Week 4: June 25 - June 30

This week was a mixture of good times and sad times... Well Monday and Tuesday I opened up more pine trees that were caged and weed whacked around them. Some of them we left uncaged because they are old enough and have more leaves to protect themselves from the deer. Wednesday I did an online webinar training... It wasn't what I quite expected but it was still a good training. It was about teaching students about the careers in the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. So they discussed different activities and programs that employees could do to inform visitors about the many careers the Service has. It was cute. They showed you how to do some activities such as conservation fortune teller, try on a career, and a pop up exhibit. 


Thursday was when stuff got real! It put a damper on my day when the biologist and I went out to clear more trees. We ran over an adult female red-eared slider. It was a horrific sight when we noticed it. I'm not even gonna describe it because it brought tears to my eyes. It is an invasive but still... It's a living thing and although to some people it's just a turtle, I still was hurt for it and felt guilty. I wish I had looked on the ground more closely before we drove onto the grass. Now you better believe my eyes are glued to the road when we drive on the refuge. Then later that day, my supervisor found and injured robin who looked like it was attacked by stray cats. It had bite marks. That was sad... we don't know if the robin survived because my supervisor dropped it off at a rehabilitation center. The Fish and Wildlife Service does not nurse animals back to health, its job is to protect and preserve habitat for wild animals. 


Friday we did another bird survey. I saw a double crested cormorant for the first time and a killdeer. I also worked at the front desk answering phones and prepared for the 40th anniversary and Family Fishing day that Saturday. For the anniversary party and fishing we prepared the fishing spot along Darby creek. We had fishing poles and bait ready. All they had to do was bring themselves haha a lot of the kids were fishing for the first time and didn't quite know how to fish and were afraid to touch real worms. So I hooked a lot of worms lol but it was fun because the kids were so happy when they caught a fish! I enjoyed helping out with the fishing day, it was soo much fun and I enjoyed talking to the visitors. I got some questions afterwards about everyday fishing on the refuge and fishing licences. I wasn't sure about how you get a licence so I just told them to google it along with the state they want the licence in and I stressed that you need a licence to fish on the refuge and it must be visible at all times while fishing. The visitors are allowed to eat the fish but we don't recommend it because the creek is polluted as it is connected to to the Delaware river. I just tell them not to eat it because I wouldn't! Later that day around 1pm we had the anniversary party so we had cake and a children's activities table that I was in charge of. I spoke to the children about the the wild animals at Heinz and they were able to pet the pelts and see their scat! One of the little girls who was so adorable continually asked me the same 3 questions but I didn't get annoyed (I wouldn't) because she was just so cute!!! I took a picture with her and her family while they held a red fox and the older sister held the skunk (She said it was her favorite..o.O lol) I'll post that picture as soon as its available!! :) Overall this week was good but Saturday was the best! We had a lot of visitors and I loved talking to them and helping out. 

Double crested cormorant

Killdeer - so cute!! 

That's all folks! Until next time..................