I have decided to resume my blog for my next internship here in Florida upon popular demand. I will do my best with pictures, but we don't have the time or permission to take pictures while at work.
I just finished my first week of work/internship here at the Southwest Florida Conservancy in Naples, Florida. We are about an hour away from the Everglades and I am just blocks away from the Gulf of Mexico.
For the first two weeks of my internship I am working with the outdoor animals who are either permanent residents or are the closest rehab animals ready for release. They require the least amount of handling and care usually, so theoretically outside is easier to learn than the inside of the clinic. From what I have done so far (only the outside), my duties aren't complicated it is more a matter of remembering everything that I have or need to do for my "outside person" responsibilities. We have giant dry erase boards in every room that keep track of patients' feedings and medications and then in my case we have other boards in the kitchen that keep track of outside duties and feedings. There is A LOT to remember and do in the span of an 8 (usually ends up being 9-10) hour shift. We just keep moving from the time we arrive to the time we leave. We do have an hour lunch break, but it flies by. I have been told once or twice that I am doing a good job and have been thanked by a staff member for working hard. I must be doing ok then for my first week on the job. Then again they could have just been saying that because I am new, only time will tell. It is a very physically demanding job, but I am enjoying it thus far. I even got to drive the huge van already and use the flamethrower to clean a cage! SUCCESS!
In terms of where I live and work, we are housed on the conservancy's property in an intern dormitory which is right next door to all the buildings where interns work: the wildlife clinic, discovery center for education interns, administration building, and policy and education departments. Everything is within walking distance so we walk to and from work and come home for lunch. The intern dormitory has two halls and a kitchen for each hall. We share a common living and dining room area that has a huge table and chairs, three couches, a tv and dvd player, dorm wifi, board games, books, etc. Everyone has their own shelf in the fridge, pantry, and laundry room; it is understood that you don't mess with anybody's stuff. Ww also claim a bowl for fruit and veggies that we want to leave out on the counter. The kitchen is fully stocked with everything from pots and pans to paper towels to blenders. If we run out of something and it is not in storage we tell our intern coordinator. We have access to washers and dryers that we don't have to pay for too.
This is the middle of the two kitchens. As you can see, there are two fridges and two freezers, a sink, a dishwasher (you can't see it, it's on the right of the sink in the corner), a toaster, a stove, an oven, and storage space on both sides.
This is the side that I use because I am in the left hallway. The pantry is on the left and then you can see our set of appliances now.
Each side of the hallway has a communal, co-ed bathroom with two showers each. There are only 2 guys right now so it's not that bad; there are doors on everything and it seems like we respect each others' privacy pretty well. I currently don't have a roommate so I am using a little bit of the other side of the room too. I don't think we will be getting anyone else for a while. A lot of us don't have roommates right now. I would estimate there are between 15-20 interns at the moment. I am the newest one.
This is my room, or my side of it at least. I have a desk, a closet attached to my desk, my bed, and a cork board on my wall.
This is me being greedy. I am using some of the other side as storage since I don't have a roommate.
The interns have been welcoming and kind to me. They invite me to events when they go somewhere. This week we already went to a wine tasting event, the farmers' market, and to the beach. Oh and did I mention the zoo is right in our backyard. It is literally less than a mile away. If you turn right off of our street the next thing you come to is the Naples Zoo! We can here the howler monkeys and lion on a daily basis. Haven't been there yet, it is on my list.
Hanging out in the sand at the beach. Hannah (intern) and I biked our way to the beach.
This is a shorebird called a willet that was foraging for food while we were at the beach.
No seaweed!!! Their beaches have a steeper incline than at home.
It seems that the wildlife interns invite everyone, but most of the time no one goes with them so wildlife interns are a tight bunch. Wednesday night we are going bowling :) Most of the interns are in their twenties with the exception of two who are around 30 and leaving soon. There is a wide variety when it comes to where everyone is from. We have interns from Louisiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Texas, and a few others (no internationals allowed unless from Canada).
The Naples community is primarily made up of retired people who drive pretty fast considering their age haha. It is sunny here with lots of palm and pine trees, big fancy houses with beachfront property, and lots of wildlife including numerous gopher tortoises. There aren't any HEB stores here of course but the stores are similar to Texas as far as fast food and some grocery stores go.
Some of the animals I have seen so far include lots of cormorants (a shorebird), pelicans, bald eagles (they are awesome!!!), gopher tortoises, the typical raccoons, squirrels, opossums, gulls, barred owls, great horned owls, barn owls, chicken turtles, osprey, and red tailed and red shouldered hawks. We have a resident great horned owl named Morris who is blind and every day we take him outside for the day so he can get some sun and fresh air. The resident bald eagle named Emma looks after him during the day and alerts us to any danger that may be near by. If you have never heard what a bald eagle TRULY sounds like you should watch this video. I didn't know this until about a week ago. Although I did not record it, it is very accurate and is not what you probably expected:
Bald eagle vocalization: Click on the play button in the middle.
One last thing, if you would like my address here it is:
Sarah Englebert
WRC Intern
1450 Merrihue Drive
Naples, Florida 34102
Make sure you include the WRC Intern because that tells them what department to send it to.
That's all I have so far. See ya!
