Normal

With each day feeling increasingly abnormal, I am so grateful that my animals are here to remind me what's normal. Swallowing a huge chunk of mouse, nearly choking on it, but getting it down anyway? Yes, that's totally normal for an American Kestrel!

While the Museum is closed, we are trying to keep the birds' lives as normal as possible. That means we're still coming in to prepare food, perform health checks, lead training sessions, and create enrichment items. I have a sign taped to the wall of our food prep area that reads, "the quality of our work is the quality of their lives." When I step into that room, it reminds me to drop all of my concerns at the door and focus, at least for an hour or two, on maintaining our animals' welfare, regardless of what else is happening in the world.