"Absent minded professor"

I just arrived back from the basement with a load of laundry to hang and found Aaron standing in the kitchen looking mystified. He told me he'd lost something. I asked what, and he made me promise not to laugh. It was the dish towel that he'd been using when I'd gone to get the laundry. I stared for a couple of seconds, trying to keep a straight face, and then admitted that there was no way I wasn't going to crack up. And that I also wasn't going to tell him anything, but simply stand and watch him try to find it. He had a sort of wild look on his face as he checked his shoulders and neck to make sure it wasn't over one of them. I tried to get my camera to save the moment for posterity. By the time I had it out and was back in the kitchen, Aaron was sheepishly standing there. Holding the dish towel.

The dish towel that had been scrunched up inside the glass he'd been holding in his hand the entire time.

Apparently, wildlife doesn't matter

And to think that just yesterday I was saying that the Harper government hadn't really managed to do anything outstanding to either impress me or piss me off. This one pissed me off, just for the record:

Environment Canada budget cuts threaten wildlife programs

So very very tired

I walked into the cafe I go to for wireless internet, get through the door, and spot Joe and Amelia staring at me with amazed looks on their faces.
"What are you doing in my coffee shop?!" I asked.
"YOUR coffee shop? This is OUR coffee shop!"
Apparently they're living just outside Orillia working on shrikes and have been coming here for some time. We've always been here at different times until today though. So we had a nice chat and exchanged updates. Then as they were heading out, a familiar voice said "That sounds like a familiar voice!". And there was Sara, who went to Guelph and was in a few classes with me, and who thankfully admitted that she couldn't quite remember my name so I could then admit that I couldn't remember hers. So now I'm wondering if I'll run into anyone else before heading home!

I slept in until 1:20pm today and I'm still tired. We didn't get back to Centre until almost 11:30pm last night. We're doing shows at the Sudbury libraries all week, travelling back and forth every day. On top of that, we have our regular resort shows, and Dale and Jody (my bosses) are doing film work, so nobody at work is getting much rest this week. I'd already worked 6 days in a row before starting at 5:30am Monday. Thankfully, Laura took over driving halfway to Sudbury and I took a much need nap the rest of the way their. We had three shows, the last at 4pm, so we actually got back here while there was still light. Yesterday we had no such good fortune. The last show was at 6:30pm, and it's over 3 hours to get back to the Centre.

Since I'd already done one day in Sudbury, Krystal had taken the first shift driving. She'd asked me about how to get there, and I had assumed she knew more about the general route at the start than she did, and she'd assumed that I'd given all the details. So I fell fast asleep within about 30 seconds of getting into the truck, only to awake over an hour later with Krystal going "um, are we supposed to be here?" We were heading to North Bay since I hadn't mentioned anything about needing to take 169 through Gravenhurst to reach the highway. So I pulled out the map book and found a road to cut across, and we broke the speed limit by more that a little and were very thankful we'd left ourselves about 45 minutes extra drive time. We arrived 15 minutes before the first show.

There really isn't much to do in Sudbury, at least not with spending way too much money. So we spent most of the time between shows asleep in the truck. At our second show of the day, there was a reporter there from the local news station who filmed a lot of the show, and interviewed Krystal. She has family in Sudbury so I said she should do it since they'd be far more likely to see the piece than anyone I know. After the interview, which was less than 5 minutes, she decided she should have made me do it. All because she couldn't remember the falcon.

When Krystal and I arrived back at the Centre, which is normally deserted that late at night, there were vehicles everywhere and film equipment and actors and directors filled the building. We had to tuck animals back into their enclosures in between takes and then be super quiet. I was staring at Jody trying to figure out what was strange about her and finally realized she was wearing makeup. Jody said it was necessary to save wildlife.

Earlier in the day, Krystal and I received a rather frantic phone call from Laura about a salamander to be used in the film work. Jody had asked me to see if Jenny had one she could rent in case they couldn't find one, but I hadn't heard anything since saying there was one. Apparently Jody had called Jenny and arranged for me to take one with me in the morning, but since I got home so late and left so earlier, the message didn't get to me. So Laura called from the doorstep to see what was up since no one was home to let her in. I ended up giving her instructions on finding the spare key and getting the salamander from the basement. She was freaking out about "breaking and entering" even while I tried to explain that it's not B&E if someone who lives there tells you where the key is and says you can go in. And besides, in that house, even if someone did get home and "catch" her, it probably would have gone along the lines of:
"Oh hello, didn't know anyone would be here. I'm _____. So what are you here for?"
"A salamander eh? Yup, right in there. Say, why don't you take a couple of corn snakes too? No really, here you go. Want anything to eat? A swim?"
And then Laura would have left with a salamander, followed by yells of "you're SURE you don't want a corn snake? Boa maybe???"

Tomorrow is going to be another long day, but at least our first show isn't until 1:30pm instead of 10:30am, so I'll get to "sleep in". And I want some dinner so I'm going to head home.

The Experiment

The study failed due the experimenter's inability to remain an independent observer. This problem should have been noted and addressed prior to design and launch of said study, which was doomed to failure even before it was conceived. Her dependence on the faciliities for maintaining her own personal hygiene led to a breakdown in observations at approximately 11pm this evening, when she was supposed to be preparing for bed. Unfortunately, the result is that we will never know exactly how long it would have taken for another party to clean the washroom.

THE poster

There's a "Snakes of Ontario" poster that I've been wanting for years, put out by the Massassauga Recovery Team the Toronto Zoo, and various other groups. It has proved impossible to track down, despite me knowing several people who already have one and despite searching for it at the Zoo and on every website of the organizations involved in producing it. I am not the only one who has had difficulty procuring one. You would think it would be relatively simple, especially given the "for more information" section at the bottom of the poster. Oddly enough, nobody seems to know where exactly they obtained it. There's a copy of the poster on the wall at work, and it's been driving me nuts. Just this morning, I was checking the Recovery Team's website again in an effort to get one. I gave up and headed back downstairs to my room. Justin had the path blocked by stacks and stacks of info sheets, newspapers, flyers, and various other paper type paraphernalia related to "Kids For Turtles" shows, which he was in the process of sorting out of the giant rubbermaid bin they've been lugging to shows without really knowing what was in it. Curious to see what was there, I started poking around (no, not making more of a mess - I kindly sorted what I found). Something caught my eye in a cardboard box next to the bin. And right there, in a box that has been about 3 feet from my bedroom door for a month and a half, was the "Snakes of Ontario" poster. Further digging revealed not one, but several of these posters. And Justin said I, and James who has also been trying to find one, could help ourselves. We were probably slightly more ecstatic than the situation really called for, but if you've never tried to find one of these posters, you simply can't understand.

 

Why on Earth couldn't I have looked in that box a month and a half ago???

Porcupines and stormy weather

It was the kind of storm I absolutely love when curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, with a nice mug of tea. It was the kind of storm I'm not so fond of when huddled in a van that could hydroplane at any second with one wrong move, trying not to touch anything metallic, at the end of what would be a 16 1/2 hour day. The animals seemed blissfully unaware in their kennels at the back of the van as periodic flashes of lightening lit up the drowning road ahead as though it was mid day.

 

The storm had started about halfway through the show Nick and I were presenting at one of several resorts we regularly visit. Thankfully, the rain had been anticipated and we were inside the lodge instead of out on the lawn as usual. But it got nothing but worse as we headed back to the centre to put the animals away for the night. Returning all the animals to their enclosures wouldn't have been such a depressing prospect if not for poor Quilber, the porcupine, and the only one who of our crew who lived out on the trail and not within the building right next to where we could park the van. Nick commented that he almost felt bad for Quilber being put back in the middle of the pouring rain. I agreed.

 

We arrived back at the centre and made a mad dash to get inside, where we grabbed raincoats to keep us (mostly) dry while returning Quilber to his enclosure. With the light of a single, feeble flashlight to show us the way through almost total darkness, we carried his crate along what turned out to be a completely flooded trail. I walked right past the enclosure and had to double back. There was no sign of Thistle, the second porcupine, who was presumably curled up in one of the shelters.

 

Normally, returning Quilber is a simple affair involving putting the kennel down beside the gate, opening it up, and letting him walk in. This time, though, Nick took the kennel right inside the enclosure and then opened it. Quilber toddled out, got about three of his feet onto the ground, realised he was in the middle of a thunderstorm, and tried to get back inside. I felt terrible!

 

It wasn't really all that late, but after 16 1/2 hours, it felt like about 1am, and I still had to drive home. I was completely soaked from the knees down, and my shoes made a sloshing sound with every step. After briefly considering stripping down and driving home in my underwear, I decided that I'd never get my shoes back on, so instead I cranked up the heat and headed out. I can now say that my car handles very nicely when there's an inch of water on top of the road.

 

Crawling into a nice warm bed never felt so good.

Conclusion...

Yes, a whole two weeks. Which were mostly spent unpacking everything in the apartment. And watching the first season of Angel on DVD (we don't have cable yet and won't until fall). There was also a more thorough exploration of town than I'd managed previously - a task that doesn't take particularly long. I think that once I get used to it, I will like Seaforth very much.

So just as I was finally starting to feel like I'd accomplished something with the unpacking, I packed up again (but this time only one suitcase and a couple of small boxes). After a bittersweet goodbye to Aaron, the cat, and the geckos (the snakes came with me since Aaron won't feed them), I drove the 4 hours (including a couple of breaks) to Orillia. I arrived at Jeff and Jenny's late afternoon the day before I was starting work. It was a very cheery welcome and a bubbley Mary-Ellen, a new staff member (aka minion) this year, showed me to my new room (I'm not in the same room as when I worked with SciSnakes). I managed to get a good night's sleep before heading the half hour up the highway to the Muskoka Wildlife Centre the next morning.

Unfortunately Jody and Dale (the co-directors/owners/my bosses) were pretty busy that day, and I spent most of it unpacking and checking the inventory for the gift shop. Jody joked that I was being started on the stuffies before I could work with the real animals. I am working with the real animals now though, and it's a lot of fun. Some very long hours on the road, which aren't so much fun, but overall it's great.

My position is a wildlife interpreter, which means I'm either at the Centre greeting people, answering their questions, and doing "Meet the Creature" presentations, or on the road with our "Speaking of Wildlife" outreach shows. We bring out various animals from the Centre and tell people their stories and more about the species, giving people a chance to see them up close. I also clean enclosures, give the smaller animals their food, water plants, weed, and basically do whatever needs to get done. But mostly I introduce people to the animals.

I think that this will conclude my chronological summary update. I have stories to share and will eventually get them online, but it will take me far too long if I try to do them all in proper order!

Continued, as promised...

*** Note to Metamorphosis (ie. blog) readers: there is now a list of links to my Facebook photo albums on the side bar. I'll add links to any relevant albums with each entry. Feel free to browse. ***

Of course I accepted the interview, even though it really threw me off since I'd put myself into a frame of mind that was suitable for volunteering around Seaforth while searching for a job in June. I had to schedule the interview for after I got back from Pelee Island though. Yes, I finally found a year where I was able to go on the annual May long weekend trip organized by Jeff (of Sciensational Sssnakes!! fame)! And in my brilliance I made the interview for the Tuesday afternoon, which wouldn't give me any time to recover, instead of Wednesday, but oh well.

So, Pelee Island… was very, very fun! Many members of the Wildlife Club, former SciSnakes staff, and other random herp enthusiasts were in attendance. The weekend began very, very early on Saturday morning, when Kyle and Jen (of the Wildlife Club) picked up a sleepy Christa from her apartment and 5:45am (when she hadn't gone to bed until well after midnight). We then headed over to Joe and Amelia's, only to discover a note on the front door saying they were too tired from volunteering with moose all week to go on the trip! After briefly considering going in and dragging them to the car, we began the long (~3hr) journey to the ferry while they slept in. At the ferry we met up with the rest of the group and off we went to the island!

We did a lot of volunteer work, like digging a garden for the bird observatory and carrying very large, heavy parts of a shelter for the banding station along a long, muddy trail through the forest, and pulling up/cutting down dogwood to make nesting piles for blue racers. For those who don't know, blue racers are an endangered species of snake and the only place to find them in Ontario is on Pelee Island. This is one of the main reasons I was so keen to go on the trip. The island is also one of the only places to see the Lake Erie Watersnake, which is either a unique subspecies of the watersnake, or just a pretty colour morph of the very common Northern Watersnake. For now they're a subspecies, but the debate has not been settled.

We encountered many snakes over the weekend, including fox snakes, brown snakes, garter snakes, melanistic garters (ie. all black garter snakes), Lake Erie watersnakes, and yes, the blue racer! For a while I thought I'd be going home without seeing one, but Monday afternoon was lucky! It made me very, very happy. They are a truly gorgeous snake and more than deserving of our continued efforts to protect them.

And what weekend trip would be complete without some drunken craziness? When I get back to a faster internet connection, I'll be uploading a Pelee Island photo album, and then everyone will be able to see the football that was made from a pop bottle, weeds, and duct tape. I actually scored touchdowns too! And I do not (normally) play football. All in all, it was a great weekend, even if I was totally exhausted when I got back to Guelph.

*** Update: Pelee Island 2007 Photo Album ***

Lianne had been staying at my apartment over the weekend to look after Hannah. There had been some people through to look at the apartment and I'd left a note for them asking that they make sure the cat didn't out. I'd left it on the back of the door in case I needed it again. Later, Lianne indignantly told me that she couldn't believe I'd felt that it was necessary to warn her to keep the cat from getting out. I gently explained that the note had not been aimed at her and she calmed down.

Monday night after I got home, my Mom drove me and my sister to Mississauga so I could borrow the car to get to my interview the next day. Lianne decided to keep me company on the trip and was forced to listen to me practicing my hognose talk over and over again so I'd be ready. But in return, I paid her admission to the Centre so she could look around while I had my interview. Long story short, I got the job and was absolutely thrilled.

In what suddenly seemed an incredibly short time, moving day arrived. There was still a ton to do since I'd been the only one at the apartment to pack. Aaron had of course driven to Guelph several times to help, but even his added efforts had barely made a dent. Fortunately we both have wonderful families and friends who were willing to lend their time and energy to our moving day cause. Thank you!

16 ft cube vans are fun. And useful. Unfortunately we couldn't get one until late in the afternoon, which meant we didn't make it to Seaforth until about 8pm. We carried things up to the apartment as quickly as possible, since there's almost zero soundproofing and we didn't want to disturb anyone. The poor cat was very distressed by all the commotion and being shut up in the bedroom, a cat carrier and then a new bedroom for most of the day, and then by all "her" stuff being piled haphazardly all over the place. However, she perked up considerably when I got the geckos set up. It was the absolute cutest thing. She spotted them, and then sat herself down right next to the tank where she could keep an eye on them. The geckos are pretty much Hannah's pets at this point (except that she never feeds or cleans them) and she spends much of her days staring at them and running her head into the glass trying to catch them. They don't seem to mind, and in fact they seem to enjoy taunting her by strutting around as she tries in vain to catch them through the glass. It was still pretty amazing to see how much calmer Hannah became the second she saw that the geckos were in the new apartment.

The next day Aaron drove me back to Guelph, since my contract at the lab wasn't up yet. Since the apartment was completely empty, I stayed with my grandparents. It was really nice having Grandma cooked meals that I didn't have to worry about preparing. Thank you Grandma! And thank you to Grandpa for helping me to find a car.

Yes, you read that right. I needed a car. There was no way I could work at the Centre, which is located on Hwy 11 north of Orillia, without a vehicle to get me to there. And there was also no way I'd survive in small-town Seaforth without a car to get to other places. So Grandpa took me out to the dealership, where he knows everybody, and we found me a car. Not necessarily the most perfect car, but people on a strict timeline can't be picky. I'm quite happy with it though. A little black 4-door Pontiac Wave (basically the Chevy Aveo). Oh, and did I mention I can't afford a car but am somehow paying for it anyway? Let's just say it will be a while before I own more of my car than the bank does.

At the end of May, when my contract was finished, I finally joined Aaron in Seaforth. For a whole two weeks!

To be continued yet again because I need to go home and the entry is getting really long besides...