March Madness!

Whew, it's been a long couple of days!  As usual, my days have been full of fish and furry critters.  Yesterday I finally got to go on my first sawfish sampling trip of 2012.  Lately, my work schedule has been full of water sampling.  I am in charge of the water sampling project at our lab, and our grant was just expanded - so I've been running double the amount of water trips.  That means more sampling trips, more data entry and proofing, and a lot more time prepping trips and then breaking down equipment.

But anyway...water is boring.  How about those sawfish?  We were having a rather uneventful morning.  The tide was quite low, so our first set was in a deeper area.  We had just checked the net when we received a phone call from another crew out on the water.  They were pulling 600' seines, and guess what they caught?  Yup, a little sawfish.

We hurriedly picked up the nets and motored a bit downriver to where the other crew was waiting.  They transferred the sawfish into our loving care so we could work it up and they could finish their seine trip!  The sawfish was just a little guy - less than a meter in total length.  He was very well-behaved.  We decided to name him Edwin.  Not sure why, but that's his name.  We measured him, tagged him, counted his teeth, admired him, and pulled a couple of leeches off of him, since there are people out there who want to study sawfish leeches.  SCIENCE!

We finished working him up, and then sent him on his way (after taking a couple of photos).

How cute is this little sawfish?  The tag on his 2nd dorsal will help contribute to sawfish movement data.

Come Saturday, it was time to put on the small animal rescuer hat.  I did a LOT of driving today!  My first stop was Suncoast Humane Society, where I picked up 4 ferrets who are all in need of homes.  My thanks to the fine folks of Suncoast - they are great to work with!  Next I drove up to Venice to meet another volunteer who had picked up a couple of guinea pigs from Sarasota Animal Services.  Those two needed to go up to another foster home.  I headed up to Sarasota to meet Amber, who had 2 guinea pigs to give me, since they were getting adopted!  We traded critters and continued on our respective journeys.

I ran home to grab a couple of things and print out an adoption contract, then I headed to the piggy pair's new forever home!  It was a joy meeting their new family - they were so excited and immediately fell in love with the piggy girls!  It's always so refreshing to meet people who are truly interested in giving the best care to their small pets!

My next mission was to visit Otis at Petco.  I brought him some veggies and some love!  I'm surprised he hasn't been snatched up by someone yet, because he is just the cutest little thing.

How could anyone resist this little guy?

Exhausted, I headed home.  I still had to clean my potentially pregnant foster guinea pig's cage.  Brienne was dropped off at Suncoast with 2 boys (who went up to Brandon today), so she is on pregnancy watch for a couple of months.  She is just a little cutie, but never wants to come out of her pigloo!  I still don't know if she's actually pregnant, but it seems like a good bet.  The rescue sure doesn't need any more piggies (just took in a bunch!), but baby piggies are sure cute.  So - we'll wait and see what happens!  If she does end up being preggo, I will certainly post pictures of babies!

Meet Brienne.  The million-dollar question: is she pregnant?

The rest of the month shall continue with madness!  I've got 3 water sampling trips next week, a scientific manuscript in pre-production stages, my good friend will be visiting from Orlando, and then I am helping out with our huge guinea pig adoption and rabbit awareness event at the Brandon Petco on April 1st!  Uh oh, should I be worried that it's April Fool's Day?

But the pet store said...

How many times have I spoken with well-meaning bunny parents who stare at me a confused manner when I offer up rabbit care advice, and utter the words, “But the pet store said…”  Well, I’m just going to lay it all out right here!

We all have to start somewhere.  I cringe when I think back on the bunny-care mistakes I made when I bought (yes, bought) my first bunny at a pet store 10 years ago.  I bought the pet-store suggested cage and the pet store suggested food.  Thankfully, I found a bunny-savvy vet as well as information from the House Rabbit Society, and thus began my constantly evolving knowledge of rabbit parenthood.

So, what does the pet store tell you about rabbit care that’s wrong?  Well, depends on the employees and the store, but in a lot of cases – everything.  

Let’s start with housing.  This is your rabbit’s environment – the place where she will spend a good portion of her time.  Rather important, I should say.  Unsuspecting new rabbit parents will look at the brightly-colored cages with selling points such as “Starter kit – everything you need for your new friend!” to “Deluxe rabbit home!”  Trust me, these kits are neither deluxe nor everything you need – not by a long shot.  Those “My First Home” sets that are so popular?  Utter rubbish.  They are selling points, however.  I’ve seen pet stores advertise specials in which one can purchase a “starter kit” and receive the animal for free…as if the pet is an afterthought.

“Well, what exactly is wrong with these sets?  They have everything you need, right?  That’s what the pet store said!” 

 For one thing, they are much, MUCH too small.  That tiny, cuddly baby bunny that seems to fit so well in it now?  He’s going to grow up.  Oh, the pet store said the bunny is a dwarf?  Be careful with that statement.  I’ve seen people with 7+ pound bunnies who bought them at a pet store that advertised them as dwarf rabbits.  In addition, dwarf bunnies are often more active than bigger bunnies, and need LOTS of room to run!  Of course, any bunny needs a nice, roomy home base.   You probably don’t need most of the other things that come with the “starter kit” either.  Those pine or cedar shavings?  Those can eventually cause cancer in your bunny.  The salt lick?  Worthless.  And we’ll talk about food in a minute.

“What kind of cage DO I put my bunny in?”  

Well, if you can’t let your bunny have free run of the house 24/7 (and yes, rabbits are easily litter trained – bet the pet store didn’t tell you that!), then puppy exercise pens or pens made from storage cube panels are good options – and typically cost less than a “deluxe” rabbit cage!  Don’t forget the litter box!  Oh, and don’t leave your bunny in the cage all the time.  She needs at least a couple hours of “floor time” each day.

So what’s the best thing for bunny to eat?  

“Those bags of pellets with seeds and colorful bits have words like ‘nutritious’ and 'fortified' written all over them.  That’s got to be good, right?  That’s what the pet store recommended!”  

No, no, and no!  These “nutritious” pellets will eventually kill your bunny – whether it is by choking on a seed or obesity from a diet that is too rich.  

“But…the pet store said that if I give my bunny lettuce he will get diarrhea!”  

Feeding your bunny a healthy selection of greens is part of a balanced bunny diet.  Dark leafy greens are wonderful for bunnies to eat – just stay away from iceberg lettuce.  It has no nutritional value.   New greens should be introduced slowly, but bunnies can safely eat healthy greens!

 “Well, I can still give the bunny some of those treats the pet store sells, right?  The box says that they’re a healthy snack!”  

Do those treats contain yogurt, honey, seeds, or corn?  Yes?  Keep them away from bunny!!  Once again, these treats will eventually kill your rabbit.  Don’t love your bunny to death.  

“Well, what DO I give my bunny for a treat?”  

Small amounts of fruit every once in a while will make any bunny happy!  Try giving your bunny a fresh blueberry, or a little bit of plain canned pumpkin.  Fresh herbs are also a healthy bunny treat!  Oh, did the pet store mention hay?  

“Hay?”  

I thought not.  I’ve actually come across a well-meaning new bunny parent who was told by a pet store that hay would give her bunny diarrhea.  Hay is absolutely ESSENTIAL for maintaining proper gastrointestinal health in a rabbit.  Eating hay also wears down a rabbit’s constantly growing teeth.  Rabbits MUST have good quality grass hay (not alfalfa, unless the bunny is very young).  This is the most important element of your rabbit’s diet.

“The pet store said that rabbits don’t really need to see a vet.  They only live a couple of years anyway.”

That’s another one I’ve heard…and it’s absolutely wrong.  For one thing, rabbits need to be spayed/neutered.

“You can spay/neuter rabbits??!”

Yes, and it is essential to their health and well-being.  Intact rabbits have a very high incidence of reproductive cancer, and are constantly driven crazy by hormones.  I’ll be the first person to tell you that in general, intact rabbits make terrible pets.  Altering a bunny helps with behavioral issues including aggression and spraying – oh, and that litter training I mentioned?  Probably not going to happen with an intact rabbit.  Make sure your bunny’s surgery is performed by an experienced exotics veterinarian – not just any dog and cat vet will do.  Or better yet – adopt a bunny!  Rabbit rescue groups spay and neuter their bunnies before sending them to a forever home!  Oh, and as for living a couple of years?  Spayed/neutered bunnies living in a healthy indoor environment can live 10 years or more!

“Okay, but after the bunny is fixed, they don’t really need to see a vet, right?”

Wrong again.  Bunnies should have maintenance check-ups to keep tabs on general health.  There is always the possibility of an emergency visit too – bunnies are delicate creatures, although they have a strong will to go along with it.  Did you know that a loss of appetite in a bunny should be considered an emergency?  You do now!

“Wow, the pet store didn’t tell me any of this!”

And most of them won’t.  This isn’t to say that all pet store employees have no clue about rabbits – I personally know a couple of pet store employees (who have even adopted rabbits from our rescue!) who try to combat bunny care ignorance.  I must give kudos to pet stores who are moving away from selling animals and encouraging adoption.  That being said, your best bet to obtain good rabbit care knowledge is from groups like the House Rabbit Society and rabbit rescues around the country.  Rescues are certainly not in it for profit (far from it, in fact!), and have the best interests of their bunnies at heart.

Thanksgiving - what's up with that?

So this year our family is doing Thanksgiving at my brother's place, but it comes at a price.  Most people dress up in costume for Halloween.  My brother has requested we do Thanksgiving in costume - it has been entitled "Fabulously Tacky Turkey Day".  Jealous?  You should be.  I have decided to go as Plymouth Rock.  After all, what could better commemorate the arrival of settlers, who would soon meet Native Americans and celebrate the first Thanksgiving together?  It was either that or smallpox.  I figured Plymouth Rock would be easier.

Well, this whole thing has gotten me to thinking about the real history of Thanksgiving.  Admittedly, history was not my favorite subject in elementary school.  From what I could remember of my early education, the Pilgrims came to America rather under-prepared, the Native Americans brought some food to the somber-looking white dudes, and everything was rainbows and succotash and smiles.

Since I'm now an adult and history is mildly more interesting to me, I hopped on over to the History channel website and searched "history of Thanksgiving".  Here's the synopsis:

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

So that's the short and simple version.  There are a few more items of interest.  I did remember the name "Squanto" from the history books.  Well, turns out he was a pretty interesting guy.  He had apparently previously been kidnapped and sold into slavery.  He escaped to London, and eventually made his way back on an exploratory expedition.  You'd think the man would be pretty bitter by that point, but he showed the Pilgrims how to plant crops and such.  Props to Squanto.

There is also controversy over whether this was the first "Thanksgiving" feast to be held.  There are other records of "feasts to give thanks" in 1565 and 1619.  I'm sure there are historical scholar types who argue vehemently for the 1565 feast in St. Augustine, Florida.  Sorry, history buffs.  Thanksgiving will always evoke images of Pilgrims and Indians.  I don't think the Spanish explorer edition will ever make grade school history books.  It's all rather the same to me anyway.

Fabulously Tacky Turkey Day promises to be a day of fun with my ridiculously goofy family, and planning for it has made me ponder things in my life that I am thankful for.  There are of course the big ones:  my family, my friends, my pets, a roof over my head, my health, religious freedom.  I do have a lot of other things to be thankful for..some serious, some just for fun.  My job.  My Hyundai.  Bunnies and guinea pigs.  Everyone who rescues animals.  My iPod.  Books.  Target.  Delicious food.  Music.  The ocean.  The Discovery Channel.  Harry Potter and Star Wars.  Dr. Pepper.  Contact lenses.  Humor.  Bunspace.  Facebook.  Chapstick.  Amazon.com.  Jason's Deli.  Lobster.  My aquarium and its inhabitants.  Art.  My Nintendo Wii.  My education.  The internet...without which this blog would not be possible!

So, to my fellow American readers, enjoy your holiday.  Treasure the time with your family and friends.  And to my readers everywhere, I hope you'll take a little bit of time to think about things for which you are thankful. 

Happy Thanksgiving (next week)!

"What a fish!" "Mammal." "Whatever."

The other day we were filling the boat up with gas before heading out for work on the water.  While gassing up, a lady walked up to me and said, "I wish I had your job!  You know, I almost went into marine biology."  That comment got me to thinking how many times I have heard this EXACT comment.  Apparently about 80% of America's population almost went into marine biology.

The statement is always given with such a sense of envy too.  "Oh, your job must be so fun!"  "I love dolphins!"  Then they proceed to tell me that they went into some sensible career.  The lady at the gas station went into law.  While she envied my time on the water, I must admit I envied her paycheck.  Believe me, you don't go into this job for the money.

I do believe a large portion of the population has a rather skewed view of what a marine biologist actually does.  Most people picture dolphins, ocean sunsets, coral reefs, and luxurious research vessels filled with red wine and Frenchmen.  In reality, marine biology is not glamorous.  In my career, I have pulled nets through thigh-deep mud, been mauled by biting insects on a regular basis, come home with anchovies stuck to my person, been poked and stung and bitten by all manner of creatures, had to pee up in the mangroves with giant spiders hanging above my head, sampled in all-day torrential downpours, and clog up my shower drain with drift algae and dead seagrass.  As of right now, my hands have some slices from fish gill plates, I've got the end of a fish spine stuck in my finger, and I've got several good bruises.  I wrestle with cantankerous computer programs and equipment failures.  I have strange tan lines and my work clothes will forever and always smell like estuarine mud.

The crazy thing is, I actually enjoy this stuff.  You need to be a little crazy to do this.  During my college orientation, all of the marine biology hopefuls gathered in an auditorium.  They did a rather good job of "telling it like it is".  The gist of the speech was this:  1) You're not going to be playing with dolphins. 2)You're not going to make any money. 3) No really, you're not going to be playing with dolphins. 4) No, you don't have a special connection with dolphins. 5) You will spend lots of time in the mud.  And...quite literally, half the people got up and left.  I was one of the poor suckers who stayed.  So - I don't play with dolphins, I don't make a whole lot of money, I know dolphins aren't quite as cute and cuddly as people think, and I spend lots of time in the mud.  Yup.  And I'm good with that.  Well, except maybe the money thing.

If you've ever seen "The Marine Biologist" episode of Seinfeld, then you are familiar with the title I gave this blog.  Now to leave you with one more marine biology gem from George Costanza:

So I started to walk into the water. I won't lie to you boys, I was terrified! But I pressed on and as I made my way past the
breakers, a strange calm came over me. I don't know if it was divine
intervention or the kinship of all living things, but I tell you Jerry -
at that moment I was a marine biologist!

 Here's me, giving a big "thumbs up" to marine biology:

Human Ignorance Strikes Again

Today I had the sad duty of saving two bunnies from a bad situation.  Our rescue works with my local humane society, Suncoast.  Well, yesterday I got an email from Suncoast asking for help.  They had received a call from a lady who wanted to get rid of two bunnies.  She couldn't afford to feed them, so she said that she would let them starve to death or let them go if somebody didn't pick them up.  She said she couldn't afford to bring them over to the humane society (so WHY did she take them in the first place??)  Suncoast has a service to pick animals up, but they charge a fee.  It's understandable.  Gas certainly isn't free.  So...Suncoast asked if we could help.

Unfortunately, our rescue has more bunnies than we know what to do with at the moment, so we have absolutely no space for anybun else.  Suncoast would take them, but we needed to get them there somehow.  I offered to go pick up the buns and transport them over there.  I was so worried about those bunnies!  I made arrangements with the lady to pick them up...and I was hoping she wouldn't do anything rash before I got there!

They all but shoved those poor bunnies at me.  I asked them if the bunnies had names.  No, they didn't.  I asked if they were male or female.  One of each...in the same cage.  She said, "They've been humping each other, but I don't think he can reach her."  Great.  The female is most likely pregnant, and I told the lady so.  She didn't care.  There was one nasty piece of carrot in the cage.  They must have ONLY been eating carrots.  Their poops were ORANGE.  There was a bit of urine-soaked pine shavings in the cage.  It smelled to high heaven.

Before I took them to Suncoast, I cleaned out the nasty cage and gave them some hay.  They LOVED the hay.  I doubt they had ever had any!  Fortunately, they seemed pretty healthy, at least outwardly.  They were both very friendly.  Their nails were extremely long.  I should have brought my nail clippers, but the humane society will clip them.

They got to chill out with me for a little bit.  They enjoyed getting petted.  They are just darling.  The female is a white mini-rex (possible mix) with gorgeous blue eyes, and the male is a little Dutch mix.  It boggles my mind that this lady was threatening to starve them to death or let them go, which is a death sentence anyway.

The humane society is taking care of them for now, but we're hoping that we can find placement in our foster program soon for some of the Suncoast buns.  If you live in southwest Florida and are interested in fostering or adopting a bunny, please visit www.pigsnbuns.org for more information.  We need your help!!

Pay it forward?

Well, I don't know if this blog post is really about fish or bunnies...well maybe about bunnies in a way.  I just felt compelled to write it.  I've been in somewhat of a foul, frustrated mood lately.  It's just one of those periods of time where I'm frustrated about where I am, and nothing really seems to get any better. 

So anyway, I went to Arby's to grab a bite for lunch today, and I saw this homeless guy with a sign that said, "Need work.  Please help."  I just felt really bad for him.  I've seen him around town before.  I know nothing about him.  Who knows?  Maybe he's an alcoholic or drug addict or whatever, but something just made my heart hurt for him.  He's a fellow human being.  There's so many people just one step away from where he is.  I was sad because I wished that I could help him.  So...I just felt this compulsion to buy the guy a sandwich.  Like a crazy strong compulsion...like God wanted me to!  I don't have a whole lot of money in the first place....I probably should have just stuck to a PB&J today, but...eh.  So I bought the guy a sandwich.

I felt sort of dumb, because it just seemed so grossly inadequate.  I can't get the guy a job, I can't help him out of his current situation...all I could do was buy him a sandwich.  Well, I handed it to him and said, "I can't help you with work, but I can buy you a sandwich!"  His face sort of lit up, he smiled at me, and said, "God bless you."  And that kind of made my day.  I said "God bless you" back, said a little prayer for him, and drove away. 

So I guess it's the little things in life.  I wish I could help more people in tough situations.  I wish I could build a bunny sanctuary.  I wish I could stop animals and children and anybody from being abused and oppressed.  But I can't.  I suppose I'll stick to the little stuff.  If all I can do is save a few bunnies and buy a homeless guy a sandwich, then that's what I'll do.

If you're having a bad day, or feeling crappy about life in general, go volunteer somewhere.  Foster an animal.  Help at a shelter.  Mentor a kid.  Buy a homeless guy a sandwich.  Believe me, it'll put a smile on your face.

Traps! Cameras! Action!!

A few weeks ago (yeah, I've been slacking in the blog department), I had the opportunity to go on an offshore research trip for work.  I was a bit nervous about being gone for 2 weeks, especially since I've got so many furry critters.  Thanks to a wonderful and bunny-savvy friend, they had a place to stay while I was gone!

Anyway, FWRI (Fish & Wildlife Research Institute) does a variety of offshore research.  The particular trip I went on was the traps & cameras cruise.   This research targets hard bottom habitats in up to 80 meters of water on the West Florida Shelf.  A sidescan sonar is used to find appropriate areas to sample, then two different types of gear are set on the spots.  Stationary Underwater Camera Arrays (SUCAs) and chevron fish traps are both used.  The SUCAs gather film footage, which is later analyzed for information about fish populations at these sites, and several of the fish captured in the traps are used to gather life history information.

Here's a photo of the SUCAs:

And a photo of the chevron traps:

 The research cruise lasted 10 days, and we were traveling aboard the R/V Weatherbird II.  The vessel was 115', so it was fairly comfortable space-wise.  We had beautiful weather to start with, but a couple days into our voyage, the weather turned.  It was nice to work in drizzly, overcast conditions as opposed to the blazing heat (and that deck got HOT!), but things became a bit of a challenge as the swells built to 8 feet.  I am proud to say I did NOT get seasick.  I did almost fall out of the shower that night.  You haven't lived until you've taken a navy-style shower in a facility the size of a phone both in 8-10 foot seas.  We were forced to abandon the original plan and head to our southernmost site to avoid the weather.  Ironically, this is the fortune that our PI (principal investigator) received in her fortune cookie the night before:

Once we moved south, we were back on track.  We were about 100 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, which was neat.  We were visited by spotted dolphins pretty much every morning.  We swore that they knew they were being filmed as the cameras went over - when we reviewed the footage we were treated to quite a show! 

I liked the solitude of being so far out to sea.  One of my favorite things to do was sit on deck and watch the sunset (if we were finished with the day's work by then, anyway!)  It was quite beautiful, but at the same time it was almost eerie.  It's a strange and humbling feeling to be completely surrounded by water.  It feels like freedom, but sometimes it's almost suffocating.  That's a bit of a contradiction, but that's the best I can describe it!

Here's a photo of one of the gorgeous sunsets:

Some of the bright points of the trip were the food (we had an excellent cook - I didn't go hungry, and if you know me, you know that's quite the thing), seeing neat sea critters, watching the above-mentioned sunsets, the gorgeous blue water, seeing my second water spout ever, being out in the middle of nowhere, and getting to live and breathe SCIENCE for 10 days. (and yes, watching the stupid dolphins.  Geez, I guess everyone is a sucker for Flipper sometimes)

A moray eel:

Here I am measuring a nice grouper!  (And I totally rocked the hardhat & life vest - I'm not even wearing the shrimp boots on this day!)

And here I am just being my nerdy self:

There were, of course, things I did not enjoy about being offshore.  The lack of communication is both a blessing and a curse.  It's kind of nice to get away from it all, but believe me, I was on Facebook and checking my email as soon as we got back into cell-phone reception range!  I needed to satiate my thirst for news and social networking!  The bunk was not exactly the most comfortable place to rest.  The stools in the long lab were NOT comfortable either, and that's pretty much where we were if we weren't on deck or in our bunks.  We worked hard, but we had a LOT of downtime.  I got tired of reading (read 4 books), and for me, that's saying something.  The noise.  Oh, the noise.  The engine noise of the boat is constant.  You get used to it, but the silence was bliss once I got back on dry land.  I got really tired of constantly rocking.  Around day 7, all my stuff was falling over while I was in the bathroom, and I had a moment of "I HAVE GOT TO GET OFF OF THIS STUPID ROCKING BOAT!!"  There's not much privacy either.  That's why I relished any evening I got to spend on deck watching the sunset.  Oh, and my hands constantly smelled like dead mackerel.  Not that I'm not used to the smell of dead fish, but...yeah.
The Long Lab (where we spent a lot of time!):

 Home away from home:

All in all, it was a good experience.  I got to see some cool stuff, and we got a lot of science done!  However, I was very happy to be back on dry land, go pick up my furry kids, and go home and collapse on my couch (which I fantasized about while sitting on the horrible lab stool).  Oh, I did take a nice, long, hot shower before I collapsed on the couch.  Believe me, it was a luxury to leave the water on the entire time.  My hands smelled slightly less of dead mackerel when I was done.