You need heart rate?...I'm on it!

Today was another of day of deer trapping. After checking ten traps with no success, we found one clover trap with both a doe and buck inside. It is very rare to have more than one deer caught in a clover trap. The doe was pregnant, so we quickly began the procedures. I put in ear tags for the first time today. I had to feel the two main veins in her ear and then punch the ear tag in-between them. I also took her heart rate. I have only gone through these procedures once before, and my first time checking heart rate was unsuccessful. This time I was able to find her heart beat rather quickly. It is so fascinating to be a part things that I would up until this point only see at a veterinary or doctors clinic. Performing some of the duties myself feels unbelievably stimulating and surreal.

On top of everything that was going on, I also helped record most of the data. It is very difficult to record data while working with a sedated animal because timing is everything. Her temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate must be recorded every ten minutes for the first half hour. The time recorded must be down to seconds. This is excluding all the times that needed to be recorded for everything else like time of induction (for sedation drug) and time at which first blood was drawn. When we were done, we had to give the doe a reversal drug, which Nate instructed me to do. Luckily I don't have a fear of needles. Once I properly prepared the needle, it was pretty easy to give her the injection. There are quite a few steps in preparation though, including pushing all the air out and making sure you have the correct amount of the drug.

Alec, another wildlife technician, learned how to take blood. Getting the needle to hit the proper vein looked extremely challenging. I am very excited for my chance to learn how to do it. I was also in charge of recording data for each trap (i.e. time at which trap was set, whether or not there were any captures, what was done to the trap if anything, such as re-baiting). Unfortunately the map that shows the location of the traps and route taken was hard to read, so I messed up the trap numbers. Nate said he is going to create a better map, so I hope I won't make that same mistake again.

After we finished checking deer traps, we pre-baited areas for future traps. This means we drive around looking for deer tracks, then find an area that would be a potential spot for trap placement and put bait there. Right now the bait we're using is corn. This will attract the deer and hopefully keep them coming once the traps are set. Overall the day was long and my toes and hands were frozen a good portion of the time. I can't wait for my toe warmers to come! I also wish there was some way I could stimulate the blood circulation in my limbs more efficiently.

I'm sorry there are no pictures. Fortunately I have a camera being mailed to me soon along with the toe warmers. I can't wait to start taking pictures, which I'm sure would make this blog more interesting.