Owl emergency and goodbyes.

I never ended up blogging about the final day of my trip in Belize. It was blissful, and (of course, for me) sad. I have this tendency to get very attached to beautiful things, and when they are gone, I find myself less whole for a period of time.

One of the bittersweet moments was when we performed our final care routine on Ziggie the iguana. He was the only constant patient throughout the course, and he was the best type of patient to have. His gentleness allowed us to practice all sorts of reptile procedures, and it was really great to see his condition improve from the first day of the trip til the last. On day one, he was barely moving at all, halfway through the course he escaped and traveled quite a distance, and by the end, his reflexes in his legs were much stronger, and he was moving against our PT with greater resistance. As he had his prolapsed male organs put back into position on the last day by one of the students, I held him on his back with his head resting on my shoulder. One of my arms was supporting his back and the other was placed gently under his arm. As they began to work on him, he clasped his hand round mine and lightly pressed his nails into me, as if to say, ‘It hurts a little; support me.’ That moment of connection nearly brought me to tears. He was a wonderful patient, and I’m so eager to hear about his release back into the wild when he is healed.

The last day, we had exams and presentations. I did mine on the zoonotic disease, Toxoplasmosis, and on the wild cat, the Margay. After only two of us had presented, we got a call that a mottled owl had been hit by a car and was seriously injured. Thus is the life of a wildlife veterinarian- no schedule can truly be set. We jumped in the van and flew to the clinic. The little ball of dirty feathers was seriously lethargic. He couldn’t fight or raise himself up, so we got him out to check on his condition. He was severely dehydrated and in pain, and his right wing was broken. The wing needed to be pinned, but he was in such bad condition that if we put him under anesthesia, he might not make it. The first course of action was to get him hydrated with injected fluids and a shot of pain medication. After this short treatment, he was allowed to sit for several hours in the dark in a carrier. We finished our presentations and had a final discussion, and then checked on him again. At this point, he was able to sit himself up in the carrier, so we got him out and gave more fluids. It still was too early to perform surgery, so we set him up in a cage in the clinic, cut up a mouse for him to eat, and let him rest for the evening. If he made it through the night, the wing surgery would be performed.

It was such exciting news the next morning before we headed to the airport to hear that the little guy was up perching in the morning. The vet and two assistants performed the bone-pinning surgery, and he did well, though he took a bit to wake up. I’m eager to hear of his recovery!

For our last evening, we all went out and danced the night away. We didn’t hit the hay until about 5 am. To anyone who was on this trip with me, I want you to know that you are some of the most beautiful people I’ve met. You’re going to do great things with your lives, and you have inspired me in so many ways. Our conversations were enlightening and our experiences will never be forgotten. I look forward to working with you in the future to help the animals of the world. Your shared passion will be the flame that gives me hope when the world seems dark. I know this will not be our last goodbye. Thank you for everything.