Saying Goodbye to Lindsay

It's been two weeks now since I left the Lindsay Museum, close to tears as I drove away from the museum where I have spent four years of my life. I started volunteering at the museum when I was 14 as an Interpretive Guide. Lucas Abbott and Patti Blasquez were my bosses (both of them have now moved on, Luc works with teens through UC Berkely and Patti retired) and they were awesome. I learned so much about animals and people while I was there. Since I did a lot of presentations for the public as an IG, I learned about public speaking while also learning how to work with a wild animal and making sure it stays comfortable and feels safe. For instance, the first presentation I did was a snake presentation with another IG and a gopher snake. The snake kinda wigged out on us and started secreting this icky musky smelling stuff. So we called over an animal keeper and the other IG got to go in the back to get another snake while I was left with the 20+ people (most of them little kids) for the next 15 minutes with no snake and the job of keeping them interested until we got the kingsnake out. It was...interseting, but I did it somehow. As the years went by I got a lot better at snake handling, to the point where I was one of the few who was comfortable handling the xanthic albino kingsnake (he was so cool, but had a tendancy to bite his handlers). I got to handle and be close to so many cool animals: tarantulas, bald eagles, bobcats, cougars... All of the animals are non-releaseable, so we provide a home for them in the museum. Lots of the raptors (birds-of-prey) are missing wings, mammals with neurological problems, an imprinted (too used to humans) squirrel who liked to eat potato chips [we didn't let him eat them, but the people who kept him as a pet before did], and a talking raven who says "hello", clucks like a chicken, and tries to sound like an eagle whenever the eagles are showing off.


During the summer when I was 16, I also volunteered in the rehab hospital where I fed baby birds, squirrels, and raccoons who had been orphaned. I also did a lot of laundry (having the largest rehab hospital in the nation requires having a lot of animals, thus lots of..well...dirty laundry, let's just say that).


<--- one the lead keepers, Jarrod, with our golden eagle





After I turned 17, a program opened up for some of the IG's to become assistant animal keepers. I applied and was accepted so last june I started working in the back of the museum with all the non-releasable wildlife (up to this point the only animals i cared for directly were the pet education animals like rats, rabbits, guniea pigs, etc. I was only allowed to use a few of the other animals for presentations). It was in this position that I discovered that I have a hidden talent for...gutting rats. yeah...not the most remarkable talent, not something to put on your resume, but still, it has it's merits. (that's Jason up above being cool with dead and defrosted mice to feed to the birds) I started out preparing food for the animals, and slowly progressed up the ranks to amphibian care (getting our lethargic newt to eat is a task in itself), to songbird cage cleaning, to the point where I could actually kennel and care for squirrels and ravens on my own. Through this process Jarrod, Jean (in the picture with a bat), Jason, Mike, Sarah, Michelle, and Dawn have been so awesome in teaching me everything.

So I volunteered every week, and then...I got a job. Argh, so much of growing up is giving up what you want to do in order to do what you have to do. I didn't have enough time to work, do well in school, and volunteer, so after three months of putting it off, I finally quit. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time. But my last day was awesome. All the keepers (people named above) worked really hard to make my last day really fun. (Mike and Sarah even tried to kill each other with Simple Green...i got a picture!) I will certaily miss it, but I know that working there has really changed me and helped me to become a more confident person. So, goodbye Lindsay, I'll miss you.


(and this is just one example of the craziness at the Lindsay...i love it)