Falcons and Owls and Hawks Oh My!

Over my first few days at the Perkins Wildlife Center at the Natural History Museum I mostly learned how to take care of the animals with the assistance of the staff members. On my first and second day I cleaned the Raptor Center. The Raptor Center is a barn towards the back of the Perkins that houses about 12 birds of prey (BOP) that are not out on exhibit. All of the BOP at the museum are birds that would not have survived in the wild. Most of them came to the museum due to an accident involving vehicles, whether they flew into them or they were hit . Others have deformities with their talons, beaks, or wings that prevents them from surviving in the wild. The BOP in the Raptor Center include George, the Bald Eagle, 2 screech owls, about 6 different types owls, 2 falcons and 2 hawks. To clean the Raptor Center, I have to spray down the floors to remove feces, give them fresh water and pick up the leftover remains (their food, mostly mice and small birds). Also, you will weigh the birds and take them on a walk at least every other day. Over the first two days I worked with a staff member but on the third day I cleaned on my own.
Perkins also has a wildlife center in the museum. There, we house many different types of animals, including small rodents (opossum, skunks, groundhog, rabbit, flying squirell), reptiles, snakes, a Loggerhead Shrike, and 3 box turtles. Just like the Raptor Center we must clean and feed the animals on a daily basis.
Also, a huge part of life in captivity is enrichment.  For the animals in the wildlife center, enrichment happens twice a day. For the BOP, enrichment occurs every 3 days. Enrichment must stimulate all of the senses. For example we might give the skunks a ball with food in the middle, we might play some classical music for the birds, or we might give them a bucket into which they can climb. There is a wide variety.
Lastly, it is necessary to take the animals in the center outside at least once a week. So, with another volunteer, I took our two skunks, Willow and Lilac to an empty cage out in Perkins to romp around. Skunks love to chase people around, however, they aren't the best runners so watching them scamper after you is hilarious! They also love to digs for insects! After about 20 minutes of playing, they get tired and just want to cuddle.
My first 3 days have been filled with a lot of new things and I can't wait to see what else I'll be doing (hopefully with the otters).