Game Pens

The game pens contain animals that we can use for our education. The two species we were able to learn about while in the game pens were mallards and Canada Geese. While in the pens, we learned how to hold Canada Geese as well as do basic measurements such as a measurement from the back of the head to the skull. These measurements can be fundamental in knowing the relative size of the rest of the bones in the bodies. When we worked with the mallards, we were able to see how to gently force them into the pen where we would be able to capture them. Who knew that kneeling and standing up can scare a mallard into an even smaller enclosure than they were already in?

For the mallards, we were actually able to capture them ourselves. As soon as they fly towards someone, they will flutter back down, as they touch the ground the objective is to push the mallard down firmly but gently to the ground. We then learned the proper way to hold the legs so that even if the duck tries to fly away, our firm grip will prevent the escape.

This was a very interesting lab, mixed with learning the ducks and geese of the world and a combination of actually getting the basic methods of handling and working with the ducks/geese.