Someone didn’t get the memo that baby season is pretty much over… On Sunday 11th March, we had our 30th baby of the season arrive.
The foundation was quiet, it was a hot day and people were just going about their business when we got a message from Dave to say a baby is on it’s way and will be with us within the hour. It was up to myself and Olivia, meds staff member, to receive and sort the baby out.
Before the baby arrived, we were made aware that it has head trauma due to the situation it was rescued from. While we waited, Olivia was getting things ready in surgery to clean any wounds and make decisions about what will need to be done.
The story we were told was she was found at a rubbish dump site and local staff were trying to kick her while throwing big stones. The people who rescued the baby presumed the mother was dead as there was no sign of any troop members. They made the decision to pick up the baby and bring it to the foundation.
When the beautiful bundle of fluff arrived, she was very docile, and didn’t make any noise. As Dave got her out of her carrier to give her a quick check over, she just simply grabbed onto his hand like it was her mothers belly, and stayed still. Dave passed her over to me, who had a lovely warm blanket waiting for her.
Initially, we thought she had wounds on her head with horrible sticky seeds (the ones that get stuck to your clothes and it’s a nightmare to get them off) stuck to it so we rushed the baby girl straight to surgery where the right equipment was waiting.
I held onto the baby girl in the blanket, trying to calm her with some lip smacking and chirping noises, while Olivia investigated. To our delight, as we started washing, what we thought were the wounds, weren’t wounds, they were simply matted fur with these seeds in! We did find a small wound on her head and a couple on her thigh, but nothing life threatening. We checked the rest of her body and apart from having these sticky seeds all over her, bless her, she was in good condition. Her eyes however, were showing signs of bruising and the purples and blacks were evident she had had some sort of trauma.
Once we were happy there were wounds that weren’t life threatening, I took her into Neverland for a bit of tlc. I made her some milk with a little rescue remedy in to help calm her down and instantly her eyes lit up. She isn’t the best drinker from a bottle, but she is able to get milk which is the main thing. She finished 60mls in a couple of hours which not only was a relief but the rescue remedy helped to calm her nerves.
Baby girl took to sitting on top of the window, so I simply stood on the blanket container and started grooming her to gain her trust. Once she was calmer, I started snipping away at all the mats on her poor body. I think when she realised what I was doing and the instant relief she was getting, she was happy to sit there calmly and let me snip away for a couple of hours. I decided to not do any more than that because I didn’t want her to get stressed because I’m guessing it would have been causing her some pain with the tugging on the skin.
Torie the next day, managed to get the remaining seeds and mats off her and now she is jumping around free as a baby monkey with all the flexibility in the world!
I offered to do first night shift with her on Sunday and I must admit, I was a little anxious about it because I wasn’t sure how she would take to the crate, and would it mean I would be up all night with a baby monkey who refuses to sleep happily in her crate…? Well, night shift starts at 18:30 and by 18:45 she had finished her milk, she was wrapped in her blanket and asleep on my chest! So I moved her into her crate and there she stayed, quietly sleeping until 4:30 the next morning… Although, she didn’t come out of her crate until 6:30 because she was just calling in her half asleep state and wasn’t ready to get out of bed.
When I made her milk however, she was out that crate like a bullet and was bugging me to finish making her milk and give it to her. Again, she didn’t suckle from the bottle properly, but her technique works, so I’m not going to question it!
I was with baby girl again today and what a little character she is! She is definitely screaming and calling less, she is less stressed and is more likely to come to us if she wants some milk, rather than us going to her and offering it. She loves being groomed and she will sit for quite a while if you’re grooming her, going through her fur and making sure she’s all clean.
I had her fall asleep on my chest today after a good grooming session and after she had some milk. A lunchtime nap is just what she needed! We did a faecal sample on her and it has come back with parasite eggs, so therefore we have started her on the correct treatment, so that as well will help with making her more comfortable.
That isn’t it for the weeks excitement either!
On Monday 12th March, Goliath babies finally made the jump and went out into the troop with their foster mum Mrs Gold!
The 3 babies, Jerry, DD and Joby all shared Mrs Gold’s love and attention in the intro cage for the past few weeks, although I hate to say it but this mum does have a favourite. Baby girl Jerry has a permanent belly to grab onto, where as DD and Joby have to back pack or run behind. Although, Mrs Gold has been fantastic with them!
The first to make the plunge was DD, she went out into the troop with Colleen, realised after a couple of minutes what she did and very quickly ran back to the intro cage screaming! This was a situation where Nelly, top section staff, had to make a decision… let DD back in scared and potentially for her to not want to go back out, or let Mrs Gold out with Jerry and Joby… Well, Nelly did good! She made the decision in that split second, to let Mrs Gold out with Jerry on her belly and Joby back packing, to meet the screaming DD and calm her down. DD jumped on Mrs Gold’s back along with Joby, and off she ran (well tried too with 3 babies weighing her down!)
There wasn’t a massive amount of screaming, but due to Goliath troop being so big, there were extra people on hand to look out for the babies as well as sitting at the feeding cages. Only a few sightings were made but the babies went to bed with Mrs Gold, in a tree high up off the ground, which is what we want!
Today, the babies are loving life! Jerry is sticking to Mrs Gold like glue, she’s very chatty so you can always tell where she is. Jerry has this very distinctive high pitched chirp so you just know it’s her! Joby has been following Mrs Gold around, but has also been venturing out and away from grabbing reach. DD however…. has made friends with other monkeys… but not just any monkeys, the alpha group! Which is fantastic! Females take on the hierarchy role of their mothers, so being adopted by the alpha female is a massive accomplishment!
All is well for today and the babies are being monitored for 1 more day to make sure they are settled, eating and drinking the right amount. So fingers crossed, tomorrow is as positive as the last couple of days 🙂
Bertie's Adventure 
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