Rhinos!

The past couple of days have been pretty exciting around here after our slow days (although yesterday was quite depressing). Wednesday, after castrating a dog with an abnormally HUGE testicle (infection) we were called out for a sick sable, who turned out to be not so sick, but we were awarded with an awesome game drive on the most beautiful farm:

We were looking for the buffalo herd when we ran into some wildebeest. We saw large droppings thinking they were buffalo droppings but I asked Neil and he looks at me very seriously and says, "No. Those are rhino." And then we saw them: Two adults and two babies. Then we kind of chased them down the mountain in our bucky (South African word for truck). It was all very quick but I managed to get a couple of good shots. Here is is one:

Then we did run into the buffalo herd, which is a bit unsettling because they all turn and stare at you. As long as you don't make sudden movements they won't charge.

Yesterday, I went out with Angela to visit a sick cow that was about 3 months pregnant in the morning. When we got there she was laying on her side which is never a good sign. After examining her Angela decided that she must have been posioned by a plant she ate, so we poured a charcoal and water mixture into her stomach. We walked back to the bucky to get her a couple of injections, turned around and she was dead. I couldn't believe it. Angela later told me that she knew the cow was a goner upon arrival. So sad. The cow went for a post mortem and now they think it possibly had rabies. Thank goodness for that rabies vaccination before I left!

In the afternoon we went out to capture an impala buck who was being given to the farmer's sister. It was darted and everything was alright but then we couldn't get close enough to determine which impala had been darted -- after it ran away, of course. Unfortunately we weren't there quick enough and he died. Impala are often highly sensitive to tranquilizers, as are giraffe and rhino.

Stephen and Bizzie then started making fun of me because the cow I had gone to see died and then the impala died, while they had been with Neil darting an impala in the morning without issue. I was the omen of death.

The impala they darted yesterday was apparantly a "rogue" impala buck that had become a little too friendly with the tourists at a hotel. When they were trying to capture and dart it, a sable buck got out so we had to dart it this morning. While we were on the back of the bucky it started to wake up and freaked all of us out. Of course Neil was rather calm, stops the bucky, and gives the sable a little booster, but in the process Bizzie was hit by the antlers and Steven was scraped up on his legs. Somehow I managed to escape unscathed.

Just a few minutes ago, we darted one of Neil's impala to sell to the man whose died yesterday. It was quick and simple.

Later today is Neil's daughter's birthday party! She is turning three so that should be fun. And then I think we may go out dancing, well, waltzing, with Angela. They waltz to every type of music you could imagine (Abba, AC DC, Hannah Montana).....interesting. Tomorrow we are going to Mamatau to visit the white lion! Exciting! I send everyone my love!

Here is a last fun pick of Bizzie and I goofing around while waiting for Neil to dart the sable ( I kind of look like a man, but I think that may have been the point):

Oh! I have a cell phone as well. Call me if you like! The number is +27730310259.

A few pictures

Today has been a ridiculously slow day....only two dogs came into clinic. Bizzie, Stefaans and I went to the hippo pool for a picinic. Saw hippos, zebra, and water buck. I forgot to mention that last week for dinner we had impala...it was interesting. Not my favorite. Here are a few pictures from the last week:

This is a young Sable bull behind the clinic.

Neil (in gray) and the helicopter pilot with the buffalo I vaccinated.

Here is yhe buffalo after given the antidote and vaccinations -- I didn't kill it! They didn't warn us that they were releasing it, so all of the sudden we see people running and jumping on the truck. Needless to say, but we quickly followed suit.

Hippos from the hippo pool. They had been sleeping but some loud guys woke them up. Dumb since hippos will charge and run you over.

The zebra. I definitely have better pictures of them though.

Buffalo, dystocia, sable, and dead rhinos

Wow. Every preconception I had about my experience in South Africa has been a misconception. Nonetheless, I am absolutely loving every minute I am here. The first being in what capacity I would be seeing wildlife. Before coming here I thought that the work I would be doing with large African animals would be in reserves, national parks, and perhaps the occasional stray antelope on someone's property -- I was very wrong. Since coming here I have been introduced to the game industry, which is ironically one of the most influential facets of animal conservation. The game industry, one of the main proponents of the economy in Limpopo, consists of large game farms (usually several thousand hecters in size) that breed antelope, zebra, rhino, buffalo, giraffe, etc. for either trophy hunting or "safaris" with tourists staying in five star lodges on the farm. These animals are well cared for, vaccinated, and protected within their farms even if they will just be killed by an American tourist and his rifle. Because of the industry's boom in the last 30+ years many animals have been saved from extinction in South Africa, including the rhino which many people actually come to hunt. So far, all of the work I have done with indigenous animals has been on game farms and most likely will continue to be.

On my second day I was told to be ready at 5:45 because a buffalo needed to be moved to another farm where the farmer was interested in introducing new blood into his herd. 5:45?! I was in bed by 9:30 on Tuesday night. This turned out to be one of the most exciting days of my life. Upon arriving at the farm, Neil went up in the helicopter and darted the buffalo from the air. On the ground we were recieving directions as to where the animal was going to fall and we quickly rushed to the scene. When we arrived, the buffalo was blindfolded and we all helped Neil collect blood. Then Neil says, "Who wants to give the injections?" Injections?! "I want to give the injections!" And so I gave a buffalo two different injections that vaccinated him for about 8 different diseases. Let's just say I was quite the happy camper for the rest of the day. About 10 men then moved the buffalo behind the trailer, which was only in the bush and that point because 6 men had started clearing a path right after the buffalo fell. Neil gave it the antidote and as it started to wake they helped it stand up and pushed it in the trailer. As I discovered that day and on Saturday, I need to start lifting weights because my strength has become a little bit of a brick wall when dealing with extremely large animals. After we transported it to another farm and were given a tasty lunch we headed out to another farm in search of a rhino.

Unfortunately the small cow, 3 years old, couldn't be located. Its mother had died 4 days early from unknown causes so the owner, who had 11 other rhinos wandering the farm, decided to sell the baby. We went to post mortem the mother but it was so bloated by this point that nothing could be done. Because of its position, they thought perhaps it had died calving, but Neil stuck his hand inside and there was nothing. That was the most putrid odor I have smelled.

Friday we darted a sable to be moved and dealt with a few cases in the clinic, but it was a much quiter day. We went out with Angela (the other vet) Friday night for our first outing in the bushveld. Not exactly like going out in Europe or the US. I will have to share that experience another day.

If there has been any moment in which I thought I was doing the right thing with my life, it was Saturday. That was the most amazing day of my life thus far. On Saturdays the clinic is open from 8:30 to 10:30 but we had something else in store for us. 2 cow dystocias! We went to this farm thinking there was only one but upon arrival we were told that two cows were having trouble calving. The first was Sannie and she had been in labor for only three hours. Neil let us feel the calf inside her....INCREDIBLE. To get her out Neil tied a rope around each leg and attached those ropes around a pole each. While dictating which pole for us to pull on, he adjusted the calf inside the uterus. When I was told to let go and the farmer took over I decided right then and there that I needed to start lifting again. To think that I could bench 100 pounds in high school and now could probably only lift the bar is really dissapointing. I will get back there. So they pulled and I aided with moral support. We were so lucky that a healthy baby bull came out! To get any fluids out of his lungs neil tied ropes to his back legs, tied him to a tree and then banged on his chest. What a way to come into the world.

The second cow was a little trickier. Hilda had been in labor for the entire night and morning with no luck. We tried to pull the calf out in the same way with Hilda standing but she was in so much pain she sat down. This time there were three ropes with the third tied through her mouth to the back of her head. This time I added not only moral support but I held Hilda's tail out of the way, so I was right in the action. As the two farmers, Stephen and on occasion Bizzie were pulling, the ropes broke twice and they all fell on the ground! It was hilarious. When the head came out the calf's nose and tongue were twitching, but unfortunately he was dead by the time he came out all of the way.

By this time the other little calf was sitting up and Sannie had licked him clean. What a good first time mom...but then she wandered away and left the calf by itself....perhaps she was a little confused after a hard labor. Bizzie and I rubbed whatever else was left on the calf and removed as much mucus as we could from his nose. The farmer's wife told us we could namer her! But it had to be a good Afrikaans name...so Stefaans of course! Jackie and Alfie's other daughter, Geraldine, who is Neil's wife's twin sister renamed Stephen to Stefaans so we dubbed the calf in his honor. Because Stefaans hadn't stood up yet we had to force feed him. I milked Hilda (after the farmer showed me how), and Neil put a tube down her throat all the way down to her stomach. I held the funnel while the milk went down and once it was empty I blew the remaining milk into her stomach.

If I could help cows bring calves into the world for the rest of my life, I think I would be content. But until I am qualified to do so, I'll start lifting.

Saturday night we went to Mololotau (a big lodge nearby) and watched a band. They were actaully pretty good and we had fun dancing and trying to run from the farmers older than my dad. Stefaans looked after us. Bizzie and I actually went for a dip in the pool! It was quite nice.

Sunday was a lazy day and today has been quiet. We did feritlity tests on two bulls and saw a couple of dogs this morning. The giraffe trailer has been fixed so hopefully we will be moving some giraffes this week and finding the rhino from before.

One of my other misconceptions was that everyone would be speaking English and only some people spoke Afrikaans....WRONG. Everyone speaks Afrikaans and 90% speak English, but only Afrikaans to each other and those of us who don't speak it feel a little lost. About 15 times a day I think, "I wish I spoke Afrikaans." Sometimes we have humorous language mix ups, especially Stefaans and I with our American accents. For instance, a monkey came in while we were out with the buffalo, so Stefaans says to Neil, "Apparantly we missed a monkey." There was a long silence and Neil finally replies, "What about this Mr. Monkey?" Things of this sort happen a lot. Another time Stefaans was trying to say "So you aren't working tomorrow?" to Angela and she said "No I am still waking at 8." "But you aren't working?" "No I said I am waking at 8 to get the washer fixed." And this went on for a while.

Third misconception: Aparthied ended so white and blacks mix, right? South Africa is a stable country, right? Wrong again. There seems to be a huge dichotomy between blacks and whites and from what I have seen it always appears that whites still have all of the power and money. What has been explained to me by the white family I live with is that the game industry, where I spend all of my time, is dominated by whites because they have owned the land for generations and the poorest of the poor work for them on the game farms. They tell me however, in reality blacks have all of the power and it has gone from one extreme to the other -- whites are oppressed, pushed out of their jobs, and millions have fled South Africa because of it. Because of this, many whites who wanted to end apartheid have become racists. Another thing that is stressed is that it isn't because of race but because of cultural differences. I have also been told that even within the black population there are struggles because of tribal differences. This is so foriegn to me and I am trying to look at it from both sides.

Well, I am about to run out of time. Next time I will remember my cable and put up pictures! Much love to everyone. Hope to hear from you soon. (spell check not working, sorry for any mistakes)

Address!

Oh and here is my address if you want to send me any letters. Bear in mind it may take several weeks:

Casey LeSawyer
Shimongwe Veterinary Project
PO Box 5653
Onverwacht
0557
South Africa

Here at last!

Hello from Lephalale! (pronounced le-pa-la-lay)

On the way here I saw my first giraffe! He was about 75 yards away but I saw him very well with my binoculars.

I am all moved in to my flat with one of the nicest families I have ever met. So, I am working with Dr. Daniel Kriel, but I am living in a flat behind the house of his mother and father-in-law, Jackie and Alfie. They are amazing and cook wonderful food every night for us, which we eat with them in their home. They made lots of fun of me for my bottles of water and large suitcase -- what they don't know is that I actually brought toilet paper as well.

The flat is very nice and I am sharing a room with another girl, Bizzie, from England. She has already been here for 4 weeks and is showing me the ropes. Stephen is also interning with us and he attends William and Mary. Unfortunately, Bizzie is only here for another 2 weeks and Stephen 3 (I am here 8).

This morning was my first at the clinic, and although I didn't deal with anything "wild," it was quite eventful. This morning we worked with Angela, the other vet at the clinic. We saw a puppy, a couple of dogs, helped some Pakistanis pick out vitamins for their racing pigeons, and spayed a cat (too cool). I was actually bit by a rather large dog today. My first of many bites. He had been bitten by a snake and when we were giving him injections he freaked out and bit me. It didn't break the skin but I have a 3 inch scratch on my hand from his teeth. Ouch.

The following maybe a little graphic for young eyes:

Our before lunch time activity was amazing: We were checking the normality of the sperm of a bull. To do this we had to stick an electric probe up his bottom and then I, yes I, collected his semen through a funnel into a test tube. Then we examined the flow of the sperm under a microscope -- they had excellent mass movement. Back at the clinic they will be counted and another fluid we collected with be tested for venereal diseases.

At the clinic are several sable and impala. At Neil's (Dr. Kriel's) farm there are a wide variety of animals including rhinos, giraffe, nyala, more sable and impala, the list could continue. I will probably do some camping there on the weekends. Each day is different and we are told you will never know what to expect! I will write soon, I hope everyone is well!

Leaving Tomorrow!

I am leaving tomorrow! Ahhhh! I am very, very excited. On Thursday, Carolyn came over and I had a little bit of a "what the heck am I getting myself into" moment, but that has passed and I am thrilled.

My bag is a little heavy with gazillion bottles of bug spray, sunscreen, water (not that much, but you never know), any kind of medicine you could dream of and clothes all of the same color palette -- green, brown, khaki. I brought another bag in case it is over the limit, which I am pretty positive it will be. I do not know how to pack lightly.

So 2 hours on the plane to Atlanta and then 19 on the plane to Johannesburg. As some of you know, I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime so hopefully it won't be a problem. I brought All Creatures Great and Small to finish reading and Prodigal Summer to start. Now that I am thinking about it, puzzles would be a good thing to have too.

I will be staying at a hotel in Joburg Monday night and then meeting my "transfer" to take me to Lephalale on Tuesday morning. Send good thoughts to me while I am in the Joburg airport! It will be....interesting....the things I have read don't portray it to be very safe. But don't worry, I will be careful and alert.

Well, this is my first blog entry. Hopefully the ones to follow will be much more interesting and exciting. Leave comments! I want to hear from all of you!