[VET] Dawn Solves Everything

Dr. Markus Kingman sighed as he dragged his hand down his face. One of the microraptors - the new one, Ming - had large bald patches covering her body where she’d scratched and plucked too hard. She’d been itching fiercely and when employees had come into work that day, she’d practically made herself naked. Currently, she sat in an incubator to help regulate her temperature while Markus worked out what was going on. They weren’t horribly far from the microraptor habitat, and he could faintly hear the screeches and calls from the rest of the flock down the hall. Beside him, Ming chirped and made quieter noises of displeasure, periodically interrupted by intense bouts of itching. 

Markus sighed, pulling on a pair of latex gloves as a precaution before he opened the incubator. Ming spread her arms in agitation, flapping them and looking ridiculous in the process. He shook his head. “Little lady, that isn’t how you act.”

He carefully wrapped his hands around her and pulled her out, smirking at the indignant squawk she let out as he scooped her up like a chicken and set her back down on the examination table. Already though, he had a suspicion as she tried reaching back and nibbling at herself. He tapped her nose and she snorted at him, flicking her head. Tiny little forms crawled over her body - little forms with too many legs and not the right shape for fleas. Mites. Great. Markus sighed and scratched at the top of her head, and she gave a noise that indicated to him that she’d accept his offering this time. “Mites. You have mites. How.”

She cooed and tilted her head to the side, obviously not understanding a word he said. He pulled his radio off his lab coat and paged in that someone needed to check the enclosure and the other microraptors for mites. “... Check the new plants that were just put in.”

It was a hunch, but right now, he had a microraptor he had to bathe. Markus turned to the sink nearby and started it up. Without prompting, he heard a flutter of feathers and found Ming next to him, her head tilting this way and that as she studied the water intently before she stopped to bring a foot up to scratch rapidly at the underside of her chin, and he marveled at how careful she was with her killing claw. He worked to adjust the temperature, using his bare wrist to test the temperature. 

When it was just right, Markus opened a cupboard, looking for a particular kind of soap: Dawn dish soap. He then grabbed a tote from under the sink who’s lid had a hole in it big enough for the raptor’s head to fit through. Duct tape lined the edge of the hole, and while it looked rough, it worked for these purposes. Tiffany had introduced him to the idea - except they used it for chickens where she came from, not prehistoric, toothy dinosaurs. Carefully, he filled it with a mix of the soap and the warm water, keeping Ming in his periphery as she poked her muzzle into the water then jumped back with a squawk, her feathers fluffed up. He chuckled and once the bin was to the right level, he turned off the water and carefully set the bin on the floor. Now came the hard part. 

He slowly straightened, wincing at a twinge in his back, before he grabbed the lid and carefully set it down next to the bin. Slowly, he stood up again and plucked up the ‘demon chicken’, who didn’t mind being picked up this time - though she’d regret it in a moment. He carefully set her in the water, and she immediately started trying to climb him, screeching in displeasure and to let him know what for. He winced again, using one hand to hold Ming in the bin and his other to quickly put the lid on the thing. It clicked in place and her head popped out like an angry turtle, snapping at him with her needle teeth. She thrashed, trying to free herself, but the lid was locked in place.

Markus sighed in relief, before he went to the mini-fridge they kept on hand in the examination room. Ming screeched her displeasure, and the array of vocalisations was impressive as he ignored her. He could hear the bin scraping on the tiles, and was glad he’d remembered to put the bin on the floor, else she’d probably hurl herself off whatever surface it was. He opened the fridge and immediately found what he was after. He grabbed the container, shut the door, then grabbed a pair of tongs from where they lived in a cup on top of the fridge. He then turned and slowly lowered himself to the floor with a grunt. He was getting too old for this nonsense. 

“Ming~” He said gently, his voice near sing-song as he tried to get her attention. He popped open the container and carefully scooped out a big fat hornworm with the tongs. Ming’s grey-brown eyes snapped to the container and the prize inside. He offered it to her, and she gladly accepted the offering, tossing her head back to swallow it. “Good girl.”

He continued to bribe her with various treats to help keep her calm, and also to try and associate the bath with good things, though with how smart microraptors were, he highly doubted it would work. After ten minutes of letting her soak in the bin, he leaned over to another cupboard and flicked it open, grabbing a towel found inside. He then carefully popped the lid on the bin and took it off, and she immediately darted out, trying to flap her drenched wings to get airborne, though it didn’t work.

“Oh come here, you little…” He scooped up the menace, not caring if he got wet in the process and turned on the faucet again. A quick, though messy rinse, later, and she was wrapped in a blanket in the incubator again. Already she seemed far less itchy, and Markus smiled as he watched her eyes slowly close in the nice, snug, warm space. Good. It meant she felt safe.

Now to figure out where the mites had even come from.