Most Unique Animal Experience?

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This is a question that popped into my mind today, and I thought it would be a great topic for this forum.

...

I don't mean to smash anyone's notions of self-worth, but working in a small animal clinic and riding horses are rather common. Even working as a dairy farmer and training service dogs is common enough (if slightly out of the ordinary).

I am wondering: what is the single most unique animal experience you have done (or heard of others doing)? Something truly unusual.

...

I'll start.

I knew a girl who did an internship in Africa. For SIX MONTHS she helped the local wildlife office dart, tag, and release cheetahs to get a sense of their population size and seasonal migration habits.

That makes my most unique experience (of working with neonatal primates in a research setting) rather tame in comparison.
 
I volunteered for a month taking care of orphan/injured baby manatees in Belize through an organization called WildTracks. I highly recommend them - I had a great time being there and got to help with all aspects of the care of wildlife at the facility (primates, manatees, margays, deer, birds, peccaries), such as food prep, cleaning cages/tanks, assisting with light medical procedures, and making enrichment.
 
I mean, those things are "unique" and cool, but what is really unique will be what interests you. Whether that be working with dogs/cats/horses doing something cool. Or working with some exotic species.

I mean, I have worked with a giant variety of animals... lambing sheep in Scotland, working with everything from spider monkeys, to albino alligators, snakes, etc, etc. But all of those don't compare to any of the experiences I have with cats/dogs because I am interested in working with cats and dogs.

Common doesn't mean it can't be unique.. 🙂
 
I ran my own farm for the last several years with lots of different animals, but mainly meat and dairy goats and chickens filling in the bulk.

More unique was a zoo internship I did in undergrad. A little wildlife and exotics work and a lot of rescue... but I still think cart training a goat totally ought to count for something.

Oh, and I'm trying to teach my heifer to drive and ride 🙂
 
I guess Unique Animal experience vs Unique Experience involving an animal would be a question here...
 
Here's unique:

At the Phoenix Zoo, I assisted in extracting semen from black-footed ferrets to assess breeding quality as part of their conservation efforts. Like they used some sort of buzzing machine (help me out here, I can't remember what it was called) on their genitals until they ejaculated and then we collected the samples and vaccinated the ferrets.

Like, I know it's a serious thing, but even the vets made jokes. 🤣
 
I've also never had the money to do the experiences abroad but I'm still trying to come up with the money to do it at least once.
 
Raptor/Wildlife rehab volunteering and then interning at a place which does educational programs with various exotic/livestock animals for schools and events...neither of which are really all that "unique" in the grand scheme, but out of the ordinary for small/large animal stuff I guess. Now what would really be awesome is if I manage to get into the Disney vet internship, I'm still in the running for now! fingers crossed 🙂

Oh and also, poultry judging. The competitions were not all that large so I wonder how many pre-vet/vet students have that in their background?
 
WildAnimal said:
Here's unique:

At the Phoenix Zoo, I assisted in extracting semen from black-footed ferrets to assess breeding quality as part of their conservation efforts. Like they used some sort of buzzing machine (help me out here, I can't remember what it was called) on their genitals until they ejaculated and then we collected the samples and vaccinated the ferrets.

Like, I know it's a serious thing, but even the vets made jokes. 🤣
Click to expand...
One of my professors built the prototype electro-ejaculator for the Black footed ferret facility here (Northern Colorado) back when the program started. It's shown to classes and asked as a trivia question in some of the repro programs (what is this tiny thing?)
 
WildAnimal said:
At the Phoenix Zoo, I assisted in extracting semen from black-footed ferrets to assess breeding quality as part of their conservation efforts. Like they used some sort of buzzing machine (help me out here, I can't remember what it was called) on their genitals until they ejaculated and then we collected the samples and vaccinated the ferrets.

Like, I know it's a serious thing, but even the vets made jokes.
Click to expand...

LadyOtheFarm said:
One of my professors built the prototype electro-ejaculator for the Black footed ferret facility here (Northern Colorado) back when the program started. It's shown to classes and asked as a trivia question in some of the repro programs (what is this tiny thing?)
Click to expand...
One of the times I shadowed at my local clinic, a bull was brought in for a fertility test, but the electro thing wasn't really working to desired effect so the doc had to just give up after a while of fiddling with the controls and pressing go. Felt soooo bad for that poor bull :dead: :laugh:
 
Worked 2 summers at my local manatee rehab center. I guess that's unique heh 🤔
 
Neat thread!!

Probably my most unique experience(s) have been my two summers worth of Common Loon research. I was part of a crew who surveyed local lakes for loon activity, searched for nests, and shortly after hatch period captured the adults to band them and collect blood/feather samples for various health panels and mercury/lead testing. I was also involved with a project where we translocated loon chicks to a lake that formerly had a breeding population but has not had loons in several years (50+). The idea being that the chicks would imprint themselves onto this lake and when they reach sexual maturity, come back to breed. I have to wait about 3 years to see if it worked though!
 
DVMDream said:
I mean, those things are "unique" and cool, but what is really unique will be what interests you. Whether that be working with dogs/cats/horses doing something cool. Or working with some exotic species.

I mean, I have worked with a giant variety of animals... lambing sheep in Scotland, working with everything from spider monkeys, to albino alligators, snakes, etc, etc. But all of those don't compare to any of the experiences I have with cats/dogs because I am interested in working with cats and dogs.

Common doesn't mean it can't be unique.. 🙂
Click to expand...

:biglove:
 
WildAnimal said:
Here's unique:

At the Phoenix Zoo, I assisted in extracting semen from black-footed ferrets to assess breeding quality as part of their conservation efforts. Like they used some sort of buzzing machine (help me out here, I can't remember what it was called) on their genitals until they ejaculated and then we collected the samples and vaccinated the ferrets.

Like, I know it's a serious thing, but even the vets made jokes. 🤣
Click to expand...

:whoa:
 
Minnerbelle said:
Reminds me of Rosie the Roach funeral not long ago. Pretty unique. I wish I was a part of it


http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/dead-cockroach-shrine-texas-university_us_5677aa0fe4b014efe0d5e928


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
Click to expand...

I think somewhere else did a similar thing. I totally got upset when my two cockroaches died. I did actually feel some sort of bond with them. Everyone in the vet school always kills them and it makes me sad cause cockroaches are totally misunderstood based on what I learned in class.
 
I think one of the most unique things I've done was working at a zoo for one summer. Not that working at a zoo is super crazy and unique, but every day was different and I got to put my hands on more animals than I ever thought was possible! I got to sit on the tail of an 8-9 foot long alligator while the vet doctored it, and got to dig up a couple alligator nests to collect the eggs for incubation. I got to say goodbye to an old cheetah before euthanasia, paint with gorillas and elephants, feed tigers and otters, play with penguins, watch bat surgeries and a gorilla ultrasound, assist in dentals, blood draws, and more. I bonded with so many amazing animals, and my stubborn hyacinth macaw bff still remembers me when I go visit, even all these years later... It was an amazing experience and I miss it so much everyday!
 
orca2011 said:
I think somewhere else did a similar thing. I totally got upset when my two cockroaches died. I did actually feel some sort of bond with them. Everyone in the vet school always kills them and it makes me sad cause cockroaches are totally misunderstood based on what I learned in class.
Click to expand...

I learned that they have highly complex social systems and each cockroach displays a unique personality... It doesn't keep me from being scared of them, but I can never bring myself to kill them so I always let them go outside 😛
 
finnickthedog said:
Is that anymore interesting than spider racing? Because spider racing was a lot more boring than it sounded like it would be. Or maybe my spiders were just lazy.
Click to expand...

Hahah. We all got pretty into it. Millie lost the short course because she crawled on top of the other cockroaches to eat the paint of their backs (it was paint for kids). She got 2nd place in the long distance. She would have would if she hadn't gotten distracted by the duck tape and then spent time cleaning herself...
 
orca2011 said:
I will say working with penguins was pretty awesome. I got to make a foot painting with the help of one of our juveniles. And it was just so cool to see all the personalities and their dynamics. We even had a gay pair.
Click to expand...

That's so awesome! We had a scandalous love triangle with 3 of our penguins...
 
hazelmoo said:
That's so awesome! We had a scandalous love triangle with 3 of our penguins...
Click to expand...

We did too except it got violent. Female went to flirt with an old prospect. Mate got ticked off and dragged her away and was smacking her with his flippers. It was actually really intense so we stepped in.
 
orca2011 said:
We did too except it got violent. Female went to flirt with an old prospect. Mate got ticked off and dragged her away and was smacking her with his flippers. It was actually really intense so we stepped in.
Click to expand...

Geez... We had 20 penguins- 10 males and 10 females. They were all happy and had their mate. For some reason, we got a new male to make the uneven number of 21, and he stole the female of another male. It was so sad because she would flirt with her original male but wouldn't sleep with him, and led him on for a while before completely abandoning him for the new guy. His behavior was so sad and hopeless after that 🙁
 
My most memorable experience to date was passing an orogastric tube to hydrate a false killer whale. I had just graduated vet school and was visiting the cetaceans my sister was working with for grad school. Basically got a behind the scenes tour, got to play with them, feed them, and the caretaker was like, 'hey you're a vet now, if you want to pass a tube you can.' It was essentially the same as drenching a cow, but with a big cetacean popping its head out of the water instead of a cow in a headlock. It was sooooo cool!!! Probably a once in a lifetime thing for me, but it totally made my already awesome vacation!

I was so jealous my sister got to play with dolphins everyday, but then she was like, "well it was really awesome at first, but then now that I'm used to it, the needing to prep their food like at 5am and taking hours to feed and train them becomes more and more of a chore. I mean, I still love doing it, but the novelty does wear off." Then I thought about it, and it's true. I did a ton of wildlife/exotic/zoo animal work before vet school and the first couple weeks of encountering these animals was like breathtaking, but yeah it's like meh after a while."

So I think I'm just going to cherish that once in a lifetime experience as that. It'll forever be special that way.



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I spent almost 8 months in the veterinary hospital at Disney World! I am actually 'grateful' for my rejections from my first cycle. Had I gotten in, I wouldn't have gone! It's crazy how much I learned there.
 
Last edited:
Minnerbelle said:
I was so jealous my sister got to play with dolphins everyday, but then she was like, "well it was really awesome at first, but then now that I'm used to it, the needing to prep their food like at 5am and taking hours to feed and train them becomes more and more of a chore. I mean, I still love doing it, but the novelty does wear off." Then I thought about it, and it's true. I did a ton of wildlife/exotic/zoo animal work before vet school and the first couple weeks of encountering these animals was like breathtaking, but yeah it's like meh after a while."

So I think I'm just going to cherish that once in a lifetime experience as that. It'll forever be special that way.
Click to expand...

It is kind of like when people find out you have lived in a different country for a period of time and they are all, "Wow?? How was that? I bet that was sooo cool! I am jealous. Etc, etc." I mean, yeah it was cool, at first, for around a month or so then that "different country" just becomes your home and the novelty kind of wears off. It isn't different to you anymore and it just becomes where you lived.
 
DVMDream said:
It is kind of like when people find out you have lived in a different country for a period of time and they are all, "Wow?? How was that? I bet that was sooo cool! I am jealous. Etc, etc." I mean, yeah it was cool, at first, for around a month or so then that "different country" just becomes your home and the novelty kind of wears off. It isn't different to you anymore and it just becomes where you lived.
Click to expand...

Haha yup, that was also her perspective on living on Waikiki Beach (like, literally on it).

"It's cool, I like it here. It's just so hot all the time and trafficky, and goddam expensive though."

Argh though, I probably would jump at the opportunity to live in Hawaii and work with dolphins if I could support myself on that.

Living in other countries, not so much. Visiting is fun, but living elsewhere is such a freaking hassle.



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I think my coolest experience thus far was necropsying a dead 30+ foot humpback whale... it was really sad because we knew her life history, and that she had been entangled twice previously. She was a favorite amongst the marine mammal research group at my school, but it was still really cool (and bloody, haha).

I also worked with 19.5 hand draft horses this summer, and learned how to drive them!
 
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