History Repeats on the (Rail)Road
On the way to my first day at work at KNMI (the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute), the train conductor fined me for not scanning my rail card. I did scan it, but I didn’t see the red warning light which indicated it hadn’t scanned properly. In my red-green colourblind world, I thought it was green and everything was fine when it wasn’t.
Today was my first day at Avolare, a wildlife rescue centre, and my drive there was also fine. The police pulled me over and fined me a hefty 130 euros for using a 4m track that’s only open for “help-service” vehicles. I mistakenly thought this shortcut across a gravelly verge that avoided a 3 km detour thanks to roadworks was made for (us!) workers at the rescue centre just a little further along. The police said “You’ve got to drive around” and “130 euros please”, followed, strangely, with “Have a nice day.’
An expensive lesson (especially as it was on the way to a voluntary job and not a paid one), but the Dutch authorities love money and I suppose it’s right to give back to caesar what belongs to caesar. As for me, I’ll focus on getting sick and injured animals back into the wild.
And with the copper’s last comment in mind, yes I did have a nice day! Here are my other (more interesting!) lessons learned today!
- I don’t need to knock hard on a locked door and shout “LET ME IN!”, or phone the manager on her day off asking how I can get in; I can go straight upstairs to the (open) canteen and start the 4 hour shift with a 30 minute break with the other volunteers.
- How to dress for the occasion.
- How to clean a hedgehog cage
- How to pick up a hedgehog
- How to feed a hedgehog
- How to give a hedgehog an injection
(The Dutch begin things with a break, though I’m yet to learn what it’s a break from…)
During this time I was amazed to be told I was fluent in Dutch!!! Then I started talking (positive feedback works!) then they changed their minds…
And these guys are so chill and relaxed! A nice mixture of ages, one doing a sudoku puzzle, one drawing a duck, another on a phone, and a few others chatting pleasantly. It was so nice and peaceful! No gobby shouting over each other or ramming information down each others’ throats. A very nice experience!
I’m a size 41 welly boot and not a size 42 like my shoes, and my overall size (size of overalls that make us volunteers look like oompa loompas scuttling around) is 56. Or 65. (Dutch numbers are backwards…). And a walkie talkie hanging precariously from a pocket. And a couple of keys to open locked doors! 😉
I’m not gonna be all gobby and build up a menial job and say that cleaning up hedgehog crap is more than it is. But I’m in direct contact with the hedgehogs, and I see (and smell) their need, and I can help them. And that’s what gets me through all the s**t!
But yes – I’m now an expert on hedgehog crap! Although I must admit that at first I thought the droppings were nicely shaped until I realised I was looking at their food blocks! I also learned hedgehogs are capable of crapping up the side of a wall. I’m yet to learn how…
Admittedly most hedgehogs were in “sleeping bags” which is really just a cloth bag with a sleeping hedgehog inside. Picking up the hedgehog meant picking up the bag and making sure the opening stayed at the top. In other words, it’s basically holding a big sock with a spiky thing in it. Like wielding a medieval weapon – especially when the hedgehogs make a noise!
For the hedgehogs who’d crawled out of their sleeping bags, picking them up meant using their sleeping bags for protection. This technique stopped me from kebabbing my hand and turning it into 5 pieces of finger food!
Not much to it – a guy got the bowls of food ready, and we distributed them to the hedgehogs. Some had special dietary requirements – these were written against cage numbers.
“Be brave, prickly little hedgehog, you might feel a little prick…”
Well not really – I watched a vet show a trainee vet how to give a hedgehog an injection.
It was nice to see, hold and hear the hedgehogs, and it was a nice reminder that they’re here for treatment and recovery.
Some Time Outside
Animals are brought outside once they are strong enough to leave the indoor environment. Being outside means they can used to not only the weather, but also the daily changes in the weather.
The Avolare grounds are impressive! The main building is ecological with sustainable material, living roofs have solar panels and the gardens are tended each week by a team of dedicated garden volunteers. The gardens aren’t there just to look nice; they give the outside animals a safe, peaceful and natural environment. For this reason, they’re closed to the public, so I’m especially lucky that I had the chance to tend the animals outside!
For most cases here, “feeding” means replacing the water and the food. Different kinds of birds have different kinds of food which I couldn’t differentiate, but I guess I’ll pick that up. (The water is the same…!)
- Feeding the Chickens
- Feeding the Birds
- Feeding the Geese
- Stress Sensitive Peacock
The chickens are kept in a row of what looks like concrete bunkers. They’re large, have an outside view, and can only be accessed from the top by swinging open a grill, and using a ladder to get in. And out!
Most of the bird enclosures are segmented circular cages. Each segment is accessed from an inner circle with as many doors as there are segments. It’s very disorientating, especially when the segments are opened towards each other to make larger spaces for the birds. I wondered where all the birds were when I entered the first enclosure, then a ton of them swooped at me from above. Yes they’re birds – who like to be in high places!
To ensure the birds don’t escape there’s a double door system / bird lock . I nearly got myself locked in there…
(Yes, they’re still birds, but they’re bigger!)
The geese resided on and around 2 groundwater / rain-filled ponds, surrounded by nets. Ducks pecked bigger holes in the netting from the outside to gain access to the geese’s food. We used 2 large washing bowls filled with food to feed the geese. I was warned against one of the geese in particular for being aggressive. He didn’t need to be pointed out. He pushed his way to the front of the group, pecking others – including those who weren’t in his way – and stuck his head into the bowl. The trick, I learned, was to push him back into the water with the bowl to create more space, and then sprinkle the food there for the other geese.
At the back of the compound is a “low stress” building. This isn’t an architectural term, but for the living environment for its inhabitants – animals with a low intolerance for stress. Even walking inside the building counts as stress, so we need to be calm, slow and peaceful as we replace the food and water. Today there was a peacock. Having heard about the low stress environment, I was surprised that she came towards us to receive her food. I guess we were calm and peaceful enough to have her trust which made it a special experience for me.
My work partner whispered “Goodbye Mevrouw Pauw” (Goodbye Mrs Peacock – which rhymes in Dutch!) as we left. Although I should quickly add that proper names aren’t given to inhabitants here because it’s really important there’s no bonding between the humans and the animals. This disconnection helps keep the animals wild and better able to deal with life in the wild when they are healthy enough to be released back there.
Owl
I was shown a beautiful owl before we returned inside. A magnificent beast, but for the above reasons we didn’t move closer to get a better look.
Throughout my time at the rescue centre, I was told to keep a good eye on the condition of the animals. One of the hedgehogs seemed cold and stiff (still alive though…) so he was reported to the head animal carer. It was obvious to me when he was pointed out, but I’d missed it. I’m hoping there’s going to be some training about what to look for with these different kinds of animals; I’ll ask about it.
I was shattered at the end of the 4 hour shift, but I really feel I’m helping the animals here. And coupled with my rescue work at the animal ambulance, I’m growing my chain of involvement with animal finding and care! 🙂
