Daphne has taken a big step forward, not in sleeping any better through the night, but she has decided she is ready for her first solid food. Seeing Pixie eating tempted her to try some items, but as she is still not really able to coordinate her hand, eye, mouth response, she needed help at first in holding the food, but now she is happily eating grapes and cucumber almost by herself, along with baby cereal which she takes off the end of a straw, a spoon being too big and too hard if she misses the food. Pixie of course wants the same as her, and although he has always turned his nose up at baby cereal, now insists on it and with a straw too. Daphne had a small set back with a stuffily cold, which dampened her appetite for a few days. This was from a visitor who after cuddling and cooing over her for some time, then announced she had a terrible cold. Babies, and indeed grown monkeys, are susceptible to all human illnesses, so I shall be querying any further visitors as to their health status before they get to Daphne in future.
Sasha, the newest arrival, is now in a pen with Daisy who is totally non aggressive to other monkeys and is happy to groom her and show her some of the benefits of being a monkey.
Unfortunately, in order to make it into a troop she will have to learn not only to stand up for herself against the bullies, but submit gracefully to those above her in status, a lot to learn for a monkey that has never met another since a small baby. She has quite a following among the long stay visitors to Goa, who had befriended her when she was on her chain at the restaurant, and they are taking her for walks in the garden and giving her some of the human company that she has been used to. She still prefers humans to monkeys.
