Back at the sanctuary

      This week has been pretty uneventful back at the sanctuary....kinda quiet actually.  Charlie, the baby howler monkey, is doing well.  He was very excited that I was back.....so he could get out into the trees and have some fool sit in his cage with him so he isn't too lonely.  He still gets his bottle three times a day but, now I let him out once in the morning and then usually once again in the afternoon.  He has free range in the sanctuary grounds....I just have to keep an eye on him so he doesn't leave.  He has become pretty good at coming down...if I am eating something he wants, he comes running down to me.  He has discovered that my "home" and thinks it is fun to run through it and then come down the stairs....or anything else he feels like scaling.

The morning bottle

Charlie trying to figure out how to get into the rabbit house....they must have fruit.

Exploring...where he shouldn't be.

Entering my house

eating ficus leaves.

Charlie and I sitting on my steps

He has got me wrapped around his finger....or my head....or something like that.  No matter how you say it, he has me where he wants me.

The little girl opossum is getting bigger....she has finally decided to start eating insects.  She is rather scary when she grabs them.....very ferocious.  We are about to move her out of her nursery box and into a larger cage with props so she can crawl around at night.

 

little girl on my shoulder while getting new blankets and stuff.

Enjoying a katydid....what is left of one anyway.

We got two new volunteers on Sunday.  Katie and Sarah are from Louisiana and are here until this Sunday only.  They are both hard workers and are enjoying themselves.  

We decided it was time to let Tuki go.  He is a collared Aracari (small toucan) that came to Mary with a "broken" tail bone.  He had flown into a friend of her's window and has been unable to fly.  We had moved him into the flight aviary when I had gotten here so that he could strengthen his leg and flight muscles.  He finally was able to get some lift and he started going a little stir crazy so we decided it was time to let him free.  The other morning there were two of the wild toucans in the trees above his enclosure so we decided that was the day.  He took some coaxing...Alejandro finally had to carry him out....but he finally took off and became a free bird again.  Good luck Tuki!

Tuki in his big cage before release

The two wild toucans coming to visit Tuki

Alejandro setting Tuki on the outside feeding platform.  He flew off after Alejandro walked away.

This has also been a week of cleaning....well, some started before I left for my vacation within a vacation.  Here are some before and after shots.

THE KITCHEN AND OUTSIDE SITTING AREA :

Before

After

Before

After

This is where all the kitchen stuff went while cleaning.

Me being silly while cleaning up my mess.  Yes I am wearing clothes on top of clothes....They are my cleaning wrap!

And finally all sorted.  

I went out to the beach on Wednesday....I realized I had been neglecting my tan and if I didn't come back with one, how could I say I had been living in the tropics for two months.

We are in the process of moving some of the rabbits up to the farm.  Mary is trying to reintroduce rabbits into the area...she has been successful with the chachalaca....so we have let two of the females have some fun and then moved them up the hill.  This way everybody (that is left after the boa attack) can have some more space.

Last night we really got some rain.  I woke up around 11:00 thinking that a hurricane had hit Cabuya.  I turned on my flashlight and rain/mist was literally travelling sideways in my "home" .  I got up and had to move all of my stuff to try to keep it as dry as possible.  Then, of course, I just got back into my hammock and pretended everything was ok.  The sun was shining this morning...like nothing had happened but the storm's remains were everywhere. The turtle pond was very full of water and there were lots of branches and other debris all over the ground.  I installed a rain fly on one side of my "house" this afternoon.  

OK, so these aren't real pictures of the storm last night.
But it was a really intense storm.  I am ready now if it rains like that again....Bring it on!








Later today, while walking back to rainsong, I had to save a spiny iguana from some dogs.  They had grabbed the poor guy by the head and shook him around a bit.  He has several bite wounds to the head and mouth.  I carried him back to rainsong and got him cleaned and medicated.....which, luckily he had the energy to tell me he didn't like being treated...that is a good sign. We put him in a cage to keep an eye on him overnight.  If he is moving around tomorrow and feisty, we will let him go after another wound treatment....which I am sure he will enjoy just as much as the first one.

poor little guy

He has a puncture wound on the top of his head.
 I hope it isn't too deep.

One very unhappy iguana...but you would be too if your
head was grabbed by a dog.