No further trouble from Prestons people, we had half expected a midnight raid! We have invited them to come on an authorised visit, so hopefully they will see our happy groups and realise how wrong it is to keep an isolated baby on a chain. At last we have found something Preston is frightened of when a great Indian Hornbill paid us a rare visit. All the monkeys were on high alert and giving warning calls and Preston having seen the giant bird for himself took fright, hiding himself in Linda’s arms until it flew off again, which gave us all a good laugh at his expense. Preston now goes in the pen with many of the other monkeys and most of them are getting used to his bold behaviour, although the more timid adults keep a good distance from him if possible. Baldrick and Tuffty now play quite nicely with this tiny tornado. We had a long awaited a visit from some IAR supporters who while in India had planned to come to Goa mainly to see the monkeys and swim with them in the pool. Unfortunately all the plans went wrong, and they finally arrived after dark. John none the less got out several monkeys and took them to the pool, but none would venture anywhere near the water in the dark We were just explaining that after dark they didn’t have the confidence or feel secure enough to take to the water, when Linda appeared with Preston so they could at least meet him. Without a seconds thought Preston dove straight into the pool, even swimming underwater as if to show up his cowardly companions.
Three days were spent this week trying to catch a litter of 8 week old pups. They had been dumped on the roadside near here and had taken up hiding in a rocky and tunnel ridden outcrop in the adjoining forest. At the sight of anyone they immediately shot down the many small openings. With the aid of tinned pet food any many long hours we eventually caught them all, and were able to unite the litter at the centre, where we are hoping they will be re-homed.
