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Position Available with WRANPS |
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Internships -- Many thanks go to Chevron in Pascagoula, MS who has sponsored our internship program! Chevron provides enough money to feed and house a student who is interested in making a career in wildlife. For more details, click here. Job Description: Interns are responsible for
the care of orphaned and injured wildlife at WRANPS. The intern will gain
experience in all aspects of wildlife rehabilitation. During their first few
weeks interns learn about animal husbandry and the species specific
requirements. They also become familiar with wildlife nutrition as they make
diet plates for each individual animal. Providing a clean, safe, stress-free
environment with an appropriate diet makes the difference in healing and
recovery for our wild animal patients. Interns then receive training in handling
wild animals and how to properly medicate them. They learn how to safely handle
injured wildlife and how to minimize the stress on the animal. Safety of the
handler and examiner is very important to prevent accidents. Training received
can be as simple as how to properly disinfect a cage to how to gavage feed a
pelican. Diverse skills are attained during this process and interns have the
opportunity to make improvements to our center. Interns also are responsible for
caring for our wild animal babies, even after hours, and helping out with
evening transports as needed. Although our clinic hours are from 9-5, animal
care starts at day break and continues until after dusk. Interns work long
hours, as does everyone else, and receive two days off a week. (not necessarily
consecutive days) The interns thus receive a variety of experience, depending
upon the time of year. Applicants who are interested in the summer internships
should expect to work long hours feeding baby birds (sometimes every 20 minutes
for 14 hours), and many other baby species, in addition to many other animals.
We admit most animals during this time period. Our summers are very hot and
humid and there is a lot of work outside. Applicants who consider internships in
early spring and late fall will care for lots of baby squirrels and opossums.
Our busy time of year begins in March and lasts until the end of November. As
with most animal care positions, 90% of the time is spent cleaning and feeding
wild animals. There is a lot of dirty work to be done such as cage cleaning,
kennels, and laundry.
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