Natureland - Mana Stratton, vet
Mana Stratton is a veterinarian.
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Vets by clicking here.
What animals do you work with?
Anything that comes along, but my main interests are native birds,
reptiles, camelids, marine mammals and other exotics.
Your most memorable animal story?
First time I came home from university I discovered my mother was
having to walk up the 3.5 acre steep hill paddock that my ponies
lived in to check they were all right even though I had trained
them to come to a whistle.
They had stopped coming when they discovered it was my mother each
day regardless of the fact she brought them a food treat.
Early the first morning as I walked along the street to the paddock
I looked up to see my wee mare up the hill at the same time she
looked up saw me, whinnied and galloped down the hill and was
waiting at the gate when I got there with the other two close
behind!
What made you want to become a vet?
As a small child I wanted to know how bodies worked so I could help
sick animals.
Any memorable stories from the vet
clinic?
Well there's the time I super-glued my mother to a turtle who's
fractured shell I was trying to repair! Or the close encounter
with a startled bull seal who's whiskers brushed my hand as he
lunged at me on his way past.
But one of the most satisfyingly memorable occasions was the time I
was sent with a dart pistol to sedate a stag who had wire tangled
in his antlers. Given the pistol had a range of 4-5m I
assumed the stag must be in a yard but unable to be got into a shed
pen where I could use my pole syringe. Turned out there was no
yard or shed. The stag was in a paddock of several acres with
its hinds plus horses and sheep and to compound the situation it
was the rut season.
The farmer's solution was to round the stag and hinds up by horse
back and drive them between the fence and a stand of trees while I
'hid' behind the last tree, which had a 10cm diameter
trunk!
As a blur of deer leapt past me the farmer yelled out "next ones
the stag". That was my cue and I fired getting a bull's-eye as
the stag leapt past me coming to a rest under a very large willow
tree surrounded by dry leaves.
I quickly reloaded the dart pistol knowing one dart was not
sufficient in this case and headed for the stag. In order to
get within 4-5m to get a second dart in it I had to painstakingly
creep my way across the leaves making no sound or the stag would
startle and run off.
The second dart startled the stag but it soon came to rest on the
ground. We removed the wire and I reversed the
sedation. Mission accomplished!
What animal would you like to have in your
backyard?
Currently have quite a variety of animals. If I had to choose
only one animal I would probably choose a horse or pony providing I
could bond with it at birth.
What animal would you most like to see in the
wild?
Any animal native to whatever region I visit.
Where in the world have you worked and what animals did you
treat there?
Work experience with vets in America including San Diego Wild
Animal Park, San Diego Sea World and San Pedro Marine Mammal Rehab
centre in LA - variety of animals including cheetah and orca;
Alpacas in Nuñoa Peru; NZ Sea Lion-Auckland Islands; NZ Fur
seal-Open Bay Islands; Mixed animal practice- Fairlie and Motueka;
Marine Mammal Post mortems - Palmerston North; Production animals-
Balclutha, Invercargill, Hokitika, Wellington and Nelson; Exotics,
reptiles and native birds -Nelson.
Which animal do you relate to the
most?
Sick, injured and/or frightened.
What do you love most about your job?
The challenge.
What would you change about your job?
Make it full time.
If you could make one change to help save endangered/native
animals what would it be?
Relocate people who move into wildlife areas and then complain
about the wildlife and request DoC relocate the wildlife.
Advice for future vets?
Get plenty of experience handling animals, think outside the square
and be sure you want to be a vet for the right reasons.
Tell us an animal joke
Q- What do cows eat for breakfast?
A- Moosli
