Poor Eleanor!

Eleanor started her 'duties' yesterday at university, which means she has to start early & finish late.

As she didn't get home till nearly 8pm last night, she did a thirteen & a half hour day.

She was really tired!

She also had to walk half a mile down a busy, dark & winding country road to get to the bus stop. She was quite scared.

So today I've given her a torch and a high viz jacket so she can be seen.

My mum and myself will also be pulling long days soon as we head into our main school holidays.
Eleanor you have all my sympathy. It comes to an end eventually

13hr shifts are hard going. Esp when you have to get up so early again the next day

Hayley wrote:13hr shifts are hard going. Esp when you have to get up so early again the next day

Yes, she has a full 7 days of it, although Sunday is slightly shorter & her dad can give her a lift home!

I'm so glad I've grown out of having to do that - my old bones wouldn't cope any more!

Very tired, but the work's good, so it isn't too bad! I could have done without some nasty person throwing something at me from his car, though, as I walked back down the country road a couple of hours ago. It hurt.

Oh babe, what a nasty man. I am sorry that happened.

As for the work... my dear old gran (R.I.P) used to always tell me.... do something you really love & you will never feel that you are working.

Just got home! The early bus was late, so I managed to get it!

I enjoy the work, but it's definitely very hard! And I got attacked by a green iguana and a green basilisk. To just about sum up the basilisk: he's about two feet long and his species was given the name 'basilisk' because of their terrifying stare and ferocious temper, after the mythical creature. Not a nice lizard!

Awww, cute little pussycat!

You should take up some Karate it seems. Jackie Chan that bloody lizard.

I don't think I'd win against the iguana, even then! He had me cornered at the end of the walk-in enclosure, as he thought I had his food. I had to duck and cover so that he didn't whip me in the face with his evil tail!

Iguanas are very nasty. I've heard many a tail about them.



Couldn't resist

Oh, you!

Years ago on S's forum we had a member that was very into all sorts of lizards. He said his iguanas were the worst of them.

Cute and cuddly lizards then

It's a tiring week but glad you are enjoying it

That honestly doesn't surprise me! They're quite passive and chilled, until they decide something/someone is a threat. And that can involve even just taking offence because somebody moves their hand too quickly or looks at them the wrong way! Plus, they're kept together as a mating pair, so sexual aggression is often an issue.

Also, a fun fact: iguanas are extremely sensitive to a woman's menstrual cycle. When a woman is at that time of the month, or is within one week of approaching it, male iguanas are very likely to behave aggressively towards them. The aggression is quite sudden and violent, so I'm having to be very careful at the moment!

Having said that, I wasn't happy with my students in the Exotics centre, as they were refusing to go into the iguana enclosure because (and I quote), "The male iguana is trying to attack me!"

No, the male iguana was not trying to attack you. He was sitting on his platform, shifting around uncomfortably because he was shedding and hadn't been misted down properly in the morning duties. When he opened his mouth, it was because he was expecting to be misted.

And also... the male iguana was across the other side of the enclosure. The one the student was talking about was actually the female iguana, who was eating her dinner.

I had to go into the enclosure myself and mist the poor things down with three entire bottles of water. The humidity in there had dropped right down to 30%, when it was supposed to be up in the 60s.