wrenfreelancer's Xanga

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:58:45 GMT

The abandoned ducklings raised in a teacup

A pair of tiny abandoned ducklings found battling against waves after being washed out to sea are being nursed back to health - in a teacup. The fluffy birds were saved from a watery grave when they were found by passing canoeist Chris Murray.

He plucked the pair out of the sea and brought them back to land in his canoe. He then took them to Pennywell Farm, in Buckfastleigh, Devon, where they are recovering from their terrifying ordeal. Now the tiny creatures are happily paddling around in a small white cup. The ducklings, which are only a few centimetres tall only take up half of the cup's space. The birds were washed into the sea via the Erme estuary.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=471537&in_page_id=1770

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 02:05:42 GMT

This morning while letting out one of the small dogs boarding at the clinic, one of the employees found a baby bird lying on the ground. And when I say baby, this is baby baby. It didn't have any feathers at all yet, most likely born very early that morning and fell right out of it's nest. The employee that found it, Kendra, decided to feed it some a/d soft dog/cat food, which the bird took surprisingly well. Now there is a bet to see how long she can get the bird to live. Mainly, we want to prove the vet wrong. I hope things go well for it tonight.

We had an adorable shelti come in this afternoon for xrays. Well, he was adorable until you got down on all fours and checked out his teeth. He had one of the worst overbites I have ever seen on a dog. Cute looking down at him, but ugly face to face. Eh, I guess not much really happened this afternoon.

And if you haven't seen the new commercial for the new canon camera with the tennis player, hilarious, I love the dog:

Monday, June 11, 2007

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:14:03 GMT

The past few weeks have been busy, not much on xanga til now. I recently took a trip to the zoo with my aunt, uncle, and cousins to see the new penguins. Since our visit, two of them have died, some kind of disease within the pen. It's a shame, since they were in isolation for an entire month before their release to the public. But it was a lot of fun to see them swimming around, doing "penguin-like" things. On the way out, we had a treat from a peacock. He decided to show off for us a bit and I snapped a few pictures with my phone:

Clinic life continues to go well as always. We had a 9mo old mastiff come in with a shoulder problem last week. We had to take a few x-rays, and imagine taking pictures with a 140lb monster puppy. It was a bit nuts, but after 20 minutes of slobbering and panting, we made it. The owners waited out in the lobby with their kids, and the kids (having had a giant friendly dog at home) were apparently not afraid of a single dog alive. They boldly went up to each and every dog that passed through the lobby to pet it. Including the owner-protective german shepherds, the grumpy old-lady poodles, and the highly-infectious-sickly puppies. A bit worrisome, but I think the parents managed to return home with un-bitten, uninfected kids.

We have one doctor at the clinic that really enjoys seeing small pocket pets, such as rabbits, hedgehogs, and guinea pigs. On Friday she examined a guinea pig, and after stepping out of the exam room she was joking about how a small section of her lip was a bit swollen, maybe an allergic reaction to the piggie. We teased her about Julia Roberts lips, but thought nothing of it. Ten minutes later, the doctor was sitting back in the office, eyes swollen, dripping tears, face red, and coughing. She also said her throat and the insides of her ears were itchy. She looked as uncomfortable as all get-out, evidentially due to a very severe allergic reaction to the guinea pig. I felt terrible for her, and she went home for the afternoon to sleep it off. Luckily her airway didn't close up; she's doing fine now, only with a small bruise below one of her eyes from the extreme swelling. She hasn't had reactions like that in the past to small animals, but she said she's been developing an allergy to them in the past month. Those days of examining rabbits are over now though. Now I only worry about developing an allergy to dogs; as a wanna-be vet, that would be catastrophic.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 03:14:09 GMT

Wow, I thought the picture I took of the little turtle was cute, but I found an even cuter one at Cuteoverload.com :

Also, gotta love the cone on the kitty. We have a funny picture posted at the clinic with a Chihuahua wearing a blue see-through cone, and the caption reads, "Anyone feel like a Martini?" I might try to google it and find the photo...

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thu, 24 May 2007 01:55:00 GMT

Again, another week at the clinic, but it was a blast. It's only Wednesday, but I think I had my "best moment of the week" this afternoon. An older woman came in just after lunch to purchase some pills for her pet, and our receptionist conversationally asked how she was doing. The woman got very excited, ripped off her curly-brown hairpiece revealing a very small amount of hair on her head, exclaiming, "I'm in remission!!" I have never seen someone get so incredibly excited in such a short span of time. Turns out the woman had been battling breast cancer, but had finally won. We were all cheered to hear her story this afternoon.

I had a nice little surprise this evening once I got home from work. For extra money, I take care of the neighborhood pool in our development. Although the pool isn't open til next week, I still have to empty the skimmers each night. This evening I stumbled upon a little critter, a turtle, looking up at me from the skimmer. I assume he had been there treading water for quite awhile. Also, the chorlinated water couldn't have been good for his skin. He was so incredibly tiny, I assume he hatched out today, yesterday, or the day before at least. After taking a dozen pictures of his adorable little shell, I put him back in the lake area that is nearby our housing development. We see plenty of dogs and cats at the clinic, but never turtles, so it was a real treat.

This weekend I'm heading with my family to Winfield, KS. Each September there is a large bluegrass festival held there, where many groups of people congregate to camp together. One camp in particular, Carp Camp, plays Irish songs with traditional instruments. Well, Carp Camp is organizing a small gathering of their own at the fairgrounds in Winfield. There won't be a bluegrass festival, but it will be a great chance to relax and enjoy some home-grown music.

Monday morning I re-took my GRE, since it is the only thing (according to the Dean, and also my own opinion) keeping me from being accepted into Vet school. Unfortunately, I did not improve, but it was good practice for me, and I have plans to retake the test again in one month. I have many study books that people have graciously given me, 7 or 8 total, but the pile of books is so intimidating that I don't really know where to start. But I will be continuing to study for this dang exam. I've never done well on standarized tests, so I especially dislike this one.

Hope everyone's week is going well. We're over halfway there!!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Wed, 16 May 2007 17:10:45 GMT

Ok, I realize I took a very long hiatus there when school got crazy. What can I say, life is more fun to life than to just sit at the computer. Anyways, I'm back in the good 'ol ta town working at the vet clinic again. It's only been two days, but oh the craziness.

A boxer/pitt came in Monday afternoon after being at the emergency clinic all day Sunday. He hadn't been feeling well, and his owner told us the dog had eaten a small piece of tinfoil. Evidentially he had been grilling, and the dog at a hunk of tinfoil covered in steak juice. Anyways, we did X-rays and found a very large ball of tinfoil lodged in his intestines... not exactly a small piece. Thankfully the dog is doing well after he had surgery Mon to remove the tinfoil.

Even though I don't have a ton of friends in Wichita, I still seem to be able to find fun things to do. I went to see the Little River Band play at the River Festival on Sunday night. And I have never seen so many tattooed crazy people in my life. Take me back to the rural areas!! Monday night I went to Old Chicago with my family to listen to them play with 20 other people in an irish music group. Long story. And last night was beer and ice cream with two seminarian friends. All in all a good week thus far. However, I haven't began studying for the GRE that I plan on take on Monday. Darn that GRE.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:23:50 GMT

The deadly enemies who are the best of friends

by PAUL HARRIS

In the wild they would be deadly enemies. In captivity they are the best of friends.

Two Sumatran tiger cubs and two baby orang-utans, each pair abandoned by their mother soon after birth, have become inseparable playmates in the nursery room of an animal hospital in Indonesia.

Nia and Irma happily snuggle up to the cubs in a way that five-month-old orang-utan sisters would never normally contemplate.

Scroll down for more

Inseparable: Irma the abandoned orang-utan puts a comforting hand around Dema the month-old tiger cub, before they both drift off to sleep

Likewise, Dema and his month-old sister Manis are quite content to snooze in the gentle embrace of their tiny guardians' arms.

Both pairs are bottle-fed by staff at the Taman Safari animal hospital in Java, and monitored constantly as they grow up side by side in what must be one of nature's most unusual foursomes.

The best of friends

So far the study has revealed that the apes like to swing from ropes and high bars in the nursery, while the cubs enjoy a cat-nap after lunch.

Sumatran tigers, which grow to 8ft long and can weigh up to 300lb, are an endangered species with only several hundred estimated to be left in the world. In their natural habitat of island forest and mountains, they might normally regard a baby orang-utan as a snack.

Meanwhile the great apes - also critically endangered - would more likely be looking down from the safety of their nests in the tallest trees of the rainforest.

They know something that the four unlikely friends have yet to learn - that away from the comfort of the animal hospital, and the warmth of their bizarre companionship, it's a jungle out there

Monday, February 26, 2007

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:38:08 GMT

Absolutly adorable article of the week:
'New balls, please' for mice homes

Tennis balls will provide new nests for harvest mice
Animal conservationists are getting help from Wimbledon to stop it becoming "game, set and match" for Britain's
smallest mammal.

Some of the 36,000 tennis balls used at the world-famous tournament are to be recycled as homes for harvest mice.

It is hoped they will help protect the endangered species from their many predators.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club is donating the balls to help the scheme being run by The Wildlife Trust in Avon,
Glamorgan and Northumberland.

Threatened habitats

Harvest mice weigh only six grams when adult - around the same as a 20p piece. The mice normally weave their
homes out of shredded grass and reeds part way up tall stalks.

But their habitat has come under increasing threat from intensive farming methods.

The tennis balls will now be used to encourage breeding in existing mouse strongholds. A small hole will be bored into
the top of the used balls.

The balls are attached to poles between 75 centimetres and 1.5 metres off the ground. The mice can then make their
nests in relative safety from birds of prey and weasels, which are too big to get through the hole.

Survival needs

The population numbers for the mice, which live mainly in the south of England and Welsh coastal belt, are unknown,
and it is hoped the scheme will also provide this information.

The nesting sites will be well away from areas where they might be disturbed by humans, although volunteers will
check the tennis balls regularly for evidence of habitation.

Dr Simon Lyster, Director General of the Wildlife Trusts, said: "The harvest mouse is an excellent indicator of the
health of our fields and hedgerows.

"In recent years it has been under increasing pressure and we hope that by specific harvest mouse projects such as
artificial nests we will provide them with the help they need to survive."

- article found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1406612.stm

Friday, February 09, 2007

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:05:59 GMT

Unbelievable, this you gotta see to believe:

LED Throwies http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=6

Train Bombing in Europe http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=46#video

Interactive Architecture http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=32#video

NYC's True Graffiti Problem http://antiadvertisingagency.com/projects/light-criticism/

And just a generally entertaining website of art: http://xmarkjenkinsx.com/outside.html

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 15:43:05 GMT

I've recently discovered the fun of Yosakoi dancing! This is the dance the group is currently working on, very hard: