Friday, March 10, 2006
Angels and Demons
Good news this morning, Sogo Sogo is showing some slight signs of improvement. They reckon she is about 10 percent improved which is a start after so many days of being flat out!
Outdoor nursery this morning was straightforward enough without too many dramas. The biggest being when Doggy decided to he would try to help me sweep the path. That was a lovely gesture, but of course the reality was he just wanted to chew the broom! After a couple of minutes of gladiatorial battling for control he gave up and i stood victorious, broom held aloft!
Okay. okay, it actually took Dusain the Ranger to scare him off otherwise i would probably still be there now, pinned down by Doggy with the broom held across my throat. LOL.
Walking back we saw our first poisonous snake, a viper, on a tree next to the walkway. Dusain told us that the viper venom could kill within an hour but not to worry too much because even though they didn't have anti-venom here at Sepilok the viper, after it strikes, does not slither away like the cowardly cobra does. So if bitten all we have to do is kill the viper, slit it open, cut out its liver and put that on the wound. Yeah right, we gave it a wide berth and left quickly... :-0
After safely negotiating the route back without further scares, our group was able to help take some of the youngsters out for exercise. We took them to a new, much drier wooded area to minimise the risks of Melio bacteria exposure from the damp soil.
I actually took out cute little Reto, who is under 1 year old. She is totally gorgeous, now my 2nd favourite (after Sogo of course!). Because of her age she isn't allowed on the damp ground and can't mix directly with the others. So that meant lots of cuddles for me!!! It was SO satisfying seeing her reaching out for branches and leaves and taking her first tentative steps out onto small branches. She is too small to fully want to let go, in fact she has complete trust that you will catch her at all times! On two occasions (with some gentle encouragement from me) she had both feet and one hand on branches and as i tried to put her other hand onto another branch she deliberately started to fall down, meaning you have to grab her again. Clever girl. All too soon playtime was over and it was back to resthouse for lunch.
BTW - Gabili, one of the Rangers here makes machetes from scratch for any volunteers that want them, so don't mess with me when i get back to Britain, i may well be carrying. You have been warned... :-)
Outdoor nursery this morning was straightforward enough without too many dramas. The biggest being when Doggy decided to he would try to help me sweep the path. That was a lovely gesture, but of course the reality was he just wanted to chew the broom! After a couple of minutes of gladiatorial battling for control he gave up and i stood victorious, broom held aloft!
Okay. okay, it actually took Dusain the Ranger to scare him off otherwise i would probably still be there now, pinned down by Doggy with the broom held across my throat. LOL.
Walking back we saw our first poisonous snake, a viper, on a tree next to the walkway. Dusain told us that the viper venom could kill within an hour but not to worry too much because even though they didn't have anti-venom here at Sepilok the viper, after it strikes, does not slither away like the cowardly cobra does. So if bitten all we have to do is kill the viper, slit it open, cut out its liver and put that on the wound. Yeah right, we gave it a wide berth and left quickly... :-0
After safely negotiating the route back without further scares, our group was able to help take some of the youngsters out for exercise. We took them to a new, much drier wooded area to minimise the risks of Melio bacteria exposure from the damp soil.
I actually took out cute little Reto, who is under 1 year old. She is totally gorgeous, now my 2nd favourite (after Sogo of course!). Because of her age she isn't allowed on the damp ground and can't mix directly with the others. So that meant lots of cuddles for me!!! It was SO satisfying seeing her reaching out for branches and leaves and taking her first tentative steps out onto small branches. She is too small to fully want to let go, in fact she has complete trust that you will catch her at all times! On two occasions (with some gentle encouragement from me) she had both feet and one hand on branches and as i tried to put her other hand onto another branch she deliberately started to fall down, meaning you have to grab her again. Clever girl. All too soon playtime was over and it was back to resthouse for lunch.
BTW - Gabili, one of the Rangers here makes machetes from scratch for any volunteers that want them, so don't mess with me when i get back to Britain, i may well be carrying. You have been warned... :-)
// posted by storri @ 5:01 am 
