Working closely with an animal - and cleaning up after it - gives me a whole new appreciation for the species in the wild. For instance, as an intern at Como Zoo I found that the spider monkey's exhibit glass had to be scrubbed every morning. I often had trouble discerning if a smudge was on the monkey's side of the glass or the visitor's side. Greasy fingers appeared to be a trait that zoo-going children shared with the monkeys. While maybe not useful knowledge, I love discovering details about an animal that I would never learn from a book or documentary.
A Red-tailed Hawk presents a completely different cleaning challenge. Like Bald Eagles, red-tails spend significant energy building a stick nest. They reuse the nest year after year so it is in their best interest to keep it clean. What can they do with inevitable poop, or mute, from an incubating parent and growing chicks? Their solution is quite simple: with a tail raise, a high-velocity mute can be shot up and over the edge of the nest. (These two eagle chicks were caught with impressive mutes on the Decorah Eagles nest cam.)
With such projectile mutes, it can be rather hazardous stepping into Carson's mew. Mutes cover the ground (I often get some stuck to my shoe in the summer) and create a whitewash effect on the wall behind her favorite perch. During warm months, the walls can be blasted clean with a hose. But cleaning at this time of year requires buckets of hot water, a scrub brush, some elbow grease, and accepting that it won't come truly clean until we can break out the power washer in the spring.
(Kestrels like Aldo drop their mutes straight down. That makes it much quicker and easier to clean the small space under his favorite perch!)
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