So to recap of my life from Dec 2010-Sept 2011, Shawn and I got engaged in early December and decided we would get married during the summer. We got married on July 23rd on Clearwater Beach, FL and it was amazing! It was so much fun even though it was stressful before the ceremony since no one knew what we were doing, but once I started walking down the aisle things were perfect. Well not everything was perfect lol. Since I was not expecting to be walking through the sand for the ceremony my dress was a little too long. I was literally kicking my dress up while i was walking as if I was doing the can-can, which caused me to be laughing the whole time my dad walked me down the aisle.
Officially Husband and Wife!
Saying hello to the dove as I wait to be handed mine
After the ceremony we released some doves which was really fun and then were lucky to get some photos in before it started the rain. The wedding and ceremony was all outdoors and we had a tent for the reception. So while it rained we put the tent sides down and it only rained for a small amount of time. The rain stopped just in time for the sunset so we were able to get some really nice shots.
Another thing that went wrong was Shawn lost his wedding ring sometime during the reception. I didn't let this ruin the night and just laughed about it. Luckily one of the DJs found the ring later so all was resolved, and it saved us from getting out the metal detectors and hunting for it in the sand. I guess rain on your wedding day is lucky!
As for the rest of the summer, I spent most of June doing EMS. I did 1 week at the Swine Unit at the University of Florida, which was great. I got to handle the pigs and help out with processing piglets and artificial insemination. Processing the piglets included iron injections, needle teeth clipping, tail docking, castrating male piglets, and also ear notching for IDing. I got first hand experience in all of the processing except for the ear noting since the ID numbering system can be confusing. I was very hesitant when performing these procedures at first since these procedures do not require anesthesia or pain meds since the piglets were very young. After a certain number of days, these procedures have to be performed by a veterinarian. Also I know most of you probably see these procedures as being cruel, but for the most part especially the teeth clipping and tail docking these are necessary in order to prevent the animals from injuring each other. The procedure I did not really like to do were the castrations. I just felt bad for the piggies more than anything , although after the procedure they acted as if nothing happened. I also got to help out with artificially inseminating(AI) the the gilts and sows. There really wasn't much to it. You would push on the lower back of the pig, and if she would stand to be mounted then you knew she was in heat and should AI her. To AI the pigs you have a long tube with a rubber corkscrew tip(make sure it's lubed!) and while pushing down on her lower back you insert the tube making sure to turn the tube clockwise. The corkscrew tip will lock into the pig's cervix and then you can squeeze the bottle with the semen into the tube. Then you will turn the tube in the opposite direction to unscrew it and take it out, and thats basically it! Pretty simple at least in comparison to other animals.
In June, I also did 2 weeks of EMS at Zooville USA. Zooville is a small non-profit zoo and education center and I highly recommend it if you live in the Tampa, FL area. Since I really enjoy exotics and wildlife this EMS was amazing. I learned about husbandry and got to feed all the animals which was also fun. Each animal definitely has their own personality and it was great seeing how they react to you and different situations. Also while I was there they received 3 new animals which were 2 young beavers and a blind, albino skunk. These three guys were great since I got to go into the enclosures and handle them. I especially enjoyed the beavers since they just wanted to sit on your lap and eat.
Bucky my little beaver that I fell in love with. I can't image
them getting to about 50lbs full grown
Beaver enjoying some celery by the pool
Ollie the albino skunk
Asian Palm Civet
Ring Tailed Lemur
Clouded Leopard
Cougar enjoying his new toy
There is such a variety of animals at the zoo, even animals I have never heard of such as the civets and genets so it was nice to be able to learn about these animals. I also got to be with the animals for most of the day so I got to see the animals' behavior more than if I just visited a zoo. Also this place has wonderful people who run the zoo and who care for the animals. Everyone is willing to answer questions and were very knowledgable about the animals. I will definitely be visiting the zoo when I go back to FL in the summer. I am very excited to see how everyone is doing and to see how big the beavers have gotten.
So after all the EMS and the wedding I had 2 weeks left in Florida and headed back to Edinburgh early. I had 4 more weeks of EMS to complete before school started which included 2 weeks of both Dairy and Horse. My 2 weeks of Dairy I did at Langhill my school's dairy farm. It was really nice since firstly we did not have to do morning milkings so our days were 9am-5pmish. I also liked that they knew what information we needed for our reports so they were very willing to answer questions and point us in the right direction. We did a lot of random work in the morning such as painting the calf shed, bedding the calving sheds, weds we followed the veterinarian who did ultrasounds for pregnancy checks, sometimes we moved cows from pastures, and just whatever needed to be done. Then the afternoon mainly consisted of the afternoon milking which would start by bringing the cows in from the fields and across the street. It was always fun stopping traffic so the cows can cross. Milking took about two hours and was pretty tiring especially when you are dodging the poo and urine lol. Everyone eventually ended up at some point with poop on their face, luckily we all stayed relatively clean. Also the cows were just starting to calve so there were a couple of calves on the unit which of course was adorable.
After the cows, I spent two weeks at a livery stable near the college. They have about 20 horses and was a lot of labor. The daily routine starting at 8am with the AM feed, then change rugs and turnout, muck out stalls, pick up poop from fields, AM and PM food prep, fill and hang up hay nets, lunch 12:30-1:30pm, work with youngsters or other jobs that need to be done, 3:30pm bring horses in and pick feet and change rugs, PM Feed, 5pm finish. I had the hardest time with mucking out the stalls, and was very sore for the first week. At least I got a good arm workout out of it. I got some crucial horse handling skills such as placing a halter on, leading the horse, picking up a horse's feet to be cleaned/examined, and grooming as well. Since we are tested on animal handling in our veterinary course, the EMS work is really worthwhile especially if you have a good placement that lets you have hands on practice rather than just observing.
Foal
Can see arthur's seat from the pastures
Me in the eye of a horse
After horses I had the weekend off and then 2nd year began. The summer went by so fast since I had wedding planning and EMS to keep me busy. I now have completed 10 wks of EMS and only have 2 weeks to go(1 week of poultry and 1 week of small mammals). I have until the end of spring break to finish my last two weeks so now I just need to find places which is the hard part.
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