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Everything you never wanted to know about a gerbil
I returned from lambing in late April, 10 lbs. lighter and exhausted. 6 lbs. left me from all of the physical work and the remaining 4 lbs. from a bout of food poisoning. Ugh. An effective, but NOT recommended weight loss plan. Still feeling a bit weak from the whole experience I launching into the first set of exams ?Animal Husbandry Practicals.
This set of exam tests not only tests our knowledge of the care, feeding and issues related to specific animals, but also our ability and confidence in handling them. There are a total of five 15-minute exams over the period of one week ?Horses, Sheep, Cattle, Dog/Cat and Small animal, which can include anything from a hamster to a snake (hopefully not together though). The staff are kind enough to ask if you have any aversions to specific small animals before testing you. I don know if that is to avoid or ensure that youl get that animal??? I spoke before I thought and said, o.?I then immediately imagined being asked to pick up a tarantula and shivered. Fortunately I was given a box full of gerbils.
Here the gist of how my exam went:
Examiner - What is this?
Cynthia - A gerbil (some what questioning)
E- Great. Tell me about Gerbils.
C - Uh, well, uh, they are originally sand dwelling creature from Mongolia so they are adapted to low water conditions. Being social creatures they should never be kept alone.
E ?Is this an appropriate cage for a gerbil?
C ?I hope so, otherwise why would you put them in it?
E ?Let me rephrase. What makes this an appropriate cage?
C ?Oh. Well, it made of metal, not wood or plastic, which they can chew through.
E ?Good. What else can you tell me about gerbils?
C ?Uh, uh. They need lots of exercise so having a wheel in the cage is important. No wait, that hamsters, sorry. Uh, theye great for kids because they rarely bite! No wait, that also hamsters. Crap. I sorry I getting a bit jumbled.
E ?No problem. Why don you pick one up and tell me what sex it is.
(The next 5 minutes are spent with me unsuccessfully attempting to pick up one of the 6 gerbils in the cage. When Ie finally caught one I turn it over and start looking for its private bits. Some say, can see the forest for the trees. I say, can see the bits for the enormous testicles. In the most unprofessional way, I gasped.)
C- It's definitely a boy. Of that I certain.
E ?Great. You can put it down now. Wee done.
So I wasted most of exam time, trying to catch the bloody rodent and getting everything wrong, but I supposed I back peddled REALLY well, because I passed.
The rest of my handling exams followed the same vein.
E - How much does that horse weigh?
C - 700 kg.
E - Really?
C - Well perhaps it closer to 500 kg.
E ?(Eyebrows raised) What color is the horse?
C - Bay......or Brown.
E - Well, which is it, Bay or Brown?
C - Brown (with conviction).
E - Wrong, it Bay. Why is it Bay?
C ?Because you just said it was. (of course)
E ?Cynthia!
C ?Yes, professor? (sheepishly)
E ?Go trot your horse.
C ?Ok. (I attempt to trot the horse)
E ?You trotted better than the horse.
C ?Wouldn't you be sick of trotting if you had had silly students like me trying to make you trot 25 times a day for the past week?
E ?Raise her back leg for an exam.
C ?(After three attempts and her ears flying back) I don think she keen on this.
E ?Neither do I. You're done. Get out of here. I don want to see you again.
Yay, that means I passed!!!
I won't go through every exam this way, but I will note that I got into an argument with one examiner over what a tabby was. Lucky for me I argued my case well and won. I nailed all of my sheep and cattle breeds and types of horse and cattle feeds (Yup, we have to know that too) and passed all 5 exams.
At the end of the week we sat a 2 hour essay exam with questions ranging from, describe the husbandry of a parrot, to define "selection intensity" (a genetics principal in breeding) and give an example of this in practice. I loved the parrot question because I could use a personal story for that essay.
"As a veterinarian I would recommend that parrot owners kept their pets out of personal spaces, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, as parrots enjoy mimicing human sounds. Once the animal begins imitating a sound or word, it is very difficult to retrain them."
I won't name names, but if you own this parrot, you know I talking about you! Il just say thank you though, I ended up getting honors on that paper and I'm sure it was for the entertainment value of my essay.
The saying is "No rest for the wicked." I must be quite wicked. After a week of intense studying and examination we were launched into two more weeks of lectures and labs on neuroscience. One would think they would give us a light topic at this point. No chance. So much for sleep. I hear it highly over-rated.
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| | Posted 7/8/2007 11:11 AM - 96 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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