The Best Summer Internship!

[Kater]

*I AM SO EXCITED!*

This summer I will be interning at Hawaii’s only USDA licensed exotic animal sanctuary - Three Ring Ranch (http://www.threeringranch.org) in beautiful Kailua-Kona. It will be a wonderful opportunity to learn about large animals, exotics, raptors and even endangered native Hawaiian species. I am so thankful I found out about this place - it was totally by accident! For a very long time I was under the assumption that we didn't have any animal sanctuaries on the islands.

The Director-Curator, Ann Goody, has an amazing ability to communicate with animals in the most non-threatening way and is also able teach these communication skills to others. This is something I very much hope to learn from her! I wish I could describe her to you - but trust me, she is extraordinary!

Many of her past interns have gone on to be admitted into veterinary schools on “first rounds” (meaning they were admitted after their first application). One of her most recent interns attends the veterinary school I would most love to attend - Western University of Health Sciences Veterinary School. This school operates on a "reverence for life" policy and just admitted it’s first class of students this year, so it is very new.

I have to confess - I doubted I would be accepted into this program. I met Ann and visited her amazing facility over Winter Break. During that time I got the feeling that she didn't think I was committed or enthusiastic about the possibility of interning for her. I am not one to "wear my heart on my sleeve" and I tend to be shy when meeting people for the first time. Even now I still have lingering feelings of doubt - maybe she admitted me only because she needs the help and not because she truly believes in me? I don't know why I doubt myself in this way or make assumptions about how others perceive me. My parents were with me during the visit and my father came out of it feeling that Ann clearly wanted me to intern for her. Regardless of these inconsistencies I can tell you one thing for sure - over the course of my internship Ann will see my "true colors" and then be unable to doubt my commitment to my future, my goals and my vision of raising the status of animals in society!

I don’t know exactly what to expect with this internship. Although I spent over three hours with this woman talking about her experiences and her past interns I still don’t completely know what to make of her! She is truly unique! She has told me some of what I will be doing in her e-mails and I would like to share that with you....

We will be immersed in projects and you will get lots to do, perhaps more then you can imagine. Be prepared for a wide variety of tasks and responsibilities. You will learn all the care of each creature and assist with at least one project/paper for publication as well as one animal environment to be created or re created for increased animal enrichment. We are working towards TAOS (The Association of Sanctuaries) accreditation this spring. Like a zoo with AZA (American Zoo and Aquarium Association) accreditation this is a major project.

We have other Interns here as well who have been learning the whole routine and for them it is the final drill. To get into vet school having the record of caring for these creatures as a keeper shows the skills and hands on abilities you need to succeed. Anna, who is here now learning the animals, is a great Intern who can teach you quite a bit.

I looove having something this exciting to look forward to after the school semester is over. I have been having a very hard time adjusting to college and life in the Midwest and am so glad to have found such a great opportunity, which will bring me closer to my goals but is also in the place I am most comfortable.

If you don't have time to go through the sanctuary's whole website you should at least check out these 2 highlights!

Zoe the "white" zebra - http://www.threeringranch.org/zoe.htm

An exquisite Hawaiian stilt - http://www.threeringranch.org/shorebirds.htm

Thanks for reading!

[Logan]

Congratulations!!!!! This sounds wonderful!!!!!!

[G.P.girl]

oh you're so lucky!! i bet you'll have alot of fun!

[boscibo]

How great for you. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity, and a fun way to spend your summer.

[ramanth]

Congrats!!! Sounds like a wonderful internship AND you'll be close to home.

[Kater]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! As I've already said... *I'M SO EXCITED!*

Has anyone taken a look at Zoe (http://www.threeringranch.org/zoe.htm)? She has a very rare condition called "amelanosis" which results in striking gold stripes and pale blue eyes. I encourage you to take a look-see!

[ramanth]

I did look at Zoe's pictures. (forgot to mention that before)

What a beauty she is!

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

Zoe is beautiful, and so lucky to have a good, safe home.

Congratulations to you! It is quite an accomplishment to be accepted to the internship. You will learn so much, and they will be lucky to have such a dedicated contributor among them!

[catnapper]

Wow! That experience will be invaluable. Imagine, you're not too far now from a whole summer of hard work and great times.

[Kater]

Wow! Time really flies!!! I'm leaving for my internship today - I can't wait! If anyone wants details, updates or pictures then please visit the livejournal dedicated to my internship experience at : http://www.livejournal.com/~trr_intern .

I probably won't have time to post much but I'll still be thinking about everyone here. Take care and I'll be back in July!!!

[lizbud]

Kater,

I don't know how I missed your original posting, but I did.

What a wonderful opportunity for you. Congratulations on
being chosen for this program. It sounds amazing. I'm looking
forward to future Journal entries.

[Karen]

This sounds like an amazing opportunity! We didn't know about this place, or we would have visited it when we stayed in Kailua-Kona for a week this February! At least we don't feel bad about not knowing, as you grew up in Hawai'i and didn't know about it until recently! Kailua-Kona is a beautiful, beautiful place, and the opportunity sounds wonderful. Take lots and lots and lots of pictures, okay?

And have fun!

[Lillycat]

how exciting! good luck to you and hope it all even exceeds your expectations!

[Kater]

Hello everyone! I’m back!!!

I apologize for not posting sooner….I’ve just been so busy with my summer school class that I’ve only had time to lurk. I also apologize for not updating my live journal – when I was finally immersed in the whole experience it became clear to me that it was not going to be feasible to update regularly. I know…excuses, excuses! Well, I’m hoping this long post complete with pictures will help you to see what an amazing experience I have had!

My internship lasted for six wonderful weeks. During the first four weeks I "learned the ropes" and tackled various projects with my mentor Ann at my side. Then for the last two weeks Ann took a fabulous family vacation to France (her first vacation in FIVE YEARS) while myself and another intern were co-keepers in charge. Needless to say, I was quite nervous about being responsible for the sanctuary's over seventy-five animal residents. I had all kinds of horrible nightmares filled with scenarios of all the things that could possibly go wrong. However, now I can now confidently say that we did an excellent job and there were no major emergencies.
*PHEW*!!!

Now I’ll introduce you to *some* of the animals. I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I had hoped, but there is a good chance I will be returning next summer and I promise to get more then.
I know… more excuses. *Sigh*

The geckos on the Big Island are of a different variety than the kinds common to my island, 'Oahu. Our geckos are generally neutral colors like grey and brown, but these geckos are quite colorful, as you can see.


The Big Island also has many wild saffron finches whereas I have never seen one of these on 'Oahu, although they live on parts of the island. This picture fails to accurately portray their vivid coloration. They are very pretty birds!


One of the projects I participated in at the sanctuary was the release of a rehabilitated native Hawaiian duck. She had been named "Cali" and was the sweetest duck you could imagine. The koloa or Hawaiian Duck is endagered and I've heard some say their estimated population was once a mere 700. However, more recent estimations are closer to 2,500. She was always softly quacking to us whenever we passed by her or worked near her. I really missed her sorely during the weeks following her release.
We released Cali at a crawfish farm where at least five other koloa had been living. Here she is on the way to her new home...


The crawfish farmer "did the honors" and released her into the water...


I realize you can't really see Cali in either of these pictures. I was very careful with taking pictures around her or of her since she is an endangered speices and was going to be released back into the wild. But I've found a picture to give you an idea of what she looks like...
http://www.harteman.nl/omnibus/anser.../hawaiian.html
She looks like the duck on the right in this picture.

After releasing Cali we noticed some sad looking horses on a property near the crawfish farms. Their hooves were horribly overgrown and cracking. Also the horse on the far right was sunburned around her eyes and nose. They were young and very friendly, but seemed to just have been put out to pasture without an ounce of care and maintenance. It was very sad to see...

[Kater]

Not all of the animals on the property are sanctuary residents – some are Ann’s personal pets. Her pets include a Rottweiler, two Quarter Horses, a Cockatoo and a Canary.

Kela the Rottweiler is an interesting dog. She’s very keyed into a "guard dog" mentality but once she trusts and recognizes you, she’d do anything for you. She also has a stomach of steel and eats ANYTHING! I wish I had better pictures of Kela but she’s the kind of dog you don’t want to bug with a camera. She’s a little on the unpredictable side. Please don’t misunderstand me - she’s really friendly but also has a very dominant streak. I love her to death though and thoroughly enjoyed having her by my side as I worked.




The two horses on the property are Mr. Big and Voodoo. Mr. Big is the old buckskin gelding and Princess Voodoo is the young mare. She’s supposed to be a Palomino but she has gotten pretty dark as she’s gotten older. I just love this picture I snapped of the two of them grazing…


Here is an up close picture of Biggie. (taken by someone else)


And here’s an amazing running shot of Voodoo. (taken by someone else)


Kalani is a Cockatoo and a very talkative and funny girl. She’s also the one animal that gave me the most headaches and heart attacks. Ann told me from day one that Kalani is definitely the most difficult and demanding animal at the sanctuary. She’s a very smart bird, as are all parrots, and can be most manipulative. After Ann left she essentially rejected the other intern and bonded closely to me. Ann reasons that she felt abandoned and so decided that she would put all her trust into me. Since she would no longer allow anyone (besides me) to handle her I wasn’t able to get a single day off during the two weeks when Ann was gone. We only began to understand how much she had rejected everyone else when she actually flew up into a tree because another volunteer tried to handle her. She never flies unless she feels very threatened. She always has her wings clipped but I guess they had grown just long enough for her to be able to glide. So yeah, I had to get her out of a tree where she was perched about 35 feet off the ground during a light rainstorm and she HATES rain. That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about when I say this bird gives me heart attacks! But she was a very good girl and stepped into a net for me. If she hadn’t have done that I don’t know if I could have reached her! Although Kalani can be very frustrating she can also be very affectionate. I would cuddle with her for hours in the early afternoon. I would pet her and she’d get ecstatic and tell me "it’s so good."
These pictures were taken while she was dancing along to a song on the radio. Her crest was up and she was bobbing around…