Not the Best and Not the Worst

     When a new animal comes in we have to evaluate procedures that I am quickly learning. We check for dehydration, alertness, broken bones, head trauma, mites, and obvious parasites. We weigh the animals and get them comfortable as quickly as possible. After the initial quick exam, we tell the person who brought the animal in how they're doing/ what we think is wrong. Then after some more paperwork, we do a more thorough examination.
     I helped examine a Blue Jay with a lower spine injury from getting hit by a car and learned how to administer the proper amount of pain medication.
     

     There are tons of animals that come in every day, and unfortunately, not all of them make it. Initially, I thought it would be hard to deal with these situations; from baby bunnies that die of stress to a woodchuck someone found starved in a cage- we have to bag, label, throw in the freezer and set aside their paperwork for my supervisor who has to report everything to the state.
     This is not as bad as it sounds, I am having less of an issue with it than I thought I would. I know that the people who bring in the animals do the best they can, and once they're in our care, we do the best we can. Sometimes stress or their injury just gets to them and there's nothing more we can do, it's just part of life.
     I did learn how to resuscitate a baby cottontail, It was cold when it was brought in, and its eyes weren't even open yet. I gently rubbed its chest with my finger as he gasped briefly back to life. It lived for a whole 20 minutes more. Not much, but it still felt like I did something.