Bird/Brain

It has been an adventursome week so far, and it's only Thursday!

First, at yoga class Tuesday night, some of the girls found a baby bird under a tree.  Of course, they come knocking on my door asking what to do with it.  So ultimately we got out the ladder, and I climbed up and put the cute little guy back in its nest.  

Fast-forward to Wednesday.  I work until about 8 p.m., catching up and organizing things in the lab.  I get home around 8:10, looking forward to relaxing and my "no-workout" day this week, and hear this "PPPPEEEEEP!"  The bird from Tuesday was in my yard!  So I call my boss Rosy.  She says if it's the same bird, but the nest is broken, maybe I can take it to Oak Mountain Wildlife Center in the morning.  So I look up, and even though the nest is teetering and looking a little unsteady, I decide to try and replace the bird.  On the ladder, in the dark, in a dress and NOT decent underpants.   So I get up on the ladder, bird in hand, and hear "PPPPEEEEPPP! PEEEEEEPPPP!".  It was NOT the bird in my hand!  I look down, and there is a sibling in the bushes nearby.  They can only waddle, only have down feathers and pin feathers, and are too weak to perch or be fledgelings.  Of course I was so worried that Ida, my neighbor's cat, was going to eat them.

So I put them in a tupperware container and go to Amy's house.  We go to Petsmart and buy baby bird formula and I keep them in a makeshift nest in my entertainment center for the night, after they've been fed and calmed.  

Then I fed them again at around 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.  (I learned, by the way, that the rescue centers don't want you to feed them, but I did anyways.) I'm proud to announce they have been taken in by the Alabama Wildlife Center!  Photos below!

Baby Birds--down for the count 

Hungry this morning!

Yes, this is me with my eyes closed!  I got up very early to feed them and was afraid all night they would die.  I think I'll sleep very well tonight!

NOW On to more exciting adventures than ever previously thought!!  Not really, but still cool.

Stop reading here if you are easily grossed out or not a fan of blood.

So I've been learning to dissect the postmortem human brains that come into our lab.  I did my first assistance on Monday of this week.  Today I was having lunch with some friends and got a call that we had a brain and Rosy wanted me to dissect.  So, stomach full of chicken masaman from Thai House, I go running down the road to dissect my first human brain all on my own!

But once the brain came out of the box, it was clear something was wrong.  It was super bloody, even more than normal.  And the whole back half was squishy, and I could barely hold it in my hands.  A normal brain will more or less hold together when you pick it up.  Not so with this one.  I was grossed out, but my labmates couldn't see what I could see, so they just thought I was being a pansy.  

Then Lesley says, "Ooh, look the inside is on the outside!".  I had noticed this but was up to my elbows in blood, so the fact that I could see the lateral ventricles hadn't really crossed my mind yet.  Anyway, it was gross and we ended up rejecting it.  On the up side, I got a great lab photo of Rosy, Joy, and I looking at disgusting brain goo.

The life I lead is so exciting, I'm sure everyone wants to be me.