1 00:00:02,523 --> 00:00:04,025 [chattering] 2 00:00:04,108 --> 00:00:06,610 [children shouting] 3 00:00:10,364 --> 00:00:11,365 [Mylniczenko] Hi, sweetheart. 4 00:00:13,159 --> 00:00:15,411 Peri is a prehensile-tailed porcupine. 5 00:00:15,745 --> 00:00:19,915 She's been trained to allow us to do ultrasounds on her. 6 00:00:20,708 --> 00:00:25,880 Giving us an opportunity to track her pregnancy from conception until birth. 7 00:00:27,089 --> 00:00:30,176 That way we could tell that she was healthy, that the baby was healthy. 8 00:00:32,928 --> 00:00:36,265 So, when there's a fetus, it makes it a lot easier to see. 9 00:00:36,348 --> 00:00:39,685 And right now, we're just being able to see her urinary bladder. 10 00:00:39,769 --> 00:00:42,271 And then you can see a hint of her uterus popping in. 11 00:00:42,355 --> 00:00:44,190 Now we're just doing checkups on her, 12 00:00:44,273 --> 00:00:47,777 but we're also going to be preparing for a second pregnancy. 13 00:00:49,695 --> 00:00:51,947 Ever since I've been a small child, 14 00:00:52,031 --> 00:00:55,701 I've just tried to help animals and help heal them. 15 00:00:55,785 --> 00:00:59,205 And so that's just been an innate part of my growing up. 16 00:01:00,581 --> 00:01:01,582 There we go. 17 00:01:18,099 --> 00:01:20,976 [Mylniczenko] I came here for a visit during a vet conference, 18 00:01:21,060 --> 00:01:23,479 and I was just impressed. 19 00:01:23,562 --> 00:01:25,231 I loved the facilities. 20 00:01:25,314 --> 00:01:29,151 I loved the opportunity to care for the animals as well. 21 00:01:29,235 --> 00:01:34,699 As I got to know all of the veterinarians, I just thought it was an amazing team. 22 00:01:35,366 --> 00:01:39,537 And because of all of that, I was really enticed to come here. 23 00:01:41,163 --> 00:01:42,832 I think that's what I love most. 24 00:01:43,207 --> 00:01:47,086 We have a diversity of animals, both terrestrial and aquatic. 25 00:01:47,169 --> 00:01:49,338 It allows people to really get close. 26 00:01:49,422 --> 00:01:51,924 It allows people to understand the animals, 27 00:01:52,007 --> 00:01:56,345 and it gives them an opportunity to care and bond with those animals. 28 00:01:57,388 --> 00:02:04,061 We have folks that come up here regularly that... know all of the different animals. 29 00:02:04,145 --> 00:02:08,691 Like the gorillas. There are some people that know all of the gorillas by name. 30 00:02:09,442 --> 00:02:14,321 And the guests will just visit them, which is a unique opportunity. 31 00:02:16,198 --> 00:02:19,702 We do routine examinations on many of our animals. 32 00:02:19,785 --> 00:02:22,413 And today we did an examination on a southern stingray. 33 00:02:23,122 --> 00:02:25,916 -...at 950, so we got a good mark on her. -Perfect. 34 00:02:26,250 --> 00:02:29,879 This is a female that's been with us. Her name is Dexy. 35 00:02:32,131 --> 00:02:34,133 pH is 8.6. 36 00:02:34,675 --> 00:02:37,720 So, right now we're measuring the oxygen level 37 00:02:37,803 --> 00:02:41,223 of the... area that she's in. 38 00:02:41,307 --> 00:02:43,559 Today she's getting her routine exam. 39 00:02:43,642 --> 00:02:46,228 And so, because of that, we need to do a little bit more. 40 00:02:46,312 --> 00:02:48,230 Let's go ahead and look at her gills. 41 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,987 So, her cardiac contractions are great. Her rhythm and rate are great. 42 00:02:55,071 --> 00:02:56,822 So, I have no concerns right now. 43 00:02:56,906 --> 00:02:58,991 We took an ultrasound as well, 44 00:02:59,075 --> 00:03:02,161 which gives me an excellent view of all of her organs 45 00:03:02,244 --> 00:03:05,414 so I can determine health of her, you know, from the inside. 46 00:03:05,498 --> 00:03:07,750 Yeah, it feels like it's actually healed. 47 00:03:07,833 --> 00:03:11,879 A typical day can mean anything from doing a pregnancy exam on a scorpion, 48 00:03:11,962 --> 00:03:16,509 to a bird gets an injury in one of our aviaries. 49 00:03:17,676 --> 00:03:19,762 You do have to get quite creative. 50 00:03:20,346 --> 00:03:22,181 Every day we have to figure out 51 00:03:22,264 --> 00:03:26,685 how to put a bandage on an animal that wouldn't normally have a bandage. 52 00:03:26,769 --> 00:03:29,105 So, how would you put a bandage on a fish? 53 00:03:29,188 --> 00:03:33,526 Or a very tiny bird that has a broken leg? How do you fix that broken leg? 54 00:03:33,609 --> 00:03:37,863 And so you come up with toothpicks and tape, sometimes to make splints. 55 00:03:41,033 --> 00:03:45,037 And then the conservation piece. Disney really cares about conservation. 56 00:03:45,538 --> 00:03:49,792 All of us have an opportunity to work with conservation that Disney supports. 57 00:03:50,209 --> 00:03:53,796 I'm particularly interested in working with gorillas 58 00:03:53,879 --> 00:03:58,551 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a program called GRACE. 59 00:03:58,634 --> 00:04:02,388 And that's the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center 60 00:04:02,471 --> 00:04:05,474 that cares for orphaned gorillas. 61 00:04:06,058 --> 00:04:10,312 We can then have those gorillas rehabilitated, 62 00:04:10,396 --> 00:04:12,648 and then placed into a family group of gorillas, 63 00:04:12,732 --> 00:04:17,069 with the ultimate goal of reintroducing them to a safe environment. 64 00:04:18,738 --> 00:04:20,406 -[Mylniczenko] What do you think? -[keeper] Probably. 65 00:04:20,489 --> 00:04:22,533 -[Mylniczenko] Okay. -[keeper] I could leave her right there. 66 00:04:23,075 --> 00:04:25,745 -Does that work? -[Mylniczenko] That can work. 67 00:04:25,828 --> 00:04:30,332 All of our animals have bitey parts and scratchy parts. [chuckles] 68 00:04:30,416 --> 00:04:34,920 Yeah, there are times when you just need to make sure you understand the animal. 69 00:04:35,004 --> 00:04:38,257 But we also have keeper staff that really know the animals well 70 00:04:38,340 --> 00:04:40,843 and can help us with safety issues. 71 00:04:40,926 --> 00:04:41,927 [keeper] Oh, yeah. 72 00:04:44,430 --> 00:04:45,514 [Mylniczenko] Good job. 73 00:04:45,598 --> 00:04:46,849 They choose. Right? 74 00:04:46,932 --> 00:04:49,852 They can make the decisions to come and participate if they're-- 75 00:04:49,935 --> 00:04:52,855 with their medical care or they can choose to go. 76 00:04:53,981 --> 00:04:54,982 [keeper] Hey, girl. 77 00:04:55,816 --> 00:04:57,902 -[Mylniczenko] What a good job. -[keeper] Good girl. That's very nice. 78 00:04:57,985 --> 00:05:02,823 Sometimes what we do is really amazing. We get to see animals through birth. 79 00:05:02,907 --> 00:05:05,910 -[Mylniczenko] What a good girl. -[keeper] Good girl. Good girl. 80 00:05:08,579 --> 00:05:10,081 She's doing such a good job. 81 00:05:10,498 --> 00:05:15,294 We get to see them overcome issues, and those are amazing things. 82 00:05:16,629 --> 00:05:19,465 Being a veterinarian is probably one of, 83 00:05:19,548 --> 00:05:21,425 in my opinion, [chuckles] 84 00:05:21,509 --> 00:05:23,886 the most rewarding jobs you can have. 85 00:05:23,969 --> 00:05:28,724 Sweetie. It's just for you. I know. It's just for you. Yummies. Yummies.