Wildlife Veterinarian

How long have you worked/volunteered at PAWS?
8 years

Training/Experience?
I completed a small animal surgery and medicine internship after graduation from veterinary school. Prior to vet school I was working toward a Master's degree in Wildlife Diseases. I volunteered with several different wildlife organizations while I was a student to get experience in wildlife capture, handling, Behavior and Disease investigation.

Daily Duties?
Primarily to care for injured and sick wildlife that comes to our hospital. We take x-rays, evaluate blood and tissue samples and do lots of surgery and wound management on injured animals. I also teach veterinary students and visiting veterinarians and write articles for veterinary journals and textbooks. Occasionally, I am asked to give a lecture/slide show at a veterinary or wildlife conference. Once or twice a year, I go to Alaska to help marine mammal biologists with their field studies on endangered Stellar sea lions.

What do you like best about your job at PAWS?
Working with all of the different kinds of animals! It is fascinating to see different types of wild animals up close, and to learn about the variations in anatomy and physiology that different Species of animals have. That is something we are not taught in veterinary school and much of that information cannot even be found in books or journals, therefore, I am always learning new things.

What has been the most interesting animal you have worked with? Or an interesting little story, something funny, the most rewarding experience with an animal etc?
Boy, that is a tough question! They are all so interesting and unique. One of the most rewarding cases I've had was an adult peregrine falcon. He came in with a deep laceration over the top of one wing and some muscle necrosis (in other words, a cut on one wing with some dead muscle). Peregrines are extremely fast, precise fliers. They must be able to perform amazing aerial acrobatics in order to catch their prey, which are other birds. Consequently, it was extremely important for this bird to heal perfectly, with no compromise to his flight. During surgery to repair the wound, a 1 cm portion of the wing muscle that had died was cut out, and the healthy muscle ends were sutured together. There was no way to be certain if the muscle loss would prevent the bird from flying normally, but we had no other option. The bird's wing was then wrapped in a figure of 8 bandage to prevent him from tearing the sutures out by flapping too vigorously.

One week later, the wound was healed and the sutures removed. To our relief, the falcon was able to fly very well in our flight cage, however, even our largest aviary is not big enough to test the full flight capacity of a raptor this size, so we were still concerned about his ability to function in the wild. We decided to attach a radio transmitter to the bird's tail feathers, which would allow us to track his movements after release.

The release was scheduled on a beautiful clear day, and Staff and volunteers watched anxiously as the transport box was open.

The falcon took off like a bolt of lightening and flew higher and higher, until he gained enough altitude to begin soaring with outstretched wings. He soared in circles overhead for about 5 minutes before he flew out of sight.

We were unable to pick up a radio signal later that day, and weren't quite sure where he went. Three days later, a marine mammal researcher during aerial surveys 250 miles north of the release site heard the falcon's radio signal. He had apparently flown due north, possibly back to his home territory. Knowing that he was able to fly so far in just a few days, reassured us that he would do just fine.