World Bird Sanctuary: A “Dirty” Job

Friday, June 4, 2010

A “Dirty” Job

As I was doing my laundry, my thoughts quickly turned to the past work week, and the fact that we really do have a dirty job.

In this line of work, you never want to let your work clothes slip through the laundry without a proper inspection for stains first, followed by pre-treat, pre-treat, and more pre-treat. As they say, “Stuff happens,” and it happens a lot.

Cleaning up the birds' stalls is an every day "must do"

Often times, this leads to humorous stories shared by all in the staff kitchen. For instance, I let my fellow Naturalist friend, Dana, borrow my coat to go up to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital to feed the red-shouldered hawk she’s been working with. I remember jokingly telling her not to get any “shmoo” on it. I know, “shmoo” is not a real word, but around here, we all know that it is referring to any form of grossness that has unfortunately transferred itself upon an unsuspecting person. Unbeknownst to me, I left work that evening with a ridiculously large “shmoo” smear down the arm of my coat, which had then spread all over the side as well. Normally, I wouldn’t have thought that much of it, as my coat is washable. However, I failed to notice it until after I got home, and after I had gone into two stores and walked around for an hour, all the while, talking on the phone. Good times! I wonder what people were thinking?

There are tons of stories like that, which every staff person or volunteer could share. We have all stuck a knee, hand or elbow in a poo pile, been pooed on by a creature of some sort, and had hawk or vulture drool slung in our face. There are many unpleasantries I could describe that would probably be too much for a “G” rating.

Food preparation is one of the most challenging elements in the daily “Avoid the Schmoo Olympic Games”. Our raptors are not vegetarians. They are strictly carnivores. What do they want? Meat! We try to replicate close to what their diet would consist of in the wild: rats, mice, rabbits, venison, fish, quail, etc. All of this has to be “prepared” by our loving hands and scissors. A messy job, I can assure you! There are endless stories about food preparations going awry. The goal is always to go home without any “casualties” to your clothing. More often than not, that mission fails!

There is no question that we have a dirty job. And we really get into our work. It’s a real challenge for a “germaphobic”, such as myself. The unpleasantries are a part of the package when working with animals. Let’s face it, they aren’t potty trained, and they do not use utensils to eat with, other than the ones with which Mother Nature provided them. After working with the birds and other animals for five years, I still experience things on a daily basis that totally gross me out. Again, with the “G” rating, I can’t go into it. Just trust me!

Billie caught in the act of cleaning up "schmoo"

So, after a long day of cleaning up poo, cutting up raptor food, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning and sweating it up with the best of them, we go home, hit the showers, pre-treat the laundry and get ready to come back and do it all over again the next day.

Our work is never boring, and no two days are ever alike. And when even the grossest and filthiest of tale telling workdays is over, I still say that it is worth it in the end, and I consider it a privilege to be able to do what I do for an organization that I truly believe in.

The World Bird Sanctuary is always looking for volunteers. If you are ready to dig into the daily duties of helping care for our birds of prey and other wildlife, we would love to have your help. If a “dirty job” is not your cup of tea, there are other opportunities available that don’t involve dirty work. If you would like more information about volunteering at the World Bird Sanctuary, you can download an application at www.worldbirdsanctuary.org or send an email to volunteer@worldbirdsanctuary.org .