Paige Pimental

Audubon Zoo Hospital Internship

Week 1- 6/15-6/20
I took my first plane ride to get down here to New Orleans; one of
many firsts I foresee! Surprisingly, I really liked it! Besides the fact that its
just weird that a huge metal object can stay in the air and so high up, it was
an eye opening experience for sure. My supervisor Julie picked me and my
brother up from the airport and showed me around town a bit, and where to
get into the zoo, the most important part. I had the weekend to spend with
my brother exploring the city before I started on Monday.
Monday morning started with me thrown right into the thick of hospital
rounds, just the way I like it. I shadowed Julie as we took care of the in house
patients, nothing too serious luckily; a guinea pig with chronic dry eye, a
tegu who wouldnt poop after abdominal surgery and partial tail amputation,
and many baby birds to feed. That was all before lunch, after, I had a
question scavenger hunt to do around the zoo to get me familiar with the
layout, and I had some time to walk around with my brother who was at the
zoo. After my scavenger hunt, Julie and I went over radio procedures and the
levels of escaped animal codes. We went to feed the baby birds but had to
stop everything to help a turtle from the swamp exhibit that had climbed
over the wall separating them from the otters. They proceeded to play with it
and chew off her left front foot completely and chew up the right front pretty
badly. Another intern and I held her down; she was almost five pounds, while
the doctor packed it with silver nitrate cream and gauze. The tape job to
keep the gauze in place was not pretty but tape doesnt stick easily to an
algae covered turtle. My days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, and on one of
those days it was decided that her other foot was too badly injured and
without two front feet she would be better off euthanized.
Thursday morning consisted of the same routine, except over my
weekend the hospital had received 18 mallard ducklings! A small batch of 7
and a little older bunch of 11, all orphaned somehow and good samaritans
brought them in. Never did I know how gross ducks are. They are the
smelliest things for being so cute. With Audubon Park right across the street
we decided to see if there were any mama ducks with babies already that we
could graft these ducklings to, since it has worked for the hospital in the
past. Our fieldtrip into the park only created new problems though, we found
a mother duck with two babies but one was limping. The vet student with us
that day could feel a break in its tiny leg but it seemed healthy otherwise
and we didnt have the other ducklings the drop off if we took this one, so we
gave it back to the angry mama. After the duckling fiasco it was getting late
and we headed to quarantine to work with the zoos newest members; two
Wolf Guenons from the Bronx Zoo, Pierre and Belle. I had never seen a more
beautiful monkey in my life; they have such amazing colorations, the cutest
yellow ear tufts and a tail that looks double the length of their body! The only
down side is having to suit up in full scrub gear before entering or cleaning

their area, it makes the already staggering heat almost unbearable. I say
almost because it is so worth it when after a week they are already figuring
out which station to stay at and Pierres food aggression towards Belle is
pretty much non-existent. The fruit in their diet is hand fed and I get to work
with Belle, she is much more timid and less grabby than Pierre. As a bridge
we use good girl and good boy and step back if they break position
(usually is only Pierre). The first enrichment I made for them was sensory
enrichment consisting of newspaper strips stuffed into PVC pieces and then
sprinkled with scent. The winning scent seems to be a body spray that I just
call old lady smell.
Friday I got to put my vet tech skills back to use again. A female Brown
Pelican had her left wing partially amputated a few weeks earlier but due to
it not healing very well new x-rays were needed to see how high up the
infection had travelled and where the next amputation would be. Luckily the
x-ray processor is the same as the one I am familiar working with and it was
super easy to develop, even easier actually because of the way they store
the exposed and unexposed films in a two way cabinet in the wall. Turns out
the infection hasnt moved that far up the humerus so only a portion of it will
need to be taken off. Back in the park with the baby ducklings and Katie (the
part-time hospital keeper) and I are trying to woo the mama duck with food
so we can catch her baby and release ours. No luck catching the hopping
baby but we released our babies only for them to be rejected, not just by the
mama by also bullied by every other duck they tried to follow. Two were
smart enough to make it back to shore and we were able to catch them, but
the remaining five just didnt want to come out of the water. We tried
everything for over an hour, Katie even took off her shoes and was going to
get into the nasty pond water if she needed to but they were just a tad too
far away every time. I look for them every morning and evening when I walk
to and from work, but I havent seen them since, or the mama duck.
Saturday was World Giraffe Day! I didnt get to feed the giraffes, but
YAY CONSERVATION! The zoo made quite a bit of money from the feeding
fund raiser. It was a slower day since not many procedures were planned,
but that doesnt stop people from bringing in wildlife. Its usually a Night
Heron, 9 times out a 10. They have to be the weirdest, ugly- yet cute and
charming baby birds Ive met. The ferocity that some of them have is
remarkable and others look elegant with their wispy head feathers looking
like they got electrocuted. Right now we are literally swimming in Night
Herons. After releasing four Blue Jays the day I started, we now only have
one that was too young to really know how to beg. Turns out kissy cat noises
are perfect to make a baby bird beg, my lips hurt after five minutes of
continuously making the noise but I am now a proud Blue Jay mom since Im
the only one to be able to get it to eat. Wolf Guenon enrichment was my job
Saturday. In the enrichment bin I found colorful plastic Easter eggs and knew
I had to do something with them. They like ripping paper and playing in, so I
stuffed the eggs with shredded newspaper and sprinkled spices inside. Pierre
got to all of them first, the first one he didnt even smell, he just saw that it

had no food and tossed it to the ground with the funniest expression. The
second one filled with chili powder spilled out onto his platform when it
opened and he jumped back when he sniffed it. The best reaction was still to
the old lady smell; he opened it and actually pulled it apart sniffing it and
even went back to it a few minutes later. In his enrichment log I wrote his
reaction to all of them, and that things that smell like old ladies would
probably be the best; maybe hes into cougars. hahaha