Week 8:
Nearing The End

July 14, 2021

This week I got the opportunity to handle raptors I initially felt uncomfortable handling due to not handling them too much. I trained Lyndi how to handle all of our raptors, so she felt more comfortable around them. This allowed me to handle the owls more. I have been afraid to handle the owls due to knowing how strong they are, along with their sporadic behavior. When we handle the owls, we always need to watch their behavior. They are capable of footing, lunging, and biting. These behaviors can be painful if the animal is intentionally trying to hurt someone, which is usually not the case. Even though we wear a glove while catching the raptors, each raptor can easily puncture the 3-layered leather glove. After training other people how to handle the owls, I have become more confident when handling them. I successfully trained my coworker to handle all of our raptors other than our Turkey Vulture, Aura. Aura has to want to step up on the glove when one goes into her mew to catch her. When I was training Lyndi, Aura puked instantly, which is a sign of stress, so we let her be, and hopefully, we will get another chance to handle her.  Overall, Lyndi did a great job handling the raptors she had not handled before.

We had three onsite programs this week. We had one program with the wildlife camp, one with Scout Academy kids, and one at the Solon Public Library. For the wildlife camp kids, their leaders taught them about all of the raptors other than those we brought out to the present. Then we had a program with the Scout Academy kids. We gave the kids a tour of the entire center for this program, and we brought out raptors along the way. We presented Wannago, Zorro, Omaha, and Tigerhawk to this group of kids. They loved the raptors, and they had many questions, which was great. Our final program was at the Solon Public Library, where we presented four raptors to parents and young children. We brought Zorro, Tigerhawk, Saguaro, and Fennamare to this program. This was the first event that Ryan’s wife, Hollie, attended. She is our other boss.

This week’s final event was the Bio Blitz at the University of Iowa Ashton Cross-Country Course. We brought Tigerhawk, a Peregrine Falcon, and Serelle, an American Kestrel, to this event to show people. This event was based on the creation of the prairie. People came to gather bugs in the prairie, identify them with the help of experts, and take pictures of flowers and plants to identify through an app. We talked to many people about the raptors we had with us, and we answered many questions. We brought food for Tigerhawk, who we fed in front of people, and it was fun to see their reactions. Some people found the feeding process interesting, while others found it gross. We also walked around the prairie with Serelle, who is native to that specific type of land. She enjoyed it. We let many people hold the raptors and the kids pet Tigerhawk while he was hooded. Before we left, we got free T-shirts, and overall it was a good experience.

I had an exciting week. I learned more about the raptors themselves and their behaviors. I can’t believe how far I have come in handling the raptors compared to my first week. These past two months have been amazing, and I could not have asked for a better internship experience before my senior year. Now I have a better idea of what I might want to pursue as a future career. I will continue to explore my options, but working with animals is my passion.