SLOTH SITING

Today on our early morning walk, we spotted a sloth up in a guarumo tree at the edge of the road. Sloths really like guarumo trees because they produce a delicious tasting fruit – to sloths, that is. People like these trees because their branches and leaves are very open which makes spotting a sloth much easier. High in this tree was a three-toed sloth feasting on the guarumo fruit. She was quite large for a sloth and looked a bit precarious climbing way out on some of the thin outer branches of this tree.

As some of you might remember, earlier this year in March, we released on our property a three-toed sloth that was rescued by our friends at Cloudbridge reserve. This sloth had been rescued from a house in Rivas. I was wondering if this might be the same sloth or if it was the one that Carlos rescued and released in June 2010. Or, maybe it is the one I spotted in May 2008.

We will never know which sloth it is because it is impossible for us to identify them as individuals. We are just happy to see sloths thriving at Monte Azul.

BATH DAY

Today was a bath day for all 6 dogs at Monte Azul: Cookie, Scooter, Paco, Hunter, Cha Cha and Delilah. Needless to say none of them enjoyed it. There were varying degrees of struggling but Cookie won the prize for being the worst participant. This was Cookie’s 1^st bath in the 5 1/2 years that she has been at Monte Azul.

Cookie has always been a bit skittish around water. She hates to get her feet wet and will never get in the creeks or mud puddles. If she sees you pick up a garden hose, she runs in the opposite direction because she knows water comes out of it. She fought me the entire time. I knew that she was going to be a problem so I saved her for last. By the time I was done with Cookie, I was soaked from my neck to my feet.

The work was worth it though. All the dogs are clean and fresh smelling, at least for a day.

KATYDID

The other day when I was walking through Café Blue I spotted what I thought was a small bird on the floor. I went over to investigate and to my surprise it was not a bird but a katydid. This was no ordinary katydid but the largest katydid that I have ever seen. She was approximately 4” long and 1 ½” tall.

She slowing walked across the dining room floor and climbed up one of the dining chairs. When I was taking her photo I watched her watching me. She slowly turned her head to keep an eye on what I was doing as I moved around her. It was easy to see her watching me because she has large yellow eyes.

In Costa Rica, katydids are called Esperanzas which translates to hope. They are considered very good luck. With a katydid this large living at Monte Azul, we should have a lot of good luck coming our way.