Scotty (a young bonnet macaque) has been ill with some sort of stomach bug, none of the vets prescribed treatments seemed to help initially, so he has lost a lot of weight. Even a specialist doctor, a bowel expert for humans was consulted, and thankfully he is now seems on the mend, although still quite weak.
The Hornbill’s elaborate nest box was eventually completed and hoisted up into the biggest available tree. The Hornbills had been here the day before and tried once again to get into the roof.
Although the nest box has now been installed for several days, there have been no more visits, even to reject it, by the Hornbills. We were told it would need to be up by January, and it went up on the second but it really looks as if we have missed them for this year and just by a day!
Katrina, the oldest rhesus macaque and her friend Matilda, a quite stroppy young bonnet macaque fell out badly. This was due to a move into a new pen, with new neighbours next door. Katrina was so irate at the very sight of them that she was throwing herself at the dividing panels and having frequent temper tantrums, this annoyed Matilda who couldn’t really care about who was now next door, but she did start attacking Katrina for making such a fuss and bit her quite badly.
At the moment they are back together but in a temporary pen with no neighbours. We hope eventually to get Katrina and Ruby to share a pen as they are both irate old ladies who up to now have only tolerated sharing with younger females. They are now going for walks at the same time to try and convince them to become friends, but as yet they show no hopeful signs of them accepting each other.
The two Langur babies Puck and Phooka have been getting spoilt with toys, walks and human company, as there favourite foster parents are staying at the Tree house at the moment. Another problem with them has also been solved although probably only temporarily, by a plastic toy beetle. I have always had a fight to keep them off the television in the evenings, with its mass of chew-able wires and a screen they love to kick and climb over. The beetle toy I found is quite realistic and is still to date fooling them. He sits on the TV or around it, moved frequently to lend realism, and occasionally if they dare to approach it too closely, a realistic hissing soon sends them scurrying away. They have a real fear of big insects, and if even a bee gets inside, they cling to me till I can get it out. There is no doubt they still remember the “night of the beetle” ( blog 6th October) which is now paying dividends in my fight to protect the TV.
