What do I really do all day long?

      You may be thinking that I am actually working while I am here in Costa Rica....well, sorta...  I get up every morning around 8 (or 9 when I don't wanna get up).  I put together Charlie's morning bottle and feed him...then, as long as there aren't any Caro Blanco's (white-faced capuchins), I let him go play in the trees so that he can get enough leaves to eat....of course he always heads straight for the mango tree.  If there are other monkeys around, then poor little boy has to stay in his cage and Edwin has to go  collect mountain almond leaves.  I then get the other baby's formula ready and feed him....he gets the bottle every 4-5 hours.  After the babies are fed, I help Edwin get the other animals fed...I make a salad for the guinea pigs (cuillos) and rabbits (conejos), chop fruit for the turtle pond, and feed the squirrels. We also have the parakeet, the porcupines and Lola, the red-lored amazon....oh, and baby turtles and guppies.  This all takes us about 2 hours....and then I am free.  A lot of days, I reprop cages, make mobiles, and just try to come up with new ideas that will help make things a little more efficient or easier and happier for the animals, Mary, and Edwin.  Sometimes I go to the beach or the river....or I just hang out here and play with Charlie......as you will see in the video, I'm not sure who likes the playtime more...Charlie or I.
      At sunset, Charlie gets another bottle before his bedtime.  He still sleeps on a stuffed animal that we call "momma monkey"....even though we all know who the real momma is....The other baby gets his last bottle around 11 at night, since he won't get another until  the earliest.  I leave a small plate of mashed fruit and baby cereal with him overnight...in the hopes that he will start eating solid food.
     At night we sometimes have movie night...We will pick up a pizza or Mary will make vegetable soup or beans and rice...the guys will come down from the farm and we will watch a movie on my computer......of course, I try to find the movies with spanish subtitles for the guys but, as long as it is an action movie...they don't really care.

the baby is awake and having fun
balancing on my hand.

The new baby is sleeping....he spends at least 30 minutes sleeping
in my hand after he eats....I have even let him sleep through a whole
movie night.

Charlie hanging upside down for an apple.....which he typically
knocks out of the tree while playing/jumping

Me and poppa porcupine....I have actually gotten a few quills in me
but he actually loves climbing on people....the daughter is very
shy and often won't come out for visitors.

Add caption

getting a good sniff

the parakeet still can't fly...but is definitely getting around her new
cage.

Charlie sitting in my house....he was actually pretty pitiful the entire
day....very sad and clingy....maybe he knows I will be leaving
in just 2 weeks.

another shot of the sleeping baby....but he is so cute.

Yes, that is an opossum in my hair....he likes to snuggle
up under my pony tail...and then he pops out above my
tail and enjoys the view.

Charlie being a baby while lying in my hand....I think he might
even be drooling.

Little monkey got caught in the rain and I had to wrap
him up like a baby to dry him off.

Charlie is trying to escape...just like a
naught child after a bath.

Baby girl enjoying her new set up.  We will probably be releasing her
this week....I know she is small but that is ok....adults are only 200-400
grams.....she is quite the hunter and will do fine.  Just don't
make fun of her "alopecia"...it will grow back, the more protein
she eats..

And some videos for your watching pleasure....I imagine I get more of a kick out of them than you but I am adding them anyway.

Charlie and I just hanging out and playing in his cage

No matter where Charlie is in the yard, he always knows when I am eating something...He will always come down to see if it something he wants.  His manners are lacking to say the least.....but at least he does share, without trying to bite me.

Charlie likes to use the PVC (insulates the electrical wires) pipes as roadways around the property....sometimes, I can sneak up on him and we play.....he thinks he is the one sneaking on me...but we know the truth...If you watch, you can see him smile....yes, monkeys smile.

Another video of Charlie and I just goofing around in his cage. On the days when he can't get out and play because of the capuchins or rain, I go into his cage...that way I don't have to keep a hold of him...imagine holding a toddler that wants to get away and play...except he bites.

After Charlie managed to get stuck in a tree during a pretty heavy rain, I managed to get him down out of the tree and we sat on the porch listening to the rain and drip-drying...until I wrapped him up like a baby..which he wasn't fond of.  

On Mondays, I go to Cobano to buy animal food and groceries with Mary.  Sometimes I go hiking in the afternoons.....but I will always find time to play with the mono congo (that is what they call the howlers here).

So, this is what I do here...It certainly isn't work....

Oh, and catching boas

Oh, and trying to rescue dogs....by the way, the one I am bringing home is named Lilly.  Her owner has basically abandoned her after she was rescued about 2 years ago...he had only had her for 6 months.  The one I was trying to get has unfortunately been tied up since I asked for her...so I couldn't steal her.  I haven't actually seen her so I am hoping that she is still alive.  It is hard to be down here and want to help animals.

How can you refuse this face?  I am such a sucker.

The new and improved turtle pond

      On our way to Cobano on Monday, Mary made Ronny, our taxi driver, drive out of our way so that we could find water lillies....we have been trying to improve the turtle pond here at Rainsong by making it into a self-sustainable pond....fish, tadpoles, plants, filters, etc.....we needed the water lillies to filter the water...otherwise, if you have ever owned water turtles you know, the water gets real gross, real quick!..After many kilometers, we found a pond that had some....it took crawling under a barbed wire and pretty much laying out, almost flat, over the water to dig them up...but I was successful.  On the way back to Cabuya, we found another pond with two other kinds of water lillies...we grabbed a bunch and brought them back.  After changing the water and cleaning out the muck...we set up the new pond.  I had also found 2 large logs for the turtles to use for basking.  After the water was changed and the logs set up, we added the water lillies (some, the rest we set up in buckets to multiply) and guppies...here goes...hope it works.  The turtles seemed excited.  The frogs are going to love it too.

ducks in the first pond with our first round of water lillies

the turtle pond after getting everything set up

close-up shot of the pond....soon, these lillies will take over

frog eggs above the pond

If you look closely at one of the leaves
in the area of top-middle, you can
see the frog eggs from the other pic....
they have a very far way to drop when they
hatch!

hiding under the log

enjoying the foliage...and each other's company

Ronny's daughter along for the ride...
she was a very active 3 year old that
kept me entertained all the way to Cobano
and back.

A day at the beach and Squirrels get some new props!

AT THE  BEACH:

The beach here in Cabuya is pretty rocky...especially at low tide so Mary and I went down the road a bit....toward Montezuma to spend a couple of hours at the beach.  It was kinda cloudy so I took a nap on the beach and then took some pics.

Mary walking along beach

the beach

on the lookout

crab

love the camoflauge

the tide coming in

A crab standoff

I love the rock formations on the beach

a little kiskadee at the beach

tide pool at eye level

another tide pool

THE SQUIRRELS:

We have two squirrels that were brought in as babies.  They are going to be released this coming week.  Even though they will be leaving soon....sort of...you know they will be coming back for free food.....I wanted to give them some cool stuff for their cage...
They loved the new props....and leaves...

new hibiscus branches with leaves 

checking out the foliage.....yummy

they weren't sure what to do with the leaves
but then one of them discovered the sticks.....
all kinds of acrobatics ensued after that!

found a nice juicy stick to chew on.

OH - POSSUMS!

The bare-tailed woolly opossum had to give up her nursery for a new baby.  She has graduated to a bigger cage with lots of branches to climb and a nest box for sleeping.  I have to catch a lot of bugs...moths, grasshoppers, and katydids for her to eat.....I let them go in the cage so she gets to learn to hunt on her own.  She is really liking the space!

Heading to her new home....she has gotten bigger
believe it or not.

Her new home!  Lots to explore and places
to hide.

I think she likes her nest "box"...I used
one of the many gourds lying on the ground.

She likes it!  Doesn't she look happy?

She thought I was handing her a bug...ATTACK!  She
wasn't impressed when she discovered it was a flower.

She really likes her moths

After catching her dinner, she has to climb
to a place to eat it.

The new baby.....

   We got a new baby opossum on Sunday night...he is a little Grey four-eyed opossum.  They call them that because he has white spots above his eyes that kind of appear to be another pair of eyes.  He is not quite ready to be weaned so he is on a formula mix (soy formula, egg, honey, and cornmeal) until I can get weaned.  His teeth are just starting to erupt....I can't wait (sarcasm)...he likes to nip my fingers when I pull him out of his nest gourd.  We aren't sure of his story....Mary's vet just called her and said somebody had brought him to her.  Meet the baby!

Looking at the baby for the first time.

He is so little...with a very large nose...

Close-up!

I will post more pics as he gets settled in here at the sanctuary.

It has been a busy week....Hiking, Re-propping, Enrichment, and Thunderstorms

ALMOST HIKING CABO BLANCO:
 
      I wanted to hike Cabo Blanco, the first national park here in Costa Rica, which is less than 2 Km from here but decided as I was walking there that I wanted to take a different path....be adventurous, why not?  It was a nice hike up the "mountain" and I got to see some different animals and some of the same ones...but I don't mind. The view was pretty and instead of coming down a path, I decided to follow an animal trail near a creek...I figured, all of the creeks will eventually make it to the ocean and I knew how to get home from there.  I actually ended up coming out at the top of the waterfalls on the Rainsong sanctuary farm.  I will be hiking the actual park next time.

I surprised this cute little deer as he walked out of the forest

This is the animal trail I followed...one of

Obviously this is a male howler monkey...howling

The trail was being sneaky...looks like this is where
the trail ended....I wasn't fooled, it was just a bunch
of branches that had fallen.

There were a bunch of these little green parakeets
on one of the palm trees....good to know because
we have one here at the sanctuary that will
need to be released once he can fly.

This is the trail up the "mountain"

Bats!  Found these guys in an abandoned house once I had
left the real trail.... I was obviously trespassing...oops.

He was eyeballing me...not happy with the flash.

Beautiful, giant orb weaver along the path.

Turquoise-browed Motmots.  The funny thing
was that I actually didn't see the second one until
I upload the pics on my camera...I was really
just trying to get a good shot of one of them
...bonus!

I love all of the vines here!  I have to control the urge
to climb them every time I see them.

LATER THAT DAY......WHAT YOU CAN DO WHILE WATCHING A MOVIE.

  After I got back, I decided to put together a bunch of new mobiles for some of the animals...I actually got carried away while watching a movie and built about 9 of them.....well, at least there are extras when the animals destroy them!

Mobiles on display

EVERYBODY LIKES CHANGE!!!!

     I eventually got around to something I had promised many of the residents of the sanctuary....new and improved living quarters...well, new props anyways.  Lola, the red-lored parrot, got her cage re-propped/rearranged and got 2 new mobiles.  Charlie, the howler monkey, got his cage re-did along with a new mobile.  He also got a new hanging basket for his leaves.....aka new spot for sun bathing.  The Mexican hairy dwarf porcupines (AKA porkies) got their cage all fixed up along with some greenery (which they find tasty) and a new mobile.  The squirrels got some of their branches rearranged as well as a new mobile.  And, last but not least, Alejandro built a divider in the aviary so that both male rabbits could live in it together....I fixed it up so that the little parakeet could live there too....it is time to start learning how to fly!

Lola checking out the new mobiles.  She likes
the new branches up high too.

Charlie's new digs....I had to get the branches off the
floor....so I could lay down in there!

This is what a very pitiful baby howler monkey
looks like when he uses his leaf feeder basket as a
sunny spot for a nap....He was out too!

Papa porky loving his hibiscus leaves

The porky's new props and mobile...they will enjoy
them later...they are nocturnal. They were tempted to come
out though...see the nose in the house.

The bird aviary/new rabbit enclosure....each little
boy gets half.  You can see them sitting on opposite
sides....trying to figure out how to kick the other
one's butt through the fence....sigh, boys.  If you
look closely, you can see the parakeet.

Enjoying a woody snack.  She is very happy to be in a
 larger space....even if she can't fly yet... I had to give her
zig-zagging branches to climb.

VISITORS AT THE SANCTUARY...MIND YOUR HEADS:

    The other day, while Edwin, Alejandro, and I were preparing the animal's breakfast, a very large iguana decided to drop in....not literally, this time...to supervise.

Coming down the tree to check things out

Decided we didn't have anything for him.

You look up to see a cute little squirrel eating a
coconut about 20-30 above your head....Then, without
much warning.....

Another regular visitor to the sanctuary are the squirrels...ardillas.  They are very cute but dangerous....not because they can bite............

HEADS UP!!!!The coconut that the cute little squirrel
was eating, gets knocked loose and falls those
20-30 feet.  This sucker could knock you out! 

      The three of us were cleaning up around the turtle pond when we thought someone had fired a gun....right at us.  I am surprised nobody hit the deck...we certainly all jumped....and somebody may have peed their pants.  This coconut had fallen and had hit and bounced off the metal roof of the work area next to us.  It had to of weighed about 3-5 pounds.....it was a green coconut full of coconut water.  The squirrels drop them all the time and then they don't even bother coming to the ground to finish it.

AN EXCITING DAY (WELL, IF YOU LIVED HERE, IT WOULD BE);

This is really only exciting to those of you that have been here....you know who you are. :)

The de-tropical-grundged bathroom

even the walls got washed off.

My little bathroom cleaner helper.......a tailess whip
scorpion

helper #2....like a cross between a crab and a scorpion...
without the stinger

      During the cleaning of the bathroom, Charlie was out having a good day in the trees....eating leaves and doing other Charlie things.  I had gone out to grab the hose so that I could wash off the walls and shells and other stuff when I happened to look up in the tree above the hose......There was a large male howler!  He was a solitary male, thank goodness, but he could be very dangerous for Charlie....who, by the way, was sunning at the top of the next closest tree.  As Charlie started to come down to me, the big male would start to move towards him, every time he moved....Mary aimed the hose at him so I could get Charlie down safely. Whew, pretty scary!  Charlie had been practicing his vocalizing all morning...pretty pitiful sounding, by the way, and I guess he brought in the male...thinking it was an easy territory to take over.  YIKES!!!!

Just hanging out...thinking this is his territory....WRONG!

Eating Charlie's leaves....while poor charlie has to stay in his
cage. :(

Luckily this guy wasn't around today...he didn't like the thunderstorm last night... so we were able to let Charlie out. YAY!!!

THUNDERSTORM (OR HURRICANE #2):

    This one blew in yesterday afternoon.  All of the electricity went out and it gets very dark around here when the lights are out.  We got a lot of rain dumped on us very quickly...as you can see from my pics.  Now remember, I live in what is kinda like an attic with basically a wooden floor and a tin roof.  I have finally put up a rain tarp on one side of my house which, I didn't put down quickly enough last night because my hammock had already gotten wet.  I also discovered a few more holes in my roof...which a few extra bowls took care of.  The rain (and I think small hail) is so loud on my roof that I couldn't hear anything but the rain.  Once I had fixed the rain tarp and had arranged my drip catchers, I just sat at the top of my stairs and played with my camera.

looking out from my "house"

a lot of water.  All the paths were flowing like rivers

Rain coming off my roof.  For those of you that have
been here, you are looking toward the back corner
near the gpigs.

The turtle pond.....both inside and outside the pond..
they are almost the same depth.

AFTER THE RAIN:

  I thought I would walk around and see what the rain had done and I started hearing the frogs....managed to see some of the beauties.

red eyed tree frogs....the male is on top

this cutie was hiding in a potted plant

this red eyed tree frog had spied another on the branch
above and was trying to figure out how
to get there.

the one on the top branch

another pair of red eyed tree frogs

The next morning, we looked out in the pasture next door
and saw this giant tree that had been knocked over.

this is looking directly at the bottom of
the roots...that used to be under
the ground.  Wow!