Week 1, Day 4: Parrots, Parelli, and Pigs!

Yesterday (Friday) was the fourth and final day of my first week as an official Best Friends Intern. What a week! I cannot tell you how much I love Best Friends. It is everything I hoped it would be and more (and I had some very high expectations about it coming into this experience).

I woke up Friday morning, exhausted as usual, and checked my schedule for the day. I was assigned to work the morning shift in Feathered Friends. I audibly groaned and just wanted to go back to bed. After getting bitten yesterday in a sneak attack by a parrot, I really didn't want to spend my morning with them! I had quickly developed a fear of them. But, I got ready for work and braced myself for a tough morning. When I arrived at Feathered Friends, the first thing I did was put in my ear plugs. One single cockatoo can reach an ear piercing squawk of 135 decibels; that's just 5 decibels fewer than a 747 airplane!

We had to wait until the temperatures rose to about 60 degrees before we could move the birds who live their days outside, but sleep inside, into their outdoor pens. I had not planned on getting anywhere close to a parrot after yesterday, but before I knew it, I was helping carry birds out to their enclosures outside. It was pretty scary for me, especially because I know that one of the birds I was carrying, a macaw, has the bite strength of about 700 pounds per square inch! Luckily, I had a much better experience today and did not have any trouble with bites. It was really great to go back there right away so that I didn't let my fear develop. I actually had a pretty decent time working in Parrots! Here's a photo one of the macaws and also a typical pen for one of the birds (I had just cleaned it). These birds have more toys than some children! They definitely do not lack for stimulation!

I had to leave my shift at Parrots early so that I could make it to the other end of the sanctuary for what turned out to be the highlight of my week. All the interns were able to go watch a demonstration of the natural horsemanship technique that is used to work with all the horses at Best Friends. I've been around horses throughout my life and have never seen anything but traditional horse training, so I came into this having heard both good and bad things about Parelli training (there are multiple methods of natural horsemanship, but Parelli is the one used here at Best Friends). I promised myself I'd keep an open mind, and what I found was that after watching this demo, my mind was completely blown. It honestly changed my entire view of horses and horsemanship. I will never be the same after watching it! It was beautiful and relied on communication, love, leadership, and respect between human and horse. I saw a horse who was once feral do things that most horses would never be able to do. And he did it all while projecting a body language that he was calm, happy, and stimulated. Amazing!

Did you know that the term "level headed" comes from horses? I had no idea! But apparently, when their heads are level with their necks and backs (in other words, they do not have their head held very high), they are generally relaxed and comfortable. I could go on and on about Parelli and I'm excited to see how I can fit more of it into my internship. Here's a little video clip showing a horse being "lunged," an exercise often done before riding a horse in which the horse moves in circles around the trainer. I can't tell you how many horses I've seen lunged with whips (usually not actually hitting the horse, but if I were a horse, I personally wouldn't like someone whipping near me all the time to keep me running! This short clip shows a horse being lunged Parelli-style with no whip or even verbal cues from the trainer. The horse does everything the trainer wants. Truly awesome stuff.

After our Parelli demonstration, we headed to lunch. Again, I can't state enough how wonderful the cafeteria is. It's usually quite crowded, so you can't always sit with people you know. But you can walk up and introduce yourself to a complete stranger and share a meal with them. You never know who you're going to meet! It could be a staff member, a volunteer with a powerful story of how they got there, or even a founder. I sat with a few interns and also a couple visiting to volunteer. The man had a very nice DSLR camera on the table with him and I asked him a question about it. For the rest of lunch, I learned more about photography and what lenses to purchase and how to take better shots than I ever have in any class. I could have talked to them for hours, but I had to go back down to the lower canyon to work my afternoon shift in Piggy Paradise!

I didn't know what to expect working with pigs, but I was pretty excited about it. My only pig experience (aside from having swine flu several years ago!) was brief encounters with Squeaky, the office pig at Horse Haven. The caregiver I was working with started off by introducing me to the pig residents of Best Friends. There are two pigs who are a mix of wild boar and some sort of farm pig. They're about 200-300 lbs now and will probably double in size, since they're still young. They are so smart. They come when called, which is more than can be said for many dogs! Then I met the rest of the pigs, who are all potbellies. I was in love at first snort. 

Pigs are incredibly intelligent and affectionate! They have a multitude of ways that they express how they're feeling. For example, I sat down on the ground and gave a pig a belly rub (they love them as much as dogs do!). The top bit of fur on her back was standing straight up, which, the caregiver informed me, meant she was very content in this situation. Another pig, several feet away from me started grunting and complaining. He was not getting a tummy rub and wanted one! I told him he was too far away for me to reach. He actually got up and came closer and then plopped down and rolled over for his belly rub. The funny thing was that he actually rolled over on top of my legs instead of rolling away, so I'd have access to a tummy. This 200 lb potbellied pig had decided he was a lap pig! Extracting my leg from underneath him was no easy task, but luckily, he was not hurting me at all.

After getting to know the pigs a bit, we went grocery shopping in town for their food (they eat lots of veggies!) and then came back and I prepared dinner for all of them. The caregiver and I went into the enclosures and fed all the pigs. The pigs used to be all separated into single enclosures, but a pig expert came to Best Friends a while back and the first thing she did was let all of them out into one big enclosure. You might think, since the pigs had been showing aggressive behaviors while being housed singly, that this would lead to disaster. But actually pigs are very social animals! They develop friendships and really enjoy each other's company. The pigs became less aggressive, happier, and have lived communally ever since.

The last thing I did before heading home on Friday was head over to the weekly intern meeting. Unfortunately for me, as I am quite directionally challenged, this building is not on the sanctuary map. I drove and drove and got more and more lost. Finally I ended up at a house with a huge dog run and tons of dogs outside. I thought maybe it was another dog run outside of DogTown that I didn't know about, but I saw a man outside and rolled down my window to ask for help. He came over and was as nice as could be. This was actually his house and he is one of the Best Friends founders! He helped get me back on track and I apologized for ending up in his driveway. He laughed it off and wished me well on my internship, glad that I was enjoying my time here so far.

So my first week here is done! I am now sitting on a lazy Saturday morning, surrounded by animals at my host family's house. I somehow pulled a muscle in my leg yesterday, so I'm enjoying just resting it today. I think I may go for a walk in a park nearby with some other interns later this afternoon. Happy weekend, everyone!