The One That Got Away

Stephanie Massey, Texas A&M University

Experiences, Honorable Mention

Feverishly squirming with no other objective but freedom. Flailing arms with dangerous, dragon like claws and beady eyes sizing up his captors. 

“Let’s just put him back in the cage,” the grad student in our group suggested.

Our victim: a white lab rat, at the mercy of a group of first year veterinary students simply trying to learn about the effects of hormones on the body during their weekly physiology lab.

His captor started edging towards the box, his prison. His senses heightened, the rat began struggling, going into an alligator like roll clawing mercilessly at the first year’s bare hands. She managed to drop him in his box and was beginning to close the lid when the rat quickly took his opportunity for escape, making an incredible leap out of the box and off the table. He rapidly scurried along the floor from one cubicle area into another group’s. Over eight veterinary students hot on his trail, we surely had the rat surrounded.

He was cornered, with only a cabinet at his back, nowhere for him to go. Trapped like the rat he was. The eight veterinary students began closing in on him slowly from every angle. And suddenly, POOF! As if by magic, the rat was gone.

We ran to the cabinet at this point and frantically tried to open it, hoping to recover our lost prisoner, but the cabinet was securely fastened. Upon closer inspection a small hole was noted going from the floor into the cabinet. One of my classmates quickly contacted a technician to unlock the cabinet. We were on hot pursuit of our prey, we had him now. How could he escape the cabinet?

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Reproduction block inspired cartoons

Chanel Baron, UC Davis

Foot In Mouth Disease, Honorable Mention

"Aquarmetra"

"Placenta"

Some light snacking...

Caitlyn Lennon, Western University

Life as a Vet Student, Honorable Mention

My dog, Dorado, has severe allergies and is on a hypoallergenic diet. My family had gathered at our house for Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone was very interested in hearing about what sorts of things dogs were allergic to and how the hypoallergenic diets work. Everyone, that is, except grandma. Grandma was more interested in snacking on the variety of goodies displayed on the dining room table. About halfway through the conversation, grandma decided to join the group. She had a sour, disgusted look on her face. I looked at her, quite puzzled. She turned to me and said, "Those macadamia nuts taste disgusting!" My mother walked over to the table, muttering, "I didn't put out any macadamia nuts." Suddenly she burst out laughing and I realized what had happened. Unbeknownst to me my mother had placed Dorado's bowl of food on the dining table temporarily as the other dogs were trying to steal it. My grandma had seen the round, white kibbles and decided those looked quite tasty! They most definitely were not. The laughter did not stop for the entire night. 

"Dairying Ant", "Upside Down", and "WesternU Sees Rain"

Andrew Tsai, Western University

Creative Corner, Winner

"Dairying Ant" - "Some species of ants 'farm' aphids, protecting them on the plants they eat, eating the honeydew the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals... These 'dairying ants' 'milk' the aphids by stroking them with their antennae." -A. Tsai

"Upside Down" - This picture is intentionally inverted. Please rotate the monitor/phone for maximum mind blowing. -A. Tsai

"WesternU Sees Rain" - If you've seen WesternU's campus, you know it doesn't look like this. One of my favorite parts about rain is how it transforms the ordinary: even though we look at the same scene, we see something different. -A.Tsai

Mineshaft Story

Meaghan Ryan - Texas A&M

Experiences - Winner

It was the year before I got into vet school, my sister had just rescued a black pit bull/ lab mix and I was back home in Arizona with the family for the holidays. Arizona’s weather is usually the best in the winter so as a pretty active family we try to take full advantage of that, and do as many outdoor activities as possible, including hiking. One hike will always be instilled in my memory.

It wasn’t a very difficulty hike, just long and hard to get to, but what made it exciting were the old abandoned mines that you could explore up the mountain. We were ready for the adventure; setting out early it was my 2 brothers, sister, and her dog, Boogie. We were probably about two hours in, when we came across the first mine. We turned on our headlamps and proceeded to follow my oldest brother, David, as he led the way. The mine was structurally sound and went deep into the mountain. We finally got to a caved-in area that stopped any further progress. David was looking through a hole at the top of the caved-in area when we heard a distant low growl coming from the other wall. We all looked at each other and took off running. In this area, coyotes are not a rare thing, and we all thought it had to have been a coyotes den, and getting out of there was the best way to resolve that, especially with Boogie nearby.

Once back out of the mine, we followed the trail as it climbed the mountain. Switching back and forth along the way we came across a few more mines that were unsafe, with missing wooden planks framing the inside. One was particularly scary with a giant hole that just dropped straight down and a few wooden planks that lay over it. We decided to play it safe and continue up the mountain.

After a few minutes taking in the beautiful Arizona view of the Colorado River and the Mohave Mountains, we began our descent down. We passed all the same mines, Boogie getting a little tired kept close to our group. We passed the entrance of one of the mines and for no reason, Boogie decided to go into one. We called

for her, but she did not come back out. Panic came across me, as I came to the realization that, this was the mine with the giant whole that dropped straight down. I ran into the mine and shouted for her, my brothers bravely walked across the plank over the hole and ran to the end of the mine to see if she was on the other side.

Nothing.

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