Striped Skunk

Oh, I should share the story of my one close encounter in the wild with a skunk... Sitting in the woods by a park near my boyfriend's cottage last year, around midnight, we hear rustling in the grass nearby. I shone my flashlight towards the source of the noise, and then out of the grass wanders a skunk. He stood only a few feet away, looking straight at us, with our bright light shining on him, and he simply walked away to get back to his business; no worry, and luckily for us, no spray. It's interesting how many animals are able to perceive when a human is no threat to them. :)

Well, before working there all I knew was that I had a strong interest in animals, but I had no idea where to apply it in a future career. I wasn't interested in being a veterinarian, as I can't imagine telling someone they have to say goodbye to their pet. I was also always put off by the idea of working at a zoo, having seen very few in my life that didn't upset me with poor animal care. But working at the wildlife park, I became interested in animal behavioral studies, as well as wild animal veterinary care. I still don't know exactly what to take in university, or exactly where I will end up, but I was certainly inspired by the best of the workers at the zoo who always made a point to share their knowledge with me, and who handled the daily stresses of working in the outdoors so well.

It was :) Life changing, I'd say. I hope to work there again when I'm finished with high school.

Well, I did a co-op job placement there that had me behind the scenes the a lot of the time. ;) Although I did a lot of pen enrichment (which basically means cleaning and setting up the cage environments), I also helped checking on the animals in the hospital, feeding, inspecting for abnormalities in behavior/physical well-being, and in the spring, I also helped them in moving the animals that were kept inside for the winter to their outdoor pens. (mostly birds, otherwise most of the animals are native to the area and used to the cold)

It's partially a zoo, and partially a wildlife rehabilitation center. Most of the animals that go through Shubenacadie Park are rehabilitated and released to the wild without being seen by visitors, but there are many birds and mammals on display most of which have permanent injuries that would leave them vulnerable in the wild. They may also keep animals such as bears in the park if they were found as cubs, which leads to them being raised by humans and therefore unsafe to release back in the wild.