Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet

Coming through!

This time, Michelle Oakley wrangles the fast and the furious.

Wow, he hit hard. Oh, hey!

Squaring off in a bison bullfight!

Olé! That'll work.

While Sierra and Maya attempt to collect a sensitive sample.

Ah, I'm gonna be too slow! Wow!

I know, that's your sore bladder.

And it's a race against time

to save the life of a beloved friend.

It's just full of blood.

Ooh!

I'm so sorry.

On the wide open backroads of Alaska,

nothing can keep Dr. Michelle Oakley and her daughters

from their appointment at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

Oh, look at the elk right here.

You're so cute.

Nothing, that is, except for roadside animal distractions.

Oh, look at all the, what is that down there?

Are those bison or horses?

Horses.

We love how all these animals can live wild here.

It's really important to take time out of any busy day

and pull over and take it in.

Mom. Look at it gallop!

A porcupine was, like, galloping.

You know, you got to slow down and watch the porcupine.

Pulling over.

Stop. We are totally pulling over, I'm sorry.

Mom! I love porcupines.

Oh, my.

Stop, stop, stop! Yeah.

He's going up the tree.

Oop, there he goes, there he goes. Look.

Was it worth it?

I definitely brake for porcupines.

These slow-moving rodents

are one of the top roadkills in Alaska,

sometimes leaving orphaned babies behind,

which is where the Conservation Center comes to the rescue.

Oh, my gosh! Here he comes.

No!

This is Twix.

I knew it, I knew he'd be the cutest creature on this planet.

This one-month-old orphan named Twix

is one of the center's newest arrivals.

You are so cute.

Twix was rescued down by Juneau.

His mom was found deceased outside the den,

and unfortunately, someone walking along,

they noticed that he was hanging out with his dead mother.

Mom was covered in parasites, he was covered in parasites.

So we did some lice treatment.

Today, I was hoping maybe you could help me out

just to make sure we, we're parasite-free with the lice,

and just give him a little bit of a physical overall.

Okay, I need to be professional.

Could I, can I?

Yeah, if you go in underneath the armpits.

Oh, hi. Like a baby.

This is awesome.

I'm just trying to, like, gently squeeze his belly

without getting him too unhappy with me.

So, all I want to do is really cuddle him.

But he needs an exam first.

I need to remain professional and get my job done.

Ow! He's got a couple quills on his head.

Look at those tiny little quills.

They are tiny, but they are sharp.

You can actually cuddle them. Their quills are there,

but they're not as many and they're not as, as big.

To soothe the prickly patient,

Sarah has a sweet solution.

Yeah, maybe with the applesauce.

I know, ooh, ooh, ooh!

He's like, "No touching me!"

Taking care of a baby porcupine

is definitely constant care, round the clock, 24/7.

You know, you bring him into your bedroom with you at night

and make sure they're getting the bottles throughout the night

because that's what mom would do, too,

so you have to become mom.

Because he imprinted on humans as a newborn,

Twix cannot survive on his own,

and won't be released back into the wild.

Grumpy. Can't have any more applesauce.

He'll live out his days at the center, educating visitors.

He's looking great.

You guys have done a great job.

Super healthy.

Twix's exam went great.

His coat is really nice and shiny, he's growing normally,

and there are no sign of any parasites,

no lice, no fleas, nothing.

Unfortunately, we have other work to do,

so I'm gonna have to pry him out of the girls' hands,

but it was great to be able to check him out.

This is amazing.

Getting close with the animal

and, you know, forming a bit of a bond with them,

that's important in the whole process

of trying to figure out what's going on with them.

Okay. Okay. Bye, Twixie.

It's not just about the science of veterinary medicine.

It's that I care about these animals,

and that I want them to feel better.

Oh!

Alright. See you, Sarah.

Bye. Alright, we'll see you later.

A tame patient helps with treatment and diagnosis,

but not all animals are as easygoing as Twix.

Michelle's next appointment is with some creatures

still holding on to their wild roots.

Here we are.

Brawny bison have been stomping

the Alaskan tundra since prehistoric times.

Though they're related to cattle,

they're much more aggressive

and extremely difficult to raise.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, no, you don't!

Their wild ways won't stop one rancher from trying to keep them.

My name's Adam Jenski.

I started a farm in the valley in Palmer, Alaska.

We've been raising mainly cattle and then we decided to buy

a herd of bison that went up for sale this year.

The Jenskis welcomed 182 bison onto their farm.

Now they're figuring out how to take care of these excitable beasts.

Well, bison, they're a lot harder to deal with.

You can't go in there and pet them like you can a cow.

They will bolt and try to ram

whatever you, whatever you're trying to push them into.

So, we're having Dr. Oakley come out today so that we can learn

how to be able to handle them properly.

They look pretty excited to see us.

Little spooky about right now.

Yeah. Yeah. And these guys have never

run through a chute before that you know of, or...

No. That's the main thing. Okay.

Actually today is to see if the chute works properly.

Adam's a very experienced rancher with cattle.

But, you know, he's the first to admit bison are a new game.

So, he was wanting me to come along and help a bit

with the vaccines and the ear tagging

and get things smoothly through the squeeze.

We'll try and stay over here out of sight for them.

Today is a test run with only 30 bison

to find out if a system designed for cattle

will work for these jumpy giants.

The bison are a little riled up.

The first challenge will be moving them

from the holding pen into a narrow alleyway,

and then into a squeeze trap at the end.

Once inside, they'll get their vaccinations and an ear tag.

Ear tag the girls on the right. Do you know why?

Why? The females are always right.

Girls are always right.

But herding the largest land mammal

in North America, some weighing in at 1,500 pounds, won't be easy.

Kobie, hop in.

To wrangle the rowdy giants,

the team is counting on a secret weapon.

Ooh, they're getting them closed in. Yeah.

A moving barricade will funnel the herd

to the entrance of the chute.

Come on, guys, go on.

The bison are wary of getting too close to humans.

But another visitor has no such fears.

Hi! Well, hello.

This is not your dog? No.

Oh! Okay!

The curious canine belongs to the neighbors.

This is so exciting, but you got to go.

We should squish down a bit

just so that they are more inclined to come over here.

Hup, here it is.

In no time, their planning yields success.

Oh, there's one coming!

He's in. Got it?

There we go, there's one!

The first bison has entered the chute.

But there's a problem.

Aw, it's turning around, though.

Darn you! Stinker.

Yeah, it completely turned around now. Hmm.

Um, she's going in backwards, but at least we've got her.

It's still a long way to the squeeze chamber

where it's safe to work on the patient.

Come on, baby. Go get it.

They need to find a way to convince

a half-ton creature to back into the trap.

Oh, that worked.

There we go. Back in there.

Just catch it with the squeeze if he backs in.

Turn around, baby.

Yeah, I was like, I don't think I want to do that.

The bison isn't playing ball.

So, Michelle decides to risk working on the animal

in the unprotected alley.

It's definitely safer if we've got them all squeezed up and caught up,