A friend of mine was on vacation in Florida the end of November into early December and we went to Arnold’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for a visit. It was his first time there, but he had seen the pictures and read the stories I wrote about my previous visits there. We stopped at the store and bought fruit and other food and supplies for Sue Arnold to feel the animals.
I didn’t take many photos this trip, if I did many would be the same as in previous albums. I did make a photo album with a few pictures and there is a fundraiser on February 4, 2017 in case you are in the area and want to attend or send a donation. If you want to see pictures from my previous trips here you can use the search feature on my website.
As we were walking around the animal cages Sue Arnold pointed out an iguana up in a tree near the lemur cage. It took me a while to see the iguana, it was the same exact green and gold brown color as the tree. It blended in so well.
After talking with Sue for a while, we decided to walk around and see the animals and give them some orange pieces and cheese slices as treats. Sue said they have to be careful and not give too many treats or sugared ones to the animals any more because of their health. Many of the animals she has had for a number of years and they are getting older.
We went to visit Zeke the capuchin monkey first since he is my favorite there. He loved the cheese and so did the other capuchins. They seemed to like the cheese much better than the oranges. It was funny to watch. When they finished their piece of cheese and I went to give them a slice of orange, they wouldn’t take the orange, they wanted more cheese. I saw that Zeke was alone in his cage, when I asked Sue about it she said that Cricket had died. So had a few other animals. Foxy Brown the rare and endangered fox squirrel had died earlier in the year. There used to be five fennet foxes and now there is only one. A few bobcats and panthers and llamas also died. Like people, they age or get sick and die too.
I got to see Annie the 5 month old pinto camel. She’s pretty cute. The otters were sleeping so we didn’t get to see them swim. When we were in the hospital area we saw two baby bobcat babies that were about a month or so old, there was a hawk with a broken wing, some baby chicks, and a squirrel. There was also a yellow and green parakeet in a cage by itself. After we walked around and had sandwiches for lunch as we were talking with Sue about the animals there and some other things we talked about the parakeet. She said I should take it home with me. She said it was turned in the day before and no one knows anything about it. I felt bad for the bird, she was in a small cage with rust, no perches, and her beak looked like it was too long and needed trimming. I told Sue that when I traveled I could not take the bird with me. We agreed that if I can’t find it a home when I leave that she would take it back. So, I now have a cute little rescue parakeet whom I have named Katie.
It seems she had scaly mites on her legs so I bought some mineral oil and treated her for a few days. She didn’t really like being held and twice she got away from me and flew around my apartment. It wasn’t easy to catch her but I finally did. The next weekend she had her wings trimmed and her beak trimmed so she could eat better. I took her to a friend who grooms birds. I got Katie a cage with room for several perches and toys, and she now has healthy food to eat. I don’t think she was talked to or handled much and I think she had minimum care from looking at her. I don’t think she is very young, but she is very petite and thin. I’m hoping as she eats the better food and is in a good environment that she will fill out and maybe even talk. As I am writing this story and other stories on my website I have sound from YouTube of parakeets chirping and talking so she will hear the other birds sounds.
We had a nice visit with Sue and the animals at Arnold’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. It’s always nice to go there and see what different animals are there or what they were able to release back to the natural habitat. If you want a good place to make a donation, this is one of the best I know of. All of the donated funds go to the care and feeding of the animals.
