Update on my baby squirrels: They have left mommy's nest. By that I mean that they are now outside in the squirrel enclosure, and LB (little baby) doesn't cry anymore. While BB (big baby) has been making his nest, LB has just started to enjoy herself in her new home. As sad as I am that I no longer have to work out and cuddle them, we have a new arrival!
A tiny little baby owl came in, riddled with infections, dead skin and dirt. This little white fluff ball of feathers was starving, and gobbled down any big chuck of chicken passing his beak. Good news for us, he has an appetite. No need to force feed this one. The next day he opened his eyes, while I cleaned his beak and legs with cotton and tea. The tea acts as a moisturizer and helps get rid of the dead skin gently. His beak was looking better already, and his legs were cleaner. Encar was giving him the right antibiotics for his little infection, but while he ate a mouse's head (the mouse was cut in three), he started panting heavily. This worried both Encar and I who then spent the next two hours by his side trying to give him water, cuddle him and calm him down. After this hour, he seemed so tired and went straight to bed. I haven't been at the center today to check on him, and therefore, I am not sure how he is doing now, but my thoughts are with this new little one who is now residing in my squirrels' old cage.
While we have a nursery, we also have a quarantine area. This is the area in a corner of the garden where the sick or scared animals go to recuperate and be ready to be released. We have an agouti in there who had a bad leg. As we were giving antibiotics and trying to help him with his broken leg, he was acting like a true wild animal, and didn't warm up to us like the other agouti we have. This agouti had been attacked by a dog. His injuries were so bad that his liver was hanging outside of his body. A quick trip to San Jose, and a surgery later, he was in quarantine. Obviously, he is doing much better now, since he ran away from us. While we were tending to his cut on his tail, he twisted himself out of Franklin's hands and ran away. Three volunteers (including me) ran after him through the garden, and even with a bad leg he outran us into the jungle. Finally, he jumped through the fence, and stopped. We were all panting and looking at Encar, who told us that we will put a plate out tonight, but he was doing much better anyway. So now Quarantine Agouti is released!
Another successful release yesterday was the bird we had for about 30 minutes. Some tourists came with a bird who apparently refused to fly. We took him in, gave him some water and I left him alone for a bit, assuming he was under shock. As soon as Encar came to check on him, he started flying every where, and so he was released!
On the down side, two hungry sloths bit me yesterday. First, Stefano, our little depressed sloth, bit me out of hunger. He lost his cuddle buddy a few weeks ago, and so now needs to be cuddled and carried little a kangaroo everyday. While he was coming to me, and attached himself to my waist, I started carrying other sloths over, and surely enough my pinky was close enough for him to grab it and chump on it. Minutes later, I gave him some leaves and the biting stopped. The other bite was from Cocles, who resides with three other sloths, and they all have skin infections. They require to be treated with vinegar in the morning and baking soda at night to help with the Ph in their skin. While they hate being treated, it is important to have external treatment on top of antibiotics. Cocles managed to sneak a bite while I was taking care of Carlos, and surprisingly enough broke the skin, but not the glove I was wearing. So I bled twice that day, and both were from the sloth. Thank god I got my rabies shot.
Jess and James left the center, which means that I no longer have my daily dose of British slang. I was sad when they left as Jess and I had grown closer. We were put on Jimi duty the first day, and laundry together. I wish them well with their travel down to the South America, and hopefully I will see them in London this summer!
While the life here is very much Pura Vida, the life in the good ol' US of A still goes on. I had my first interview today with CHS. As anyone can imagine I woke up with stomach cramps from my anxiety and I went through every possible questions they could ask me. An hour before the interview, I realize I had sent out an out of date resume. I cursed myself and my inattentive tendency. I skyped my mother about what to do, and her all-knowledgeable motherly wisdom guided me through the scariest moment in my professional life. I just emailed the newest resume and an hour later had my interview. The questions were scenarios about what I would do if put in situations where my morals were challenged. I feel like I answered most of them somewhat correctly, but as anyone does, I was mauling over the wrong answers I might have given.
In order to try to get my mind off of how the interview went, I took a bus to Cahuita. The bus ride was a little more than a dollar, and I was ready to get to my bus stop. The boy behind me was playing his cell phone ringtone over and over again (which is quite common here in this area, as people dont have Ipods). I was ready to strangle him. The national park was the only thing to see in Cahuita, and the French people at the bus stop confirmed it. Cahuita used to be the hot spot in the Caribbean, but as tourism grow so does crime. Puerto Viejo is the next town over, and took over all the tourists. While on my 3 hour hike at the park, I saw some of the wildlife such as a coati, a bunch of howler monkeys (wow, so typical), a million crabs and some pretty colorful birds. It was a beautiful hike all along the coast of the Caribbean ocean, and I wish I had been able to get to the other side of the parc, but the sun was setting and my stomach was growling. As beautiful as Cahuita was, it had a feel of abandonment. I am glad to be eating my burger in Puerto Viejo, instead of there.
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