This is a picture from my Friday afternoon. The miserable creature I'm holding in my arms is an owl which, to protect his identity (very important that owls remain anonymous or how else would they stalk their prey? oooh, that was a bad one), we will call "Pete."

It was a extracurricular lab in which my group and I had to anaesthetize, take x-rays and give fluids to poor "Pete". It's awesome cus when you take an x-ray of a bird, you have to tape them down to the table. Obviously, the bird is drugged up and unconscious during the taping procedure but it still feels wrong. To be fair, we use tape that's not too sticky so we don't take out the feathers when we rip it off.

I also got to listen to the thing's heart and put the gas mask on it and make sure it stayed unconscious throughout the whole thing. We also did an eye exam and phsyical exam on Pete.

The best part was taking the temperature. Big ordeal as we couldn't find the tube of lube and we were just about to use the eye-gel when our supervisor walked in and pointed us in the right direction. I got the pleasure of lubing up the thermometer and shoving it into the poor bird's nether regions. Smelly kid was responsible for taking it out and reading it. Upon removal of the thermometer from the anus, a gigantic torrent of bird poop flowed out onto the table.

You think we'd all be used to it by now, but it's amazing how animal poop can take you by surprise. We did our best to wipe it up off the x-ray table and the feathers but it still stank to high heaven.

Then our supervisor walked in again and went, "Oh! I almost forgot! I brought chocolates for all of you. I think there's only Glosette Raisins left in the bag. Here, have some!"
"Um, no thanks." we all said simultaneously.
"WHat?! None of you guys are eating chocolates? You guys have to!"
She held the bag up expectantly in front of us.
"Uh, Ok. Fine. I'll take one," said Smelly kid.
"That's more like it! Vivian, you have some too."

I shuddered and watched as poor Smelly kid and the other girl had to choke down some chocolate right after cleaning up the poo.

I looked at the bag of chocolates and closed my eyes, reached in and ate one.
I survived but it's hard to think that something could actually ruin chocolate for me.

We had to read the x-rays afterwards and I felt all special. Sometimes, when studying and sitting in lectures, it's hard to remember what I'm enduring all this crap for. When I actually get to do something like read a radiograph, slice into living tissue, catheterize, do a rectal or take a temperature, I'm ecstatic. It's like a light at the end of a tunnel. A dark poop-filled tunnel.

But enough of that.

Back to studying bugs and drugs. At least I've got some left over Glosette raisins to keep me going . . .