Construction Update
The next villa ready for occupancy will be the slightly larger, Emma Villa. Steel work is being fabricated and since Emma Villa has an extra cage, some changes need to be worked out, but it is going slowly but surely. Meanwhile, we’re “studding out” the other two villas, Bonz and Pitchou, getting them ready for their steel work, which will be fabricated after Emma Villa is online.
The "big" news, though, is the humongo
Group Building that's also finally underway, giving us all something to
show people, as its progress is more dramatic and exciting, than the
electrical wiring or plumbing going on at
the
other villas. Steel work for this 7,000+ sqft. building will be at least a year
away, but we’re getting the building itself done, so we can work on the
electrical and plumbing systems during the rainy and colder winter months.
Photo right shows the south end of the habitat with the group building.
There are several gorillas on our “waiting list” and as soon as Emma Villa is complete, I’m sure we’ll have a new resident or two, depending on what the Gorilla SSP (Species Survival Plan) and zoo world recommends.
Joe Update
Joe’s met Greeni and Beani, the new facility kitties (see Critter Update below) a couple of times. The first time the kittens walked into Silverback Villa and noticed Joe, they did a double-take and backed up, never taking their eyes off of him. Joe totally ignored them. On subsequent visits, Joe dismisses the kittens by waving them away with the back of his hand, as if to push away some spoiled piece of food or poop. The kittens steer clear of Joe, but are shadows to Pete and Kelly, when they’re not supervising the construction of the Group Building, which is near their home, by the administration and food prep building.
Joe continues to enjoy his routine of going outside into the habitat. The chest beats and screams that Pete described in the earlier update, continue to happen from time to time, and we all think it’s just Joe telling the birds and squirrels in the habitat, that he’s the boss and they better not forget it.
At the end of August, we had a birthday party for me, and we took several people up to see Joe, who seemed to enjoy watching the children, especially, although his preference continues to be large men with beards, who he rumbles and purrs at. Since we're not open to the public, Joe seldom sees non-zoo professionals, so we've painted a bright red line that visitors must keep behind and everyone wears face masks, to further protect Joe from any stray germs. In the photo below right, you can see Joe intently studying the kids, preferring to stay inside to watch them, when he had access to his entire villa and the habitat, which tells us he was enjoying the rare treat as much as our guests!
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Lady, Chowie and Blondie |
In the past several months, our
rescued dog population swelled to 15 dogs and the peace and harmony which
existed between the cats and dogs were pushed to the breaking point. In the
space of just a few months, two cats, Balou and Peaches, were found with broken necks, after the dogs were
heard
barking and yelping in “dog pack hunting mode”. It was a heartbreaking,
devastating time, and we knew we had to find homes for 3 of the newer dogs, who
seemed to be tipping the balance of our normally peaceful home. Due to
the efforts of some wonderful local animal rescue people, we found good homes for Lady, Chowie
and Blondie, seen above right, and I was surprised when I was happy to be back “down” to a dozen
dogs, who returned to their sweet, playful and loving selves in no time. On
the left you see Herb nuzzling up to a very tolerant and patient Koko; on the
right, Rosemary and Benny keep each other company.
In late July we put the word out
that we were looking for 2 kittens to stay inside the facilities and act as
rodent control and possible company for Joe, who had lived with cats before.
It was also our way of saying "thank you" to some of the rescue people, who work
tirelessly, helping strays. We were brought 4 kittens and asked to pick the 2 we wanted. So we took all 4,
naturally. I justified this, as Steuart's eyes rolled back into his head
and he laughed, by saying the 2 additional kittens would be taking the place of Peaches and Balou,
and could stay here at the cabin with the other cats.
A couple days later, at the local post office, when I walked in everyone got
really excited and I could hear them saying “Miss Jane is here! She’ll take
this little kitty!” who had shown up on their door step, starving and pitiful.
Before I saw her, I screamed “NO! We have 22 cats and that’s more than
enough!” But when I saw her, I knew I had to take Gritsi too … she looked like she
could be a litter mate to the 4 kittens we’d just taken in – same coloring, same
age, etc. Thus 5 new kittens came to GH.
Since the original idea of 2 cats for the facilities was to give Joe some company too, we named the 5 new kittens after Joe’s favorite foods, green beans, romaine lettuce, watermelon and grits.
