Saw this little one having breakfast at work today. I wanted to touch it so badly! 🥰

I got to meet minks too and take care of a bunch of hawks. Here’s a mink friend.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      4·
      7 months ago

      I haven’t gotten to observe them much, but they seem pretty chill when I do see them These are wild, and as a rabies vector species, I can’t touch them, so I usually avoid the temptation. I had to go in that room to grab food for the hawks and I noticed it chowing down and had to get a pic.

      They are so stinkin’ cute though! We’ve had 2 batches of babies I got to see for a minute too.

      This is my first year volunteering, and the pre-exposure shots are 3 x $300-something, so I wanted to see how I like it before getting it, but between skunks, raccoons, foxes, and other misc stuff, I’m really tempted to get it before next season.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        Could you touch them if you were vaccinated against rabies?

        I’m sorry, I got so excited about petting skunks, I didn’t read past your first line before replying.

      • Jerb322@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        I hope for a great experience for you. I will probably volunteer when I retire. Wish that I would have made it my career long ago(taking care of animals).

        • anon6789@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          2·
          7 months ago

          I find it more rewarding than any job I’ve had, but there are some gnarly things where I have to remind myself to breathe or to shut off my brain so I don’t get grossed out. Most of the animals hate me, but I remind myself that’s a really positive thing for their survival. I have to say goodbye to all of them one way or the other. But I get so close to all these amazing creatures and learn so much about them, and all the other workers are the sweetest people on Earth.

          Our shifts are only 4 hours and we only have to sign up for one a week from Apr-Oct so it’s really easy to dip your toes in. I took Sundays 8-noon, because I was usually just asleep or being lazy then anyway, so now I get to have an awesome experience every week to give me some positive things to think about on Mondays and I get pics and stories to share.

          I’m curious if I can somehow get in off-season, as it’s more adult animals, and that would be really exciting to work with the full sized raptors even more.