News From The Mews

I have very stressful memories of learning to make braided paracord jesses during one of my internships years ago. The process requires threading one piece of paracord through another. I learned to burn one end of the cord and push it through with a bent paperclip. Frustration ensued as it often took 10 or 20 attempts to pass it through completely. Luckily, I found a new tool that makes it much easier. The fid is a blunt needle made for weaving or lacing paracord. The fid holds onto one end of paracord and can smoothly guide it through the second piece of cord. Now this step of the jess-making process takes just 1 or 2 attempts. Whew! I learned that the Latin word fides means "trust." The root can be found in words like con fid ence or fid elity. I don't know if the paracord fid was named after  fides,  but I certainly feel like I can trust this piece of equipment to keep my frustration at bay.

  Digger peeks out of the humidity box after shedding her skin!

"Please drop the fur," I begged Aldo. It's breeding season and the American Kestrel seems more interested in showing off his food than eating it. Normally I don't mind if he holds on to his meal. But we had special guests visiting the Museum and I did not want Aldo meeting the Governor with a piece of half-gnawed mouse leg hanging from his mouth. Luckily he dropped the leftovers in his crate and we went outside to meet the group. Aldo was able to do what he does best - impress the audience with his tiny but mighty charisma - without a distracting rodent embellishment.