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Published: March 2nd 2008
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The Late Pedro
Under the influence of Valium..I was holding him until the doctor got the x-ray machine ready. Do try to contain your disbelief and excitement. Can this be? TWO entries in a single day?? A monsoon has been flooding the city all day, so I figured I would catch up on my writing.
Last weekend we lucked out with our trip. It rains 4 or 5 days a week, and our trip was nothing but sunny. Friday was really nice, so I went to Palm Cove with Kate. We had to swim in the designated area as usual, but the water was warm and the sun was out, so who can complain? The beach and town weren't as nice as Port Douglas, but it was voted the cleanest beach in Australia so that must mean something. I've been trying to work on my tan slowly since the UV rays have been at the extreme level lately. SPF 30 it is! Saturday Annie was off from work and wanted to go to the beach too, so Christina, Annie, Damien, and I all went to Palm Cove. It was cloudy and you could see a storm brewing near the mountains, but we figured we would enjoy it while we could. Welll...despite the clouds (or more likely because of them)
Staffy
I thought this dog was the cutest thing ever. Staffys are so short and stumpy here! Annie and I got burnt. Only my face feels burnt, but I think my stomach might peel. Gross! Poor Annie got burnt really badly. Her burns are all blotchy and in strange shapes, so we don't know what happened. I hate being sunburnt because I feel like it labels me as a stupid tourist who didn't know any better. My red face is a mark of shame. We both applied sunscreen twice I swear!
Work was even more interesting than usual this week. A koala (Pedro) came in from a wildlife park after he apparently stopped using his arms. I have never seen a koala before, and my first impression was not favorable. All I could think was "This is supposed to be cute??" When I voiced this opinion I think the people at the clinic were a little offended haha. Koalas have very large noses and teeth, and very small eyes. Pedro was older, about 9 years old, and was balding around the ear area. Maybe the younger ones are cuter? In the examination room Pedro was making horrible noises as they tried to examine him...he was screaming with deep grunts in-between that didn't seem like they could
Shifty eyes
I loove yooou come from an animal that small. Finally they had to give him some drugs to calm him down before he got too stressed out. Hence the picture. I felt bad taking advantage of him in his drugged state, but I really wanted a picture!
Sadly, Pedro died during the night. He had previously been diagnosed with lymphoma, but the doctors weren't sure why he had such bad pain in his arms. Annabelle did a necropsy on Pedro to see what was going on inside which was really interesting! She pointed out each organ and any abnormalities. This may sound gruesome to some, but she told me and Christina we could practice our suturing to sew Pedro up since he was going to be picked up by the people from the wildlife park. It took a while to get the hang of it, but I got pretty good at it! I obviously wouldn't trust myself to touch anything alive, but it was good practice. Good thing the people at the clinic are so nice and patient...it took me and Christina at least 30 minutes to finish, and it wasn't a pleasant smell.
Speaking of smells, Pedro wasn't the worst
Adopt Me!
I would have if I could. I smelled last week. Snake poop beats all in the nastiest odor competition. Ugh! And it just lingers on everything, the floor, clothes, skin. Seriously disgusting stuff. The snake had really bad mites and proceeded to poop everywhere when it was taken out of its cage. Mites sound like they should be strong, but it actually looked like the snake was covered in ticks. I didn't know snakes were targets for parasites! Then again, I know next to nothing about snakes.
I took pictures of a Staffy that came into work since I thought she was the cutest thing ever. At first I had no idea what she was, until her supercool owner told me that she was a Staffy. Call me crazy, but they do have longer legs in the states, right? They are unbelievably stocky here...there was a male that came in who was even stockier than Coco. His name was Beefy and he was also the cutest thing ever. YAPS (Young Animal Protection Society) brings all of their puppies into the clinic, and it is a good thing I don't live in Australia, because I would have adopted 3 of them by now. Most are cattle
Kingfisher
A tiny Kingfisher that came in..it was so colorful, even though you can't tell in this picture. dog mixes, but there also seems to be a lot of brindle mixes. On Thursday there was the cutest little terrier mix who curled up in my lap for belly rubs that made me start beggingthe people at work to adopt.
Anabelle told us that she usually sends the interns to spend a couple of days at the wildlife parks she overlooks, so I'm really excited for that. And it gets even better! Christina and I will be at different sites which will be a relief. I remember her mentioning the crocodile park, but I forgot the other one while overcome with joy.
I'm trying to find a website to post my pictures on...I have so many that I don't post here. I would also like them to be larger since they are kinda small when I post them here. They do enlarge when you click on them, but it just isn't enough! Maybe that will be my goal for tomorrow...
Hugs and kisses for everyone at home! And I have postcards to send, but haven't been able to buy stamps for the past 2 weeks, so there will soon be a mass mailing.
Lindsay
Sand-impacted joey
This joey had a stomach full of sand...you could feel it!
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Brother
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oh yay
We got six inches of snow here on Friday. Another inch on Saturday. It is 24 degrees outside. I have 26 days left to go. Notice I didn't have anything AWESOME to say. Yeah.