We must apologise for the tardiness of this blog. We have had rather a hectic month; our Director came to visit to check on the release group, our bush site manager went on a well deserved break to the UK and then Claire went to Sierra Leone to attend a conference and is now in the bush. In addition our office internet has been down for a month! So I, Heather MacIntosh (the vet nurse), am writing about my babies in her absence.

Tom

There have been moves afoot in quarantine and not before time. Sageno, one of the four Putty Nosed has just learnt to take the open padlock off the latch and gain her freedom. She never went far, just around the outside and she always comes to me so she was never in any danger of being escaped for long. It was thought therefore that it was high time the group graduated into the big enclosure. So we introduced them to their new bigger brothers, Cross and Regiy, and their new surrogate grandmother, Nkanacha. Nkanacha has already had experience of boisterous babies Cross and Regiy, when they were introduced to her at just over one year old. Nkanacha has therefore taken to the new 4 Puttys like an old hand. Some of the clan are just a little unsure of the move however. Whenever Nkanacha tries to groom Akampka (the smallest of the babies) he doesn’t quite know what is happening and struggles to get away.

Yoga Akampka!

Akampka and Peck

Sageno, the biggest of the four, has always been the confident top dog. This changed when she met Cross and Regiy. The other 3 played and explored but Sageno was suddenly confronted with two curious bigger Puttys and she was scared. She screamed if they came near and hugged the walls of the enclosure and sought comfort from my grooming. It has taken a few days but she has finally realised that they mean her no harm and can even provide her with playmates for her bouncy Putty games.

Sageno and Tom

Their move produced a space in one of our bigger quarantine cages. The choice was an obvious one of who had to move in there. Mickey (a Red Eared) and Big Qua (a Mona) had for the past few days been gaining skills at breaking and exiting. For months they were happy to bounce around their nursery cage but recently they had gained the confidence to explore. Big Qua always stayed close to the cage but Mickey was a lot more adventurous and used to make her way to an enclosure that has our baby Monas, including Netim, in it. However, once there she realised she didn’t know where she was nor what she should do I used to hear her high pitched trill distress call, go to where she was, hold out my hand and wait patiently for her to come to me. Once back at the nursery cage she jumped right back in and Big Qua followed. So these two were the obvious choice to move into the bigger cage. They have been joined by another mixed Red Eared/Mona pair, Biggy and Sandra (Sonic). All have settled in and there have been no breakouts since.

Big Qua and Mickey

Sonic

Our Mangabey orphans Abonema and Murphy have been joined by a sister, Osuwake, which means victory. They were introduced to each other gradually so she had time to adjust to a larger male Mangabey. At first she was unsure but gradually gained confidence and readily went to him to be groomed and prodded. Now that they have been properly introduced he largely ignores her but sometimes he can be a bit rough with her like all older brothers can be. She has learnt to scream really loudly to put him off and she has an escape route into the cage next door where he can’t follow. Murphy treats her as a playmate although, like two small children, they have their quarrels that escalate into screaming matches, which funnily enough usually happens around milk feeding time.

Abonema getting to know Osuwake

And we have another new Mona, Action, who was donated to us a few weeks ago. He had a belt tied round his waist to prevent him from going anywhere and the fur underneath had fallen out. He has undergone initial quarantine tests and has joined JB, another Mona. He is happy playing in the space without the shackle of the belt and his fur has started growing back.

JB and Sonic

So as you can see our quarantine babies have been busy and keeping US busy in the process. I am leaving to go back home next week and will sorely miss all my babies and their antics.

Share This