversation with Kristin on my birthday which kind of lit a fire under my backside pointing out that I really need to get some involvement. My overtures last year and this spring to get in some time working with large animals haven't really been fruitful as yet and I've let my pursuit of them fall to the side with the tunnel vision I've had on school for most of the Summer. I need to broaden my horizons I think and accept the fact that the most readily available opportunities for me for volunteer work, shadowing of vets and occupational interviews lie in the seemingly innumerable companion animal clinics in the Twin Cities. I also still need to attempt contact with the U of MN Veterinary program professor I was referred to back in July who shares my proclivity for goats and is alleged to have a goat farm not too far outside the suburban sprawl of the metropolitan area. My goal for this week is to initiate a first attempt at contact with the goat/sheep professor, to attempt to make an arrangement for something (volunteering, an interview, anything) with a local companion animal vet/clinic and to put up a post on Craigslist (this may be totally insane) announcing my interest in opportunities for direct work with animals in what little free time I have. If I have to make time, I HAVE TO MAKE TIME. Oh and I'm going to challenge myself to read Tell Me Where It Hurts in full this week. Goals established, strive to satisfy them Jon; don't get discouraged or distracted!

Toad Time

I really should begin using the labels function on this thing to identify stories involving my interaction with animals and how they've inspired me or reinforced my resolve in wanting to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. I think I will do just that. From now on, if somebody wants to read my blog just to read about my personal experiences with animals look for entries with the label, "Animal Tales".

This is a fairly recent occurrence. Last Friday evening, as my Wife and I were leaving feast at the Baha'i Center of Minneapolis (I don't recall whether or not I've mentioned I am of the Baha'i faith before. Either way I'll need to write some entries on how finding my faith and the role it now plays in my life have influenced the goals I've set for myself.) A very severe thunderstorm that had almost generated tornados had just concluded and there was flash flooding in much of the greater metropolitan area. As we went towards our car under twilight in the now drained parking lot Kristin caught sight in her peripheral vision of a large toad. I suspect I would have spent a long minute or two observing the toad in any case, that's just how I react to catching sight of wild animals, but this little guy was actually in a little bit of danger. Seemingly the storm had driven him (her?) out into the parking lot and the toad was not showing any sign of having a remote idea of how to get back to the habitat it would have come from. My wife and I spent a mostly futile five to ten minutes chasing the toad around in an attempt to deter it from residing, with almost certainly fatal consequences, underneath a friend's car. I used to frequently catch toads and keep them as one or two day pets before releasing them back where they came from when I was young (I believe I was seven at the zenith of my toad wrangling career). I have never, NEVER seen a toad that moved as fast as this little guy did. Eventually we were able to herd him out next to the curb and I was just fast enough to scoop him up. We transported him to a greener area near a small pond and park and let him go. A week later I hope little Mr. Toad is doing alright. With reflexes like that I think his chances are pretty good.

Duck Fishing

This is a true story about me helping a duck.

When I was 17, maybe a month out of high school, I spent the day with a friend I hadn't seen much of since graduation. Among other hanging out and catching up, she and I went for a walk around Lake George in St. Cloud, MN. About three-quarters of the way through our circumnavigation of the lake I noticed some young-ish boys [I would guess they were probably somewhere between 8 and 12 years old] in kind of a panic and then a female duck rampaging among them. It didn't take long to discover that the boys had been doing some catch and release fishing when one of them had hooked poor Mama Duck in the leg. I ended up deciding to take the initiative to physically imobilize the duck, push the fish hook through her leg and sever the fishing line so that she could get away relatively unharmed. I think I may have gotten some scratches on my arm but I really don't remember. It can't have been anything serious.

In hindsight it's easy for me to wonder to my self why I wasn't paying closer attention to what I was doing back then. Why didn't I think, "Wow! I feel really good about assisting this helpless animal out. I enjoy seeing and interacting with animals. Why don't I make a profession out of that?" But that's hindsight. When I was 17 and waiing to turn 18 and start college I was preoccupied with my social life. I was focused on my lack of a girlfriend, and self-destructively certain that I was going to ride my ROTC scholarship into an Army comission and have a very clearly linear millitary career, never mind the possibility of me dying. I really had no idea beyond that what I wanted to do. I was short-sighted, lonely, unconsciously depressed and self-destructive. But in hindsight the lesson of that experience is clear to me. Now I feel more motivated and ambitious than I ever have in my life with respect to my career. I want to be a vet, and I hope that, that is where the path of my life leads me.

Baby Bird

Last night I was leaving the YWCA. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something along the cracks of the sidewalk that caught my attention. I felt compelled to stop for some reason, focus in and take a good look. Three baby birds. Young enough that there were no feathers; they must have been knocked out of their nest by some outside force. One was barely identifiable anymore. It appeared it had been smaller than the others to begin with and may have been gone longer. The largest of the three had clearly impacted its head on the pavement when it fell or been victim to a less attentive pedestrian. I was crouching there, paying my respects when I detect movement from the one that lay in between the two that were clearly dead.

My thoughts raced. What could I do to save this helpless thing? I very quickly realized I could very likely do nothing. It was getting cold and the cool damp air indicated that rain would be coming soon. the elements would finish it off, and out of the nest, if it's mother was alive I seemed to remember reading or hearing somewhere that young birds that had left the nest would not be recognized by the mother as her own and would be ignored or thrown back out. I know this is definitely the case if another animal [like a human] has handled the bird. Not that I could find the nest when I scanned for it anyhow. It wouldn't be anywhere I could access.

Really what could I do? It was a tiny frail bird. It isn't as though I could take it home and try and nurse it back to health. Even if I felt confident I knew how to do so it would be a major investment of time, that was unavailable to me and I was fairly certain I lacked the proper equipment to keep the bird warm, safe and fed. To say nothing of the impossibility of protecting it from my cats were they to notice and take an interest in it. I also considered the factor that it could be a carrier of bacteria of some kind and that interacting with it [without protective wear] too closely could put myself or somebody else at risk. Then of course the fact that it was a wild non-domesticated animal.

I still felt compelled to do something though. I improvised a set of tongs and a litter out of some of the landscaping wood chips outside of the Y. I used them to lift it up and positioned the bird in a flower pot with no plant life yet in it, used my makeshift wood tools to build up some dirt around it to provide additional heat and protection from wind and then spread more landscaping wood around for further insulation and protection against rain. I probably did nothing beyond divert my life for five or ten minutes. But there is a chance. There's a chance it had enough cover and insulation in that flower pot to protect it from the elements and from predators. There's a chance that there was sufficient plant and animal matter (small insects) hiding in and around that makeshift shelter that the bird could keep it's strength up and keep going a little while longer. There's a chance that it could survive at least long enough to grow feathers, to open its eyes and too fly. It is very likely impossible, but there is a chance. I did all I could think to.

I walked away from there on my way to a couple of errands I needed to do on the way home, and by the time I had washed my hands I forgot all about it for the evening. I remembered today when I was trying to think of what to write about today though. I care about animals. I care about the weak and the vulnerable.

I am certain that I want to be a veterinarian.