The February Tedium

I'm alive! Yay! I know i haven't posted in a while and I've missed out on a couple of Animal of the Week features but they have been completely out of my control. February has run me into the ground & March is probably going to do the same thing. Its that time of year in university where everything comes to an end, the epic conclusion of a saga, the final boss fight from a game, the final fight where the hero faces his demons. You sort of get the jist. 

Basically I have 2 assignments that I have been working flat out on this past month, one was for my zoo stream and was all about conservation programmes. We got to pick out of 3 animals and I decided to go for the black-footed ferret, who is actually quite a charismatic little chap. One of the hidden gems you don't really hear about unless your in the know. I would like to say it was a fun assignment but constant contradictory sources made it a bit of a pain, although it was good to write about an animal I admittedly didn't know much about. Go check out the conservation page on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FerretCenter?fref=ts 

Black-footed ferret

My second assignment is one you surely all know about now, the dreaded goats! Surprisingly the last session outside with them ran perfectly to plan without a hitch, certainly making a pleasant change. Although in a weird way I am going to miss being outside with them on a Wednesday morning, its become routine and now were just going back to being in a classrooom. Apart from that there really isn't much to tell, the dissertation seems to be going to plan, there was a minor hitch with statistics but that's all sorted now, but now its back to the introduction which appears to need major refurbishment by next week. I now also found out that I need to start preparing for a TCA (time constrained assignment) in behavoural ecology. I am usually good at managing time but lately with this workload I am feeling smothered, no room to breath, no room for a day off and not enough hours in the day. Unfortunately this means that my blog may be a bit slow until April, if I can get posts up or find some spare time to do the Animal of the Week feature I'll make sure I get it up!

There is one small piece of solace though, I am planning on entering the ZSL photography competition 2014. The deadline is 1st April so I just need to decide which pictures to enter, after seeing some of last years winner I feel daunted to say the least, they make me look like a toddler with a disposable camera!

Me with the goats!

I would just like to add an honorary mention on this post. Saturday would have been the 52nd birthday of a true wildlife hero, the one and only Steve Irwin. A man of great personal inspiration to me and to so many others. Not only was he a great zookeeper but he was an educator, who in his own way got through the message of how beautiful nature is in all of its forms. I follow some of his family on social media and they are an absolute credit to him. He is still sorely missed and was 1 in a million.
 
Rest in Peace Crocodile Hunter!

Stay frosty,

Birdman.