4 snakes, 3 dogs, and 1 bird

I guess the warmer weather is bringing some more fun! I caught 4 snakes today: 2 gopher snakes, a southern pacific rattler, and a red diamondback rattler! The first gopher snake was at the stadium, fortunately they still wanted the snake around so I just moved it about 50 feet to the canyon. My 2nd gopher snake was in someones backyard. She thought it was a rattlesnake, but by the time I had arrived, she had lost sight of it. I inspected her backyard and the only place I could imagine it could be hiding was in an old small wooden dresser. She didn't think it could have made it in there, but i tried opening the bottom drawer. Surprise! There it was, a big gopher snake in the middle of eating. The lady laughed at me because I baby talked to the snake and apologized for interrupting it's lunch. Anyway, the wooden dresser was swollen from the recent rain and items from the second drawer were falling down into the bottom drawer. The snake moved out of the drawer and went under the dresser. He dropped his "lunch" off there, but was too quick and moved back up to the top drawer. I quickly moved his meal into the bucket so she didn't have to see it, not a pretty sight. I was only able to open the drawers an inch or so. The lady gave me permission to do whatever I had to in order to get the snake out, so I started prying off the back panel of the dresser. Finally the snake got out of the dresser and I was able to catch him. Hopefully he is doing well in his new home now! Next I had a rattlesnake in a garage. This one was just a baby and he has a new home now too :) My last snake was one where someone saw the snake under their car and then it disappeared and she was convinced it was in her engine somewhere. When I arrived there was another couple including a woman with a nice camera. I figured she liked taking pictures, so I handed her my camera too :) They told me they last saw the snake by the front tire. So i squatted down and started searching in the wheel well. Finally I thought to look in the tire and low and behold...there it was sitting inside the wheel. I was able to catch him and it was a red diamondback, not as common out here, so that was really neat! I have to say, they are much fiestier than the southern pacifics. I've never had an adult fight me so much and try to bite my tongs. I guess I moved too quickly (not exactly something I try to prolong) but she didn't get any pics of me holding the snake. I did take one just before releasing it though... And lastly I picked up 3 dogs and a sea gull tonight, but those stories just aren't as interesting!

Peeu!!!

So today I got a call that a skunk got stuck in a dog trap we have set up. Now I have responded to calls where there are sick/injured skunks that aren't moving and they are "fairly" easy to handle without getting sprayed. My challenge was that this was a very healthy and very mobile skunk in the trap, which means it could turn around and spray wherever it wanted while being protected in the cage. At first I covered the trap with a blanket and towel to help block the spray, but that just made it comfortable/dark for the skunk and he wouldn't budge. I even tried sprinkling water on it to try and get him to run away from it. Instead he just stared at me and looked confused. Poor thing, they really do have cute little faces. He still scared me though! The camera seemed to spark the skunk's attention and he started moving toward me. He didn't move far before I jumped back and startled him back into the trap! Eventually I braved getting close enough to the trap to unlock the chain that was keeping it in place. I moved the trap out of the shade and removed the blankets. The little guy was ready to leave then and I had to tinker with the front of the trap to get it open while he was standing right there! Thankfully I survived the task without getting sprayed!!!

Snow day!

The pups and I took full advantage of the snow left behind after last weeks storm. I've been waiting over 4 years to take them and have had their "snow" jackets for several years now, but this was the first time they have ever touched the snow. We didn't go where it was really deep as i don't have tire chains, but we enjoyed what we could find on the side of the road. Kahlua and Zoey's feet sank just a few inches into the snow and they couldn't have cared less. All they cared about is they got to go on a car ride and a W-A-L-K! Hopefully one day I will get to take them where there is some serious snow and see how they handle that!

My new buddies

Last week they let me loose for a day when my trainer called out sick. I just helped out doing basic calls and my first call was to get a ferret that had been left in a small carrier at a park. Unfortunately, ferrets are illegal in California so it's not as simple as getting him adopted. He is very friendly and even gave me kisses (on the hand) yesterday. He even allowed me to give him a bath and trim his nails. This morning I decided he needed to stretch his legs as his cage isn't that big. He ran around the office for a bit and enjoyed the halloween candy left on the desk. He was so adorable as he would grab a piece of candy and then go drop it off in a corner behind a computer. When I finally cleaned up after him there was about twenty pieces back there! Not sure exactly what his future will be, but either a rescue or fish and game should be coming to pick him up. Hopefully he finds a wonderful home with wonderful people that won't abandon him at a park.




Today we picked up a blue heron. I'll admit, this one kinda scared me, and I thought my trainer was crazy when she said to go pick him up! Look at the size of that beak! Anyway, with a little instruction, I was able to pick him up and bring him back to the truck. As a joke, I leaned in toward the bird to give it a "kiss," but I think this picture was taken as he turned his head/beak towards me and I was backing away.

Making Headlines

There are days I wonder what I’m doing, but then I get reminded how much I love my job when we receive such diverse types of calls. Not only that, but when you think you are going out on an ordinary call, it turns out to be anything but. San Diego has provided some interesting challenges for me including traffic, freeways, and parking, but you can’t beat walking the Ocean Beach Pier looking for an injured seagull. Unfortunately we were not able to find the person that called or the seagull, but it did make for a nice photo op.

Then we got called out for a raccoon that had been stuck at the top of an electric pole all night. The pole was in someone’s backyard and their dogs chased the raccoon up the pole. We thought it may not be alive when we first arrived, but then it turned its head and looked right at us. The poor thing was scared stiff. We contacted SDG&E to get a cherry picker or something to get the little guy down and I was getting excited I might be able to go up in one. They were busy at the time so we left and planned to return with them when they had time. I guess they showed up without us and decided they would not do anything and the raccoon would come down on its own. We went back to the property and thankfully it had come down somehow, we checked for footprints and possibly and injured raccoon (if it had fallen), but found neither. Hopefully he is doing well now.

Then we arrive for a basic dog running loose call at a park. The call had come in earlier in the morning so we figured the dog would be long gone by the late afternoon when we arrived, but it wasn’t. The dog was very skittish and would not let anyone near her. She was hanging out by a busy street and we were afraid she might get hit, or worse yet, get hit while we were trying to catch her. After twenty minutes of trying to win her over with hot dogs and wet food, we had almost given up and were going to return with a dog trap when the dog ran under a car parked on the side of the road. Two citizens had somewhat trapped her there. With help of a couple people surrounding the car and me and my trainer working together to get her on leash we were able to catch her. She was a still a little freaked out being on the leash and we slowly walked back to the truck. By the time we got to the truck she was willing to let us pet her. When we got her back to the shelter she became our best buddy. I would squat next to her and she would lean on me and jump on me. Here she is even performing sit and shake for her photo!

Okay, I know this is a long blog, but while planning out our typical day, we received a report for an injured duck that had arrows stuck in it at a local lake. When we arrived one of the park employees had the duck in a crate for us. We were amazed that despite the arrows the duck was standing inside the crate. We brought it back to the shelter and everyone was as surprised as we were. We took the duck to the vet where we got to watch as he removed the arrows and we collected them for evidence. Then we got to submit the arrows for evidence. It is pretty neat getting to investigate on a case like this, and hopefully we catch who did this. And to make it even better, the duck seems to be doing very well!

When we returned the crate to the employee, the news cameras were on scene and they got me and my trainer on camera. I’m the one sitting in the truck. It’s hard to see because of the glare though.
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-duck-shot,0,396264.story

I am still waiting for my next rattlesnake call, but for some reason I think they hide until I’m off shift. I haven’t had one in almost a month. Although, we did get a call about a king cobra and we were asked to go out and investigate with our public information officer as a news van was on scene. It seems that this was a hoax, but the camera got me and my trainer as we were standing in a parking lot nearby. I think they know how deathly afraid I am of possibly having to talk on camera, so they like to pick on me and make me go out on these types of calls. I’d rather of handled the king cobra than talk on camera! (and Karen, for obvious reasons, you may not want to watch this clip!)
http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11354683

Warm Fuzzies and Wild Things

When I heard that Buddy had gotten adopted, I was told it was to a great family. Today, I am certain that the family is not only “great,” they are amazing and spectacular! Apparently, Buddy’s new family wrote a letter to the county to help share his story. This story is now posted on the county website and I’ve decided anyone who wrote this must love him a lot! It’s so nice to know that he is being thoroughly spoiled and pampered like he should be!

Karen, I’m sure you’re already turning your head away from the screen in disgust, but I have gotten to play with lots of fun animals…just in the last couple of days no less. Yesterday we got a call for a boa in someone’s yard. Not expecting much we arrive and there is a 7ft (we think Columbian) boa in the guy’s front yard. He took pictures and said he would send us the pictures of me and my trainer handling the snake. Hopefully he does because I’m sure they are something to look at! Then we get a call for a sick skunk. The poor thing was sick enough to not be able to get away, but alert enough to give us a hard time. He sprayed several times, fortunately not on any of us, but enough that the smell lingered. I’m hoping the smell is out of the truck by tomorrow! Our last call for the night was for an opossum that was suspected to have been hit by a car. When we arrived the opossum was standing on the side of the road not moving. He was “playing opossum” and did not move except to teeter back and forth, leading us to believe was in shock. We did not see any injuries so we called a wildlife rescue and transported him to one of their foster homes to see if they could rehabilitate him. The rescue is based a lot of foster work, but don’t worry, I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of fostering yet! We haven’t heard anything about him yet, so I am hoping for good news! Then today, we picked up over 40 pigeons! It’s a sad story of why we had to pick them up as they were being cared for very well, but I have definitely improved my bird handling! Still not a master of catching them in a net as they are flying, but give it time :)

Unfortunately even after all of that, the only cool picture I have is of the snake.

Link to Buddy’s Story: http://pinalcountyaz.gov/Departments/AnimalControl/Pages/AdoptionStories.aspx

I Graduated!

I survived my 10 week training academy! I was even was the honor grad, meaning I earned the top total score on our tests and reports.

This past week I was with my training officer doing the actual job. I have had a blast catching rattlesnakes, raccoons, doves, cats, and dogs. The first rattlesnake call I went to this week, the people who called had chairs set up to watch and took pictures of me catching the snake. Then we got a call for two raccoons that had gotten trapped in a dumpster. The poor things were juveniles and had probably gotten left behind by mom when they couldn’t get out. They didn’t even pick a good dumpster as it was mostly empty and just had a flour package and some sunflower seeds in it. We were able to get the raccoons out and relocate them back into the hillside where they came from. Hopefully they were able to meet back up with mom, but they seemed old enough to survive even if they didn’t. I am hoping to get a pic of me catching a rattlesnake, but when we go out, I get so excited about the call that I forget to bring the camera!