Piping Society

I joined the Dick Vet Piping Society today! Every Tuesday evening, Jessica and I will be learning to play the bagpipes! Jessica is borrowing a practice chanter from the school, and she has named it McGregor. I will be purchasing a cheap-ish chanter tomorrow during my break between classes, since the society doesn't own enough chanters for everyone (or have not gotten them back from past members), and it will be named McKracken.

In our first lesson today, we met the other new and old members of the club, and learned how to play a scale! We're not actually playing with real bagpipes yet, because (a) it's way too loud to play inside, much less with 6 people playing at once, and (b) there's no point until you know fingering and have the breath control and whatnot. It's a bit different playing on the practice chanters, which are something like if a recorder and a clarinet had offspring, it would look and sound something like this:

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It comes in two pieces, plus a reed, and you fit the reed in between the two pieces, and blow through the skinny end. Your fingers go over the holes, but must be kept straight, which is slightly awkward and makes my hand hurt after a little while, but I think I'll get the hang of it.

Other than that, I apologize for not updating as often, I'm trying to balance being social with studying, but I'll try and go over a few highlights.

Today we had a urinalysis practical, also known as the "playing with pee" lab. We had lots of different urine to choose from: cat or dog with chronic renal insufficiency (CRI), dog or cat with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), horse, rabbit, cat with urinary crystals. I never realized pee could come in so many different colors or have so many varieties of smell. So what we did during this practical is we looked at pee under the microscope, and read urine dipsticks, which tell whether urine has things like red or white blood cells, glucose, pH, presence of ketones or proteins. We also learned how to use a refractometer to read specific gravities (which is a measure of the concentration of urine). Things like this are important to know because you can tell if an animal might have CRI (can't concentrate its urine), or perhaps is diabetic (so will have glucose and potentially ketones in there as well).

Now, granted, I already knew how to do both of these things, having worked in a vet hospital since I was 16, but it was cool to do it wearing a white lab coat and in vet school. We also learned about how if you do have an animal with glucose in the urine, it can mess up the specific gravity measurement, which I had not known before.

We also last week had a bunch of lectures on "professional and personal development," which are sort of common sense. I guess it's good to cover all the bases just in case, but it seems like we should already know this stuff already. I will say that it has led to some hilarious lectures, where we get little interactive websites that go through scenarios with horrible actors, and when you click on something that is clearly wrong, like saying to a client: "Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten the horse if you can't afford to take care of it!" you get to see the fake actress storm offscreen in a huff. We also saw a raunchy advert for men's workwear that featured a woman (who has since become famous because of this), Sara Green, who then decided she wanted to be a teacher, and almost got fired because a video of it surfaced while she was teaching. It was pretty funny (the advert, not her situation).

What else.. We went out to the farm one afternoon to learn the different types of feeds for livestock and horses. I never realized there were so many different things you could feed an animal! You've got your standard maize, oats, barley, wheat, and grass pellets, but then you've also got rolled oats, bruised barley, citrus pulp (byproduct of juice business), sugar beet (coming in either pulp, flakes, or nuts form), dark grains (byproduct of whiskey business), bran (byproduct of flower business), linseed (byproduct of linseed oil), soya meal (byproduct of soy beans), maize gluten (byproduct of cornflour), rapeseed meal (from rapeseed oil), wholecrop wheat silage, and grass silage. Then there's wheat straw, barley straw, and grass hay.

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Some shots of different feeds follow so you know what I'm up against here..
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barley
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wheat
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oats
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bran
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rapeseed meal
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soyabean meal
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grass silage
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wholecrop wheat silage
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THEN we attempted to learn the breeds of sheep and cattle. I'm hoping that by some miracle I develop a photographic memory between now and when I need to know this stuff, because they all look the same to me. A sheep is a sheep is a sheep is a sheep, and the only cows I can differentiate are the Holstein-Fresian (typical black/white dairy cow), and the Highland 'Coo' which is big and hairy and awesome.

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Highland Coo!
(not my picture)
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Holstein-Friesian Cow
(also not my picture)
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Other than classes we've all pretty much been hanging out on the weekends. Dominic and I went walking on the Salisbury Crags last Sunday, which was pretty awesome. Here are some pictures from that.

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And of course, one gratuitous (and awful) tourist shot of me at the top of the crags.
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Well, that's about all I have for my updates. I'll try to be better about uploading more often so I don't have to write novels like this in the future :)

Another week gone by

So another week of classes has passed. This week was pretty good in terms of pace. All the classes we had seemed to go at the right pace, and Wednesday we had pretty much completely off. We had a meeting with our DoS (Director of Studies--kind of like an advisor), and then an address by the president of the BVA (British Veterinary Association). Thursday and Friday we had more classes, and today (Friday) we even started late at 11:10, so we got to sleep in a wee bit!

We also met some amazing teachers this week. We have a wide range of professors at this school, from ones that you just want to hug because they're adorable, to ones that scare you, to ones that have you almost wetting yourself from laughing so hard, and we met at least one teacher from each category this week.

The first was the professor who gave us a lecture on communication skills, and he made the stupidest jokes that only vet students would understand, that were, nonetheless, adorable, and we all agreed that we hope he teaches us more.

The second category I'll not go into, but suffice it to say that professors here like to start lectures 5 minutes early, and yet they will also consistently get angry at people who walk in after they've started, even if technically you are still early by any normal standards. Go figure.

The last category's professor is one David Argyle, who is the funniest professor I think I've ever had. I like him because not only is he funny, but he calls out people who are BSing him in the middle of class. The strategy with him is that if you don't know the answer, don't guess, just say you don't know and he'll move on and pick on someone else. Give a wrong/stupid answer and he'll never leave you alone. This is also good though because it motivates me to actually pay attention learn what he's lecturing us about so that if he does call on me I can answer his questions. He's a little un-PC, but I think we need a bit more of that in this day and age. If you can't laugh at life, what's the point? I think we've got him for a few more lectures, which I am looking forward to!

Also, on Wednesdays in the UK, students typically get out around 1pm in order to pursue extracurriculars, so on Wednesday I went to football (soccer) practice, cause I joined the Dick Vet Ladies Football Club! So far it's very fun and the girls are all quite nice, even though I am complete rubbish at the sport. It is quite fun despite that I don't like running at all. I even went to the meadows with Anik, Adrian, and Alan Poon and kicked the ball back and forth for awhile today. So perhaps it'll motivate me to get at least somewhat in shape. But we'll see.

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Me in my football gear, looking like a total nerd, but that's ok!
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On the way to get our football gear on Princes Street we spotted a Scientology tent.. and I was just starting to like it here too... (apologies to any cult members who happen to read this)
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So despite the fact that this week was low-key in terms of classes, I feel like I've been busier than ever. In between classes we usually have lunch, study, or run errands, and then after classes on Monday and Wednesday Anik and I go to football practice, and then each of our group of friends has a dinner night where we all go over and eat at each other's flats. Jessica's night is Wednesday, Anik's is Thursday, Pookish's is Sunday, and mine is floating between Friday and Saturday, depending on everyone's weekend plans.

So because of all this it is rare that I get back to my flat until dinner or afterwards, because I don't see the point of trekking all the way back to my flat during the short breaks we have between classes. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if it weren't for the hot water situation. In the UK apparently they don't believe in keeping water heaters running all the time, and instead they opperate on timers. Now, while I see this as beneficial in terms of energy saving, the timers are set in such a way that we cannot change the settings. So our flat is stuck forever on hot water in the mornings only. Again, wouldn't be such a bad thing except that I am not a morning person and I refuse to get up any earlier than I have to, to do something so silly as showering.

Now, to counteract this problem, the boiler timer has a button called a 'Boost Button,' that you can press to temporarily boost the water heater. Again, this would be fine and dandy in a flat like Jessica's, where the boost button takes approximately 15 minutes to heat the water. In my flat, however, it takes 1-2 hours. Uncool. I have had 2 hot showers since I've been here. The rest have been ice cold. Again, uncool, because normally I love showering. It's one of the highlights of my day and it relaxes my muscles and is comforting before I go to bed. Ice cold water, on the other hand, does not really make one sleepy, and usually means that I'm not really getting clean because I'm just trying to hurry up so I can spend as little time in the cold water as possible.. Brr.

Anyway, enough ranting. Moving on.

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Dinner at Anik's flat. She made something Cuban that I don't remember, but it was made with pork and beans and rice and olives. Very yummy, despite the olives ;-P
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Other than that not much excitement has been going on. We got our exam results back, and while I passed my oral exam (8/10) with flying colors, I was 1.5 points away from passing the written (you need a 50/100 to pass, you do the math)!

But, on the other hand, I did better than a lot of people who didn't have a family crisis and have to miss a week. And while I didn't really want to have to use that as an excuse, it is a legit one, and I figure if I can get that close without studying and with being an emotional wreck, I'm sure that had I actually put the effort in, I would have been fine.

Fortunately the test didn't count anyway, so come December's exam I should be golden!

That's all really, but I'll end with some pictures highlighting this week's events!

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In other news, our Pegifunticorn has been immortalised in Elephants and Bagels. We have officially taken our place in Edinburgh society.
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Closeup! I also think that of the money I've spent here, most of it has gone to this cafe (not seriously, but it feels like it), so it is only fitting that my name be on the wall.
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We also visited the Elephant House (sister shop to Elephants and Bagels), which is renowned for being the birthplace of Harry Potter. J.K.Rowling actually wrote the first book here!
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Inside of the Elephant House
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Anyway, it's late, and I should go to bed. Goodnight!

More flat pictures!

Here are some more pictures of my flat. It's not all that exciting, except for my room, but here it is anyway!

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Updated pic of Warrender Park Crescent!

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Warrender Park Crescent, which I believe used to be a school for young girls. (Picture not taken by me, I found this one on the internet).
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For reference, my room is to the right on the top level when you're looking at the above picture. So if you look at the pictures in my previous entry of the view out my window, you're looking at the cupola from the right. The gable on the right side (which you can't see in the pic above) is slightly higher than the one on the left, so we are at the highest point in the building. (In the first pic of this entry, we are the gable sticking out of the center/corner of the building.

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Closeup of my bed, with my new sheets and pillows, and my plants!
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The kitchen, with my two herb plants on the right! My cabinets are the
ones with no handles to the left of the cooker.
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The sad little common area of our kitchen.
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The hallway.
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So looking at the last picture of the hallway to get some perspective, there are two entrances, one behind where I was standing to take the picture, and one at the other end where the stairs are. Directly to the right, which you can't see too well, is the small hallway to my room and Hannah's room, as well as the kitchen. The bathroom is the next hallway coming off, and beyond that is the little hallway with the toilet, Lucy's bedroom, which is identical to mine, only opposite, and Miriam's bedroom. Also there's a closet down that hallway. The little alcoves on the left are just windows.

So classes have officially started, and so far the first three days have been great. It's still going super fast, but I feel like I'm actually learning stuff at a fairly reasonable pace. Monday we had two lectures on embryology and a computer practical on embryology, Tuesday we had two lectures on cell biology (mostly about stem cells), and a lecture on farm economics.

Today we had our first lectures combined with the second years, and while the information was a bit of an overload, it was still interesting. My only issue was that the lecture was HUGE! At colby the most people we ever had in a lecture was like 50 students, this was like, maybe a bit over 100! The professor had to wear a microphone so we could all hear him. Craziness. I much prefer small schools.

The second years seem nice enough, but they're SO young it boggles my mind! Some of them look like they're 12! Also, it was a bit of a downer to sit down and hear one of them say "we're surrounded by the enemy now," referring to them being surrounded by a bunch of GEP students. And they wonder why our two groups tend to have animosity between them? Not to say that I wont ever associate with any of them, because a lot of them seem perfectly nice, but if that's their general attitude towards us I'm not going to go out of my way to make friends with them.

Anyway, now back to studying, before I go to our weekly dinner at Jessica's.

Highland Adventures!

So before I tell of my highland adventures, first I'd like to introduce you to my new flat! There are some things different now than when I took the picture a few days ago, mostly that I've moved the pictures that are on the right side of the wall to a different space, and now have two picture frames to hang there (found for a pound each at a bargain store, of cute animals!), and also, there is a big fern on the right side of the window, and a little tray of pots that I've put some wildflower seeds in! I decided that I am going to beat my black thumb, and so Jessica and I went to the HomeBase store (basically a UK Home Depot), and got some plants and seeds and pots and soil and went crazy. No longer will plants come to my house to die!

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My new flat!
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So at first I wasn't too thrilled with the flat, because for one, it is on the TOP floor of the building, meaning that I have to climb exactly 100 steps (yes, I counted) in order to get there. Once I got over that it's not so bad, especially once I furnished it (after a glorious trip to the Edinburgh IKEA). It's a bit weird living with college-age kids (my flatmates are 17, 19, and 20). They are all very nice so far, but it's just like we're at completely different stages of life, and I feel like such an old stuffy woman because they're always going out partying and I'm like "nahh I'm tired, I think I'm going to go to bed at 10pm." Also, I've lived on my own already, for four years of college and then one year almost completely independently, and so it's weird to be back in a situation where I have to share space with people, and have to deal with rules about what I can and can't have in my room.

But whatever, so far it's working out alright. If nothing else, it's just for a year, and I might get in a bit more shape in the process. :) Also, check out my view!

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My view by day!
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My view by night!
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So now, on to my highland adventures with Jessica, Erin, Hyla, and Kirsten! Check out my mobileme gallery for more pics, but here are pics to show the main highlights.

Day 1: Carbisdale Castle!

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'A' on the map is Culrain
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We caught an early train at 6:40am to Culrain, changing trains once at Perth. At Culrain we stepped off the train and walked about 1/2 mile to Carbisdale Castle. This Castle was built by the Dutchess of Sutherland, between 1905 and 1917, and used by her until it was turned into a youth hostel. So it's a very new castle, but it's reputed to be haunted by various ghosts. We unfortunately didn't see any, but what can you do. It was my first experience in a youth hostel, and it was actually pretty good. I still prefer full-service hotels, but how often do you get to stay in an actual castle for something like 17 quid a night?

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Carbisdale Castle
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We couldn't check into the castle until 3:30, and it was only about 11:30, so we left our packs behind and went for a walk around the area. We didn't see too much excitement, the whole of Culrain is basically the train stop, a few houses, and the castle. Everything else is farmland.

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Me and the Highlands!
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Scottish Wildflowers
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We discovered a pretty cool bridge
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So after our long walk, we headed back to the castle to check in and have a cup of tea from the cafe before going up to our rooms. Our room had 4 sets of bunk beds, so with only 5 of us, we were left to share the room with 3 random people. We were there for 3 nights, but the others only stayed for a night each. We ate dinner in the castle, for a whopping 9.50 quid, but it was surprisingly good, and I suppose for the price of 17 quid a night, they have to make money somewhere, right?

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Hyla (middle) and Erin (right) get settled
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Day 2: Dingwall Mart

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Closeup of Culrain (A), and Dingwall (B)
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The next morning, we caught a 9am train to Dingwall, to see the livestock market (which was the reason behind this whole trip. The day we were there was prime stock day, so they were selling all of the prime lambs and prime calves off to the abbattoirs (a nice word for slaughterhouses). It was kind of cool to see how the whole thing works, and how each cow is auctioned separately. I'm pretty sure it is completely different to the mass livestock sales in the US, so it was cool to see it done in such a personal manner. We were so very out of place in this setting, and people were looking at us like "what on earth are 5 blonde girls with cameras and notebooks doing here?!" But regardless, it was a good experience.

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Calf being auctioned
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Also it was funny because the auctioneer was so stereotypical of what you'd see on tv that we could barely understand what he was saying because he was doing it in that sing-songy way and it was going so quickly! We met the auctioneer afterwards, and he's a really nice man, he gave us lots of information and even a floorplan of the market penning system to help us with our EMS forms! I love Scottish people, they're so nice!

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Us at the Livestock Market!
From L-R: Me, Erin, Jessica, Hyla, Kirsten
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After the livestock market we headed into the town of Dingwall to just look around. It was such an adorable little town and had a surprising amount in it for such a small setting. While I was there, I bought a bike! I live a bit away from school walking, so having a bike will make it much easier to get to class. Also, will be easier on my feet! :)

We had dinner in a cute little pub by the traintracks, and ate delicious burgers and fries (which are only called fries when paired with hamburgers, apparently, otherwise they are called 'chips'). Then we boarded the train and headed back!

When we got back to Carbisdale Castle we pretty much just conked out, it was a tiring day!

Day 3: Carbisdale Castle Hiking
When we got up the next morning the weather was gorgeous, so we decided to take a nice hike around the castle. There are a bunch of trails set up, I think mainly for mountainbiking, but they were just as fun to walk!

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Gorgeous weather, finally!
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Us taking a break on an oddly-placed bench!
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A pretty lake we stumbled across!
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After the walk, we pretty much just hung out around the castle until bedtime. We made dinner in the self-service kitchen and sat around chatting until we went to sleep.

Day 4: Inverness, Urquhart Castle, and Loch Ness

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We took the train from Inverness (B) to Urquhart Castle (C),
then walked to Drumnadrochit (A).
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On this last day of our adventure, we took the 9am train home. This train stopped in Inverness, though, and Jessica and I decided that instead of following the others back to Edinburgh, we were going to stay at Inverness and try and make our way to Loch Ness. Our train ticket was open-ended, afterall.

So we parted ways, and took a bus to Urquhart Castle, which is a ruin of a castle that was at one point one of the largest strongholds of Medieval Scotland. It sits right on the Loch, which makes it such a fantasticly mystical setting. No sightings of Nessie yet, but we held out hope.

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Jessica and me in front of the ruins of Urquhart Castle
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Then we decided to walk to Drumnadrochit, since the lady at the bus centre told us it was a 15 minute walk. An hour and a half or so later, we finally found Drumnadrochit. On the way though, we had a lot of fun eating blackberries by the side of the road and taking pictures of the beautiful scenery.

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Thistle with Loch Ness in the Background
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When we made it to Drumnadrochit finally we didn't really have time to do a whole lot, but we did stop in at the Original Loch Ness Monster Center, which was mainly a souvenir shop. But, at last, we had our first Nessie sighting!

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We found Nessie!
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Lastly, we ate a cup of soup and chips in a small cafe/bar, and then went to the bus stop to wait for the bus back to Inverness. Standing there in the rain for 1/2 an hour we realize that the bus is not going to come, and that the lady at the bus center told us the wrong time, and the bus had in fact been scheduled to arrive 5 minutes before we actually got to the bus stop. So we called a private taxi hire, who drove us all the way back to Inverness. She was a very nice Scottish lady, who talked to us about her dogs and Scotland and made the extra cost bearable. Plus, we weren't in the rain anymore.

Back at Inverness we had time for a bit of coffee and then got on the train back to Edinburgh. Despite the trip being amazing, I was quite glad to be sleeping in my own bed in my own space!

Ok ok.. is it a... Pegifunticorn?

Yes!

For reference to the above quote (slightly paraphrased), which has become "the new thing" with Jessica and I, see HERE. More on why that's there in a bit.

We had our first exam today. Didn't count for anything, which is quite fortunate, because none of us can quite figure out how they expect us to learn the entire (and I mean down to the nerves, arteries and veins) anatomy of the dog in 4 weeks, but whatever. Now we know that we pretty much need to study on a constant basis, and we've got until December to actually learn it for real. Parts of the written test were ok, like I'd get an entire page where I'd think "hey, I know this!" and then I'd turn the page and leave 90% of it blank. The oral part of the exam was less frightening, oddly enough, and I love Dr. Sue Kempson. She is one of the anatomy teachers, and also just a hilarious and amazing woman, and I happened to get assigned to her for the oral (which I literally did a big loud "YES!" with an arm pump in the hallway when I found out). Plus, I love her accent, and the way she says things like "You'll want to bring your rubbers to the written examination, so make sure you have plenty of rubbers. I don't think you'll need the rubbers for the oral portion though." I'm pretty sure she doesn't realize that rubbers mean something other than erasers in the good old USA.

This coming week we've got off while the freshers arrive, and so Jessica, Hyla, Erin and I are going up to Carbisdale Castle and Inverness to see a livestock market, and also to visit Loch Ness. I'm so excited! Expect lots of pictures! Maybe I'll even get a pic of Nessie or one of the ghosts of the castle!

Anyway, so back to the pegifunticorn. Yesterday during our study break, Jessica, Pookish and I went to Elephants and Bagels (which is officially my favorite cafe ever) for lunch, and we were looking at the many drawings around the wall that patrons have made of elephants and/or bagels. There are some pretty fun ones up on the wall, such as the crazy elephant which looks as though it (or possibly the artist) was on some sort of hallucinogen, or the sketch of an elephant skull that I have a suspicion was done by a Dick Vet student, or perhaps the adorable scribble of an elephant done by a small child in bright yellow marker.

As we were looking at these things and eating our bagels (sans elephants) we saw on the counter a stack of paper and some markers. So we decided to add to the glory of Elephants and Bagels by putting our own version of an elephant on the wall. I picked up the markers and away we went! I was the artist, Jessica was the colour-inner and creative inspiration, and Pookish was the moral support. One of the more sociable waitresses thought it was hilarious. The other one was on the phone, but she gave us a weird look. I'm not so sure I could blame her.

Let me walk you through it:


We start off with a simple tracing of an elephant and a bagel, but as we were thinking about our earlier conversations, in which we constantly interject the "Are you a unicorn?" game at pretty much every opportunity (and did it again just there for fun), we decided that the elephant needed a horn that was emitting magic, as Pookish describes.

Jessica then decided that it needed wings, because every kick-ass unicorn has wings (making it a pegicorn, or pegasus avec horn), so why not an elephanticorn? Thus it became a Pegifanticorn. When picking a color, we decided on bright pink, because it just seemed the proper choice. We then added eyelashes which I originally thought "Too much, too much," but then, as Jessica pointed out, the thing was already neon pink, so it probably wouldn't put it over the top.

Now as I was penning in the title, I for whatever reason decided to put a 'U' instead of an 'A' (as in PegifUnticorn), but fortunately that added to it's awesomeness, because it added a bit of FUN to our drawing.

Thus, the Pegifunticorn. Enjoy.

You Smell Like a Pig!

I have discovered today, that this is truly the worst insult anyone could ever give you. Today after a day of classes and a histology lab, we had a practical for handling pigs. They truly do smell terrible. As soon as we stepped onto the farm the smell was just revolting, and inside the pig enclosures, which are kept around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, we had to fight not to gag. Ugh.

The piglets were pretty cute, I have to admit, despite the fact that I will never want to be a pig farmer or pig veterinarian. It's just not for me. We vaccinated the little piggies today with a product called Circoflex, which basically protects the bacon precursors from something called "Pig Wasting Disease."

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Mama pig wonders what we're doing to
her babies
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Baby pigs suckling
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Me holding the bacon precursor,
post-vaccination
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After vaccinating the wee piggies, we trooped into a different pig enclosure where there were slightly bigger piggies who needed to be moved from one pen into another, so we used these ingenious devices called "pig boards," which are basically what they sound like: pieces of wood you use to push the porkers wherever you want them to go.

After doing this, which was pretty easy, albeit smelly, we proceeded to the big barn, where we met the large sows and boars. This is the breeding arena, basically, and there were different pens full of 10 or so sows each who had been "serviced" twice already that day, and were due for another servicing later that same day. The boars, who had pens all to themselves, were just lazing about waiting for their next big moment. What a life, eh?

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Sows
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The Boar
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So that was pretty much our day with the piggies. We went back on the bus, and I immediately took a shower before dinner, but even now I can still smell the pig. I feel like the smell settled in my lungs and every time I breath I can feel it. Ugh. It's just one of those smells that seeps into everything, and follows you around everywhere. Gross.

So moral of the story: If anyone ever tells you that you smell like a pig, slap them!

OR go wash yourself, you filthy animal! :)

Animals actually move?!

In the last few days, we have gotten to see actual live animals. Dissecting dead things, while cool, does get rather old and depressing after awhile. So it was very exciting to go and work with real, living, breathing animals on the farms this week.

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Living sheep!
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On Tuesday, after a day full of 2 lectures (Animal Breeding & Genetics, and Anatomy) followed by a dissection, my group was bussed out to Easter Bush farm, for a sheep practical. Here we learned how to flip sheep, which I had learned once before, but as with all things, it is one thing to know how to do it and another thing entirely to actually do it. So the practice was nice. We also learned how to trim hooves, which I remember as being extremely difficult when I did it at the Good Shepherd Farm last summer, but for some reason was quite easy this time. Maybe the breed I was working on last summer has different hooves. I dunno. Anyway. We also learned how to sex them, estimate weights, actually weigh them, estimate body score, and determine an age estimate based on teeth.

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I'm not quite sure how Anik ended up riding the sheep
but there you have it. :-P
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For whatever reason, once you get a sheep into this position, they
totally chill out, making it very easy to do whatever you need to do.
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This is a video of the proper method for flipping and sexing a sheep, as
demonstrated by our instructor, Archie.
(This video was taken from my classmate, Anik.)
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Trimming back the hooves.
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The sheep practical was really fun. I think out of all the farm animals, the sheep is the one that I could actually see myself enjoying. They're small, can't really do much damage, and are really too afraid to try anything much worse than running away or jumping obscenely high (which is really the only danger, because if your nose gets in the way of their jump you may end up with a broken nose).

Today we had another 2 lectures, same ones as yesterday, then a dissection, then we had our cow practical out at Langhill Farm (right by Easter Bush, also owned and run by the Dick Vet). The cow practical, while somewhat fun, didn't really inspire me to want to work with cows. They still scare me, because they're just these massive things that can do some serious damage to you, despite the fact that (at least in the case of the dairy cow) they aren't intentionally trying to hurt you. They were in crushes (which is a restraining device), but still they're a bit scary. Perhaps once I get more comfortable I'll be able to, but for now I'm not really a cow person. Also, cows are slightly gross. They are quite covered in feces, and they drool this foul smelling cud from their mouth.

Now you may or may not know this about me, but I have a thing about saliva. I cannot stand it. I can deal with any other bodily fluid--urine, anal glands, diarrhea, vomit, pus--you name it. But I just cannot deal with saliva of the animal nature. Sure I can fake it, like I can remember times working in front of clients in Dorchester, holding the bull mastiff's mouth open while ropes of saliva are dripping on my arms and all over me. But once I am out of that room, I have to rush to the sink to get it all off me before I gag. I don't know, it's something about the texture, and the fact that it's sticky and doesn't easily come off your hands or clothes. Ugh, even thinking about it gives me the heeby-jeebies..

Despite this, I still had to learn how to do all these things that involve sticking my fingers/hands in the cows mouth, so I sucked it up, and doubled up on rubber gloves, and replaced the top one after every time I had my hand in the cow's mouth. Also we're wearing all waterproof clothes, so at least I didn't have to worry about it on my clothes. Ick. Once I sort of got used to the idea that I was going to get it on me and there was no avoiding it, I just tried not to think about it and it got better, but still, another point against the cows.

What we learned how to do today was harnessing the cows, using a premade harness, and also learning to make one out of a piece of rope...

Anik demonstrates how to make the harness, while Bethany
learns to tie a slip knot.

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And now to harnes the actual cow!
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Then we learned how to restrain the head properly, and also to get a look/feel of the teeth and tongue. The cow only has front teeth on the bottom, so you can stick your hand around the front and sides to grip the cow and to get it to open it's mouth.

Me with a tongue. Those things are massive, and slightly gross, hence my face.
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Next, we learned how to insert a gag into the cow's mouth. When you need to examine the back of the cow's mouth, you can't go sticking your hand that far inside. While the front of the cow's mouth is relatively harmless, the molars and premolars at the back could crush your fingers if you get them in the way, so the gag keeps the mouth open while you have a look in.

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Paul, one of our teachers of the day, demonstrates
how to put in the gag.
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I should also mention a funny story about how we made Paul, the man featured in the above picture, extremely uncomfortable, because when he popped over to see how we were getting on, Anik happened to exclaim, "I've been violated!" when the cow accidentally chewed on her breast. I don't think I have ever seen anyone turn as red as Paul turned. He took it well, and, after a few minutes of not being able to talk for laughing, was able to show us a trick for putting in the gag that helped a lot. Go Anik for making the instructors uncomfortable. :)

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Me fitting the gag in, all the while extremely frightened
of those chomping premolars. I survived though, and succeeded!
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The last thing we did was learn how to pick up a cow's feet, both the back and the front, in case we ever need to examine it for any reason. For the back feet we rigged up this pulley system over the crush with a bit of rope to pull the foot up. It's a bit daunting doing this because you have to basically lean on the cow's butt while you're setting this up, praying that the thing doesn't (a) kick you, or (b) urinate/defecate on you.

For the front leg, you have to stand with your shoulder at the cow's shoulder, and push the cow over so that it shifts its weight, and then you pull the cow's knee towards you and scoop the hoof up. This may sound relatively easy, but it's not. Also, the cow can quite easily kick you with your back feet, and given how far you have to bend over to do this, your head is in prime target location. Fortunately, dairy cows are pretty docile, but still.

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Me lifting up a cow's foot! Keep in mind this animal
is 530 kilos. Very heavy!
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After all this, we talked about things like body condition and estimating weight and stuff before cleaning up and heading home. So the day of the moo-cows was a success, and I am confident that, while I don't particularly have any desire to do any of those things again, I am capable of doing them all.

While seeing living animals was a nice change, I am quite looking forward to a break from practicals tomorrow. Instead we have a lecture on ultrasound in the afternoon tomorrow, which I am very excited about! I can already tell that I'm going to be really sore tomorrow morning, so the respite will be nice. :)