Snails, baby rats and awesome cocoons!

Saturday, Nov 12.  No rain!  Watched elephants going from their night enclosures out to there daytime hangout areas.  Those giant creatures are so amazing to watch.  They look so calm and peaceful... just don't get one mad!  Yikes!

Two dogs that were moved into new enclosures yesterday escaped.  One dug under the concrete wall and the other climbed out!  I have never seen dogs that can climb like these dogs!  They literally climb the chained link!  You have to see it to believe it.  Maybe I will manage to get a photo sometime.  Anyway, both dogs were found and put in different enclosures.  They are already adopted and will be flying to their new homes in December!

 Three little baby rats were found swimming/drowning in a dog water trough by their mahouts.  So Lucie saved the poor little tykes.  Got them some food and took them out to some grassy area in the sun to warm up and dry off.  Two looked good, one looked to be in pretty bad shape.  When we went back to check on them, they had all disappeared.  Hopefully off to do little rat things.

Whiskey getting a bath.

Towel time.

Mom finishes the job.

Had bits of sunshine today... makes it quite hot.  The cloudy days are a bit cooler.  But is so gorgeous either way.

The main projects here at the park are the elephant projects.  There are many to choose from... day trips to several days in length.  Sometimes the folks are finished and they are encouraged to come to the dog facility and take dogs for walks!  The guest and dogs love it!  Some days only a few people come over, other days LOTS of people want to walk dogs!  Some of the pooches get to go for 2 and 3 walks.  Makes for very well socialized dogs.

Two of the moms.

 At the end of the day, another group of dogs figured out how to open their enclosure and escaped... twice!  Made for
some excitement, rounding up six silly dogs.  But all were retrieved (both times!) and safely enclosed and secured!

Decided to start weaning the puppy pack today.  The large puppies are getting teeth and causing little wounds on their mommies. So they big pups (11 of them) got put in one area, three moms in another (so they can start drying up their milk), one mom left with the six smaller pups.  There were some mighty unhappy dogs of all ages!  Though by dinner time most had calmed down.

Got word that 8 more puppies are due to arrive on Monday.  Not sure of age (3-4 weeks?!?!?) of if a mother is comingwith them.  So Lucie got the enclosure prepared for that brood.

Mom packed with puppies!

 Carolina was back today so we had more tasks to follow up on.  Reviewed lots of lab results.  Two doggies fly to their new homes on Tuesday!  There is a large world map hanging in the "Platform" area (where we have meals) that has pictures and locations of the ENP Global Pack!  Sabrina does an amazing job of getting doggies into forever homes.  It takes an incredible amount of work to get these animals into other countries, but she gets it done!

Time for a lunch snack.

Ever see a close up of an elephant eating?

At dinner I saw Lek and Derrek (the owners) and wondered if I would actually get to meet them.  Lek approached me and we introduced ourselves.  Then she asked if I would join her on a special project in Myanmar (Burma)!!  We are leaving on the 22nd and will stay for a few days!  WOW!  There is a small dog rescue facility where the animals are in deplorable conditions,so we are going to go help them so they can do a better job caring for the animals.  So, the adventure continues!

Look at this amazing cocoon!  It is protected by a "hair" net that was plucked form
itself when it was a caterpillar!

On Sunday, the majority of the dog volunteers are finished with their week and will be moving on.  New volunteers will be arriving.  I will miss these folks!  Lucie and Jack will be staying, thank goodness.  Helps to keep the care flowing better.

Dinner was a Bar-B-Que: vegan style!  Some pretty good stuff!  And it was one of the dog volunteers birthday, so the kitchen staff made her a special cake!  That was fun!

Well, off for bed.  Later!!