May 20, 2019 (Pt. 2)

Week two of the update! This post won’t include the activities from today because that will be in the one next week!

We spent the day Monday in the clinic doing small animal stuff. Our first big thing was a Jack Russel Terrier that got bit by a Great Dane and had really bad bite wounds. The Dane has shook it for a little bit so the muscle and skin around the neck was completely separated and had to be stitched back together. After that, we observed a femur fracture repair on a Jack Russel Terrier puppy that had gotten hit by a car. A pin was put in to stabilize the fracture. It had to be put in in such a way that the bone growth was not effected since it is still a puppy.

Monday night was a really hard time for me because my parents had to make the decision to euthanize Taz😔. He hadn’t eaten in about a week and was vomiting everyday. No one wanted to see him suffer so even though it was a hard decision, it was the right one. I knew when I left home that there was a chance Taz wasn’t going to be there when I got back but I was so hopeful that he would make it. I was about to FaceTime with my parents and say bye and I know they gave him a big hug from me.

We started the day on Tuesday by going out with Freddy to dart 2 nyala, a bull and a lamb. The bull was darted for DNA samples and horn measuring. The lamb received an ear tag so that she could be identified as she grew older. When we returned from that, we went with Klopper to dart two female zebras to take to the mountain farm to keep the lone male their company. For some reason, they both did not want to go down so they each had to be darted multiple times but we got them safely into the trailer. Before we went up to the farm to release the zebras, we stopped at the clinic. Chandler and Trevin were there and it was such a nice surprise because I didn’t think they would be there that early! They got to come with us to the mountain farm and see the release just hours after they had arrived.

Wednesday morning was supposed to be an early one but our activities were postponed. We spent the morning at the clinic observing feral cat sterilizations. We also decided to book a weekend trip to Kruger. After lunch, we went with Barend to observe a game capture operation. They set up huge fences and screens through a part of the bush to herd the desired animals in and onto a truck. Because they are not darting, they don’t need a vet present to do it. They caught 3 eland and 6 oryx that we saw. Unfortunately, one of the oryx got injured on the way in. Luckily, Barend had some emergency stuff with him so we were able to treat him to the bare minimum. It was just a flesh wound so it will heal, might just look strange.

Thursday was a very exciting and interesting day. We went first thing in the morning with Barend and Freddy to dart and relocate some young sable bulls. They were trying a new anesthetic drug combination that reduces the amount of opioids used because they are so expensive. We ended up darting 13 and moving the 12 young ones to different farms. While we were unloading and waking up one of the sets, one woke up in a frenzy. It ran almost right over Freddy! He came right for Trevin and I but unfortunately, there was a trough right behind us that we both fell into. The sable ran right past my head, through the trough! I saw my life flash before my eyes. When I got up, my knee and hip were badly scraped and sore but I didn’t have any broken bones. Surprisingly, this was the first time I got hurt since I have been in Africa including previous trips. I’m just happy it wasn’t more serious!

We spent the next 3 days and 2 nights in Kruger! It was an amazing weekend and we got to see so much, species I had never seen before and didn’t even know were in the park. We stayed in two different, incredibly beautiful camps, Sirheni and Mopani. We enjoyed a braai and some drinks on the porch while we watched the animals drink from the water hole right outside the fence. Some of the best sightings included: being chased by an elephant, two different sets of spotted hyaenas, water monitor, a giraffe with a broken or deformed jaw, and the vervet monkeys that stole our package of rolls while we were making lunch. I’m so happy I went again and I can’t wait to go again with my family. Every day in Kruger is a new experience and you never know what you are going to see.