Isn’t January a bleak month? Summer seems like so long ago, and still so far off… So here is some blue sky for all those northern hemisphere readers who have forgotten what it looks like:
Posts tagged Inspiration
Clicky knees? It’s a sign of sexual prowess.
In antelopes anyway. It’s true, researchers at the ZSL have discovered that male elands’ physical and sexual prowess is demonstrated by the pitch of the ‘click’ made by tendons in the leg slipping over the bones, which varies according to the bull’s size. You can listen to a sound clip here. I know that reindeer also use this mechanism of tendon-clicking to keep track of each other in poor visibilty – certainly a novel evolutionary mechanism!
It’s little facts like this that helped to spark my initial interest in Zoology, and made me want to study it more. Thing is, studying opens up more and more questions! But I’m finding that my questions are becoming increasingly veterinary-orientated – for example, one of my first thoughts about the above article was, how on earth do male elands prevent tendonitis?! Anyone??
So, next time you’re complaining about your clicky knees, take comfort in the fact that if you’re ever lost in the snow, at least the reindeer will be able to find you.
Go for it!
I also noticed when perusing my Blog Stats, that one of the most common searches which I was found under was ‘teacher discouraging want to be a vet’. If this applies to you, there’s one thing I’d say: GO FOR IT.
Some teachers haven’t got the foggiest idea about vet school applications, apart from the fact that it’s competitive and you have to work hard. What I’d say to that is, ANY worthwhile career that you’re interested in will be competitive and you’ll have to work hard for it. But does that mean you’ll be happy to settle for a job you don’t want to do?
I had careers advisers – the very people who are supposed to be encouraging you – telling me that I probably wouldn’t get in because I don’t live on a farm and because my parents aren’t vets. Having now gone through the application process, and spoken to numerous vets and vet students I can tell you that it’s a load of rubbish. If you research things yourself, talk to vets themselves, and get some work experience, you’ll soon be able to tell for yourself whether VetMed is for you.
If you want to become a vet then I’d say give it the best darned shot you can, and don’t let anyone try to persuade you that you want to become a teacher instead!!
Me practising suturing
