Mirror Mirror on the wall.....

Who is the Fuzziest of them all???  Ty!

                          Look Ma, no hands!
He is really getting to be a good climber, in between these sessions he got nervous and started to cry, but then would regain his confidence and go for it!!
Just in case you are wondering why I have not written for awhile, I have been busy with yes....another one...

Meet little Hanna, who was found on an empty lot...no injuries, in perfect health...we could not figure out what happened that she lost her mother, but after a few days we think we know.  You see Hanna is an expert climber for her age, fearless.  I left her in her sloth bucket sound asleep and went to take a quick shower.  When I came out she was gone...I looked around the floor, nothing, panic started to set in, then out of the corner of my eye I saw something really high...there was Hanna hanging off the door frame to the spare room!  I actually think she just wandered away and fell to the ground.  We will never know, but we have to keep a very close eye on her here!!
So, yes, I have 4 sloth babies that do not sleep at night and still need feedings, Hanna, Ty, Twili and Andie.  Oh, and I must not forget little Mikey (more on him later)

Andie has been getting out more and also practicing climbing skills, reluctantly.

Little Mikey, not sure if he is a Tropical Screech or Pacific screech owl until he gets his adult plumage in!  Some ladies cat delivered two baby owls to her doorstep, unfortunately the smallest one was already dead, and this one managed to survive with our help!

Making good progress!

Last friday evening a nice couple showed up at our gate with a very small cage.  They said they were hiking up in the rainforest and came across this iguana locked in this tiny cage thrown into the bushes, would we take it.  Well reptiles are not really our expertise, but we do take them and let them go at the farm.  So, here he is.  We do not understand...if someone did not want him, why not just let him go, instead of condemning him to a slow death in this small cage...we deal with injured animals daily, but abuse is always very difficult to accept.
Jorge took him to the farm today to release him, the road was closed for several days due to a landslide and today is the first day he could get over the mountains.

Family of 5 Keel billed toucans visits our farm!

Someone recently wrote a nasty note on youtube about protecting the environment instead of saving species in captivity...I jumped on the chance to say...yes, please help us by making a donation so that we can purchase surrounding farm land for protection!!  Of course, no donation appeared...however, some folks don't know that we actually have two farms, one of 25 acres and the other of 16 acres.  There are 3 farms in between, 2 owners, and our dream is to purchase and preserve this land. We can then declare it a Refugio de Vida Silvestre, keep it protected, start a volunteer program and our release program for toucans.
Jorge just got in from the farm...he said the iguana was happy to be free, he released her in a fruiting tree by the creek and saw a two toed sloth with a baby!!!  will have to escape next week to try to find them to take a picture!

All the more reason to protect our farms!

We are breaking ground tomorrow on a series of 5 breeding enclosures for the toucans...will keep you posted, this is very exciting news!

Happy Father's day to all.

New arrivals and fun visitors!

Meet Andy sloth!  Andy is our first three toed sloth to arrive at the Toucan Rescue Ranch.  He was found on the ground after a couple of males were fighting over a female, his mom, who lost him in the fight and took off from the males and the area.  Very sad, but fortunately someone found him and he is now safe and doing well here with us.  He is so different from the two toed's it's like having a completely different species.  Very slow, only eats leaves and is more awake during the day.  We will keep you posted on his progress.  Initially he was very weak, but with some good formula he is now really doing well.

Ty is really climbing and doing well, he has an obsession with his blankets and tries to take them with him when he climbs!  Twili also just started to climb the perch, so they are learning to share some space!

This poor keel billed toucan was found on the ground in the town near our farm by some of the children.  The mother called us, and we transported him to the Toucan Rescue Ranch.  He came in totally blind from the lacerations on his face and eyes.  We are not sure what these were caused from.  Initially it looked like someone had trapped him in chicken wire (I have seen similar cuts like this from the thin wire) or maybe he was in a fight with another toucan.  After a long recovery period, I am happy to report that he has gained his vision back in one eye.  The other eye keeps changing daily, and he might be able to see something now.  We are waiting for the next vet visit to confirm his progress.

If he recovers sight in both eyes we will happily take him to the farm to release!  Keeping our fingers crossed.

We have many wild birds that live and visit our property, this is a young blue grey tanager.  We found her on the ground, the parents would fly around and come feed her, but it was obvious that she was getting very tired and weak, so we found this abandoned clay colored robin nest, and put her in it near the parents, up off the ground.   They came and fed her for two days, and she left flying with them!

Our good friends, Frank Todd (of penguin fame) Jerry Jennings (famous toucan breeder and conservationist) and Paul Bratescu, professional photographer all visited.  They were here with us for several days, traveled around and returned and now it is weird that they are gone!  We had some great late night conversations about birds, breeding and conservation, I always learn so much from them we enjoy the visits.  Here are some photos of them at the farm and of some of the animals on the farm, that I took.  We had a great few days, monkeys, sloths (5 in one day) toucans and more!



Find the sloth hidden in the bromeliads!



Frank Todd had some photo sessions with Quilla the porcupine and Georgie our sloth!  They posed very nicely for him.  Quilla needed some kisses in between shots, take a look!  Enjoy the blog!  Remember, your kindness and generosity with funding keep us going and able to received these  injured animals, please consider adopting an animal or bird in our program.  On the blog you will find a tab for adoptions.  Thank You!!

Rainforest Presentation and Visiting Vets!

Once again Lincoln School first graders have been very involved with the Toucan Rescue Ranch.  They collected a truck load of old newspapers for us to use in our cages and they put on this tremendous Rainforest Production.  Unfortunately I could not load a video, but they told stories, sang songs and danced away to benefit the Toucan Rescue Ranch!!

The theater was packed, I attended with a toucan, an owl, Georgie the sloth and Twili the little baby sloth.  The teachers are incredible at Lincoln, so involved and truly supportive.

Thank you so much!!

We had a group of veterinarians visiting from Venezuela, and Minaet/Sinac asked if I could do a tour with emphasis on how to handle wild animals...so off we went enclosure by enclosure and demonstrated how to pick up a sloth if it is on the ground, how to pick up a porcupine etc.  It was great fun, and they were really very interested in our work!

We also received a call from the University Veterinary School of Heredia. They had a visiting vet from the states, Dr. Kay Backues, President American Association of Zoo Veterinarians who was visiting to give a course in Avian Medicine.  About 8 Costa Rican Vets and Dr. Kay came up to "practice" on our birds.  It was a great learning oportunity for me as well, and so incredible to see a true Avian specialist in action!

Necropsy Results on Sydney Sloth are in, she is the sloth that was found wrapped up in barbed wire, she died of a slow internal hemmorage.  It is always difficult when a rescue dies. We always ask our vet Janet to perform a necropsy so that we can learn and understand why they died.  In her case it is good to know and have an explanation.

Animal Updates Next!  New arrivals, difficult cases, and visitors: Jerry Jennings, toucan expert and Frank Todd, penguin expert! 

Sloth Enclosures Done!!!

Our Sloth Enclosures are Finally completed! It has taken a long time, but thanks to Vicki Carey from PETA and Stephanie Downs from FixIt Foundation, we have a beautiful enclosure for Millie (who just turned 5) and Milo .
Most importantly the sloths seem to really enjoy being outside:)

Here is Millie and Milo sharing a kiss.

Millie has been active very late, early morning hours, 2-3am, and Milo likes to sun himself first thing in the morning. They are both being much more active, but as all nocturnal creatures, fall asleep during the day in their buckets of blankets.

A huge THANK YOU to LINCOLN SCHOOL First graders for fund raising for Georgies Enclosure! Georgie is testing it out today for the first time, and seems to really like being outside, his large nose has not stopped twitching with all the new scents! He found his bucket when he was tired and climbed in and covered himself, so all is well.

This is the first time in 5 years someone can actually sit on my couch!

This is what our work is all about! I was at the farm the other day and came across this relaxed sloth just a few feet up in the tree, and he looks exactly like one of the sloths that we recently released...so we are sure it is him and he is doing fine!

This is a strange photo I know, it is of the eye of a Tropical Screech owl that came into our program hit by a car. He had this blood in his eye, but within a few days it disappeared, he was eating well and ready to go, so we released him down by our creek!

This is Sydney sloth, an elderly sloth that came to us over the Easter holiday. The police showed up at our gate one night at 8pm with sirens and lights. We did not know what was going on, went to investigate and they police handed us this box with Sydney in it. She had barbed wire wrapped all around her legs. Our guests helped us untangle her (took about 15 min.) and get her some fluids. She was horribly weak and in lots of pain. For a few days she seemed better however she could not use any of her limbs, we are not sure why. Then took a turn for the worse, entered into a coma and died. We are waiting to hear back from our great vet. Janet who is going to do a necropsy to determine why she died. She would not of survived here or in the wild with the inability to use her arms or legs.

It was very sad to go thru all this with her, but we made her super comfortable and sometimes that is all we can do.

Sydney bought to our immediate attention the need to have an onsight hospital with a microscope and x-ray machine. Plus a place for her to rest and be isolated from the others. Having her in heating blankets on our porch is OK, but not the best possible solution. I was worried she might have something that the other sloths could pick up, and so the need for our clinic just keeps getting greater and greater! We will be starting to fund raise soon for this huge undertaking.

The clinic will cost about $14,600.00

This Fiery billed aracari could of also used our clinic! He came in hit by a car and is now recovering nicely. He had some air sac damage and some feather damage, but is on the mend! Today we are expecting the arrival of a Keel billed toucan found in the area of our farm, we are not sure of the circumstances, just know one is on the way in.

Unfortunately sometimes we have to say no, that is the reality of our financial situation. Another monkey is another enclosure and huge expenses that we currently cannot afford. This howler monkey we accepted as an emergency shelter. She was being kept in horrid pet conditions and escaped (good for her!). She was with us for several days, long enough to realize that she was full of parasites, external and internal. We began treatment and then sent her to ZOOAVE where they have a full clinical staff and other monkeys. I'm sure she is much happier there. Our spider monkey Issy did not like her at all, and was stressed having her on the property.

I have a whole other blog to write about our visiting Veterinarians! Some from Venezuela that came to learn how to handle wild animals and learn of the rescue efforts we provide and the University of Costa Rica veterinarians were having a course on Avian medicine with a guest vet from the States. We had a couple of great afternoons with everyone.