Sloths on the Move!

Howdy folks! Paul here, checking back in from Costa Rica with some of the latest happenings here at the Sloth Sanctuary as our time here winds down (update: still full of sloths).

Our days have a fairly set work schedule, beginning at 6am and ending around 3:30 or so… but sometimes, situations dictate slight changes here and there. Lately, we’ve had an influx of volunteers, and with our numbers as they are we’ve been able to split tasks and get more done. For instance, most days at 11am, we all begin the process of peeling/chopping/cleaning vegetables for the afternoon feedings… the past couple of days, however, some of us have missed “veggie time” (darn!) in lieu of tasks like yard work, etc… Yesterday, while Rachel and I were raking leaves (and hauling them to the compost pile in the adjacent jungle), we heard a call from the balcony above. The balcony belongs to Judy Arroyo, the founder and head everything of this place (well, human-wise, anyway. Buttercup would object.). Judy, who is an amazing woman with a complete dedication to her passion project here in the Central American jungle, was asking our help with a project; and when Judy asks, you answer! It so happens that two sloth babies (2-toed variety, Becca and Bianca) were ready to graduate from the tiny infant nursery in Judy’s upstairs apartment (more on THAT house of cute wonders in an upcoming post) to the regular nursery downstairs under Claire’s watchful eye. To get the big nursery ready for the babies’ arrival, Rachel & I were asked to move a large bookshelf up a few stairs into a small loft area above the nursery, clearing space for two new babies on display in the nursery. This is big news, because it’s not only a major step in the lifecycle of the sloth, it’s also a major stop along the tour when guests come and visit the Sanctuary….. so as of yesterday, Becca and Bianca are open to the public!

There was still much ahead in the way of movement, however….  One rare case here at the Sanctuary is that of Juliet and Joy, mother & daughter 2-toed sloths who were separated into different enclosures a while back once Joy became an adolescent. Joy, who was on Rachel’s original sloth roster, is wonderful and completely crazy. She flies around her cage, tries to grab passersby, and has literally ripped apart her charts (which hang on a clipboard outside her door).  Recently, Judy & her staff made the decision that Joy was going to hurt herself and needed to move back into her original enclosure with her mother, Juliet. To do this, Juliet was simply carried over to the old enclosure, while Joy had to be completely sedated. Once this was done, we were put on shifts watching Juliet and her sedated daughter Joy in their old/new home, making sure they were adapting well and there was no fighting or other incident once Joy came out of the anesthesia.  I went into the enclosure and surrounded a sleeping Joy with almond leaves, since she would undoubtedly be hungry and could use the food and comfort they’d provide once she came to. Luckily, once Li’l Crazy finally came to, they got along smashingly! This morning, we arrived to the cages around 5:50 to see them asleep together, huddled under a towel. Seems like Mom & Daughter are happy to be back together again!

Then, there’s the case of Harpo, the juvenile (and very fuzzy) 2-toed who hails from the Monteverde area (meaning he has a MUCH thicker coat than most sloths). We noticed that Harpo’s stomach was incredibly bloated… it looked like he’d swallowed a volleyball. He’s already on a special diet, and on his chart we could see he hadn’t used the restroom in a while, both causes for concern. The Sanctuary veterinarian, Marcelo, gave Harpo a sedative before examining him…. Moments later, while we were in another enclosure, we heard a light “thunk” behind us, only to spin around and see little Harpo had clunked off his little pole and fell onto his platform (just a few inches, no worries, but I think the sedative kicked in!!). Later, we heard Marcelo had effectively drained 2 liters from his stomach, and today he’s been good as new (and much slimmer, I might add!).

At the end of the day, Claire, the volunteer coordinator, called a meeting and announced they were changing the layout of the “sections” of sloths in the enclosures. It’s much clearer now, with color coded numbers on the clipboards, etc., but it was a bit of a bummer when the shape of my section completely changed and I lost several of my sloths. Still, my new crew is pretty great (looking at you, Pokemon and Gypsy!) and I’ve enjoyed “meeting” some new sloth friends these last few days.

Our dinners are getting longer and longer as our volunteer numbers grow, which has been fun. We’ve met lots of new friends, and have had a great time over dinner the past several nights. Wednesday night after dinner, we took a nighttime jungle walk led by Judy’s grandson Jeff, and then last night we had “movie night” on the big screen in the exhibition hall where tour groups start their way through the sanctuary.  The jungle walk did reveal plenty of spiders, scorpions, “leaf bugs”, etc., and I was kinda-sorta prepared, armed with my iPhone flashlight app (I told you, I’m a city guy, and I know this). What could have been a negative – there were way too many of us in a single file line, and we were mostly unable to hear Jeff up front- turned into a positive, as we spent 90% of the time laughing hysterically at nonsense with our new friends Phil and Yvette, who are as delightfully crazy, fun, and hysterical as we could hope. Movie night (Puss n’ Boots won in a group vote) was cool, as we filled bowls of popcorn, lit some mosquito coils, and watched the movie together on the big screen. The only negative was how stinking creepy the Humpty Dumpty character’s face was.

Our group of volunteers has grown by two since we last checked in, adding Eitan (Israel) and Bec (Boston). It’s a wholly eclectic group, with tons of different age groups, backgrounds, and interests (including some who errantly drink blue chemical water at dinner thinking it’s juice and some who bring a suitcase of tiny hats and mustaches to try and dress the sloths in). Unfortunately, it will soon drop by two, as Rachel and I head north to San Jose for a couple of days of “decompression” before flying back to Texas. I’ve had an amazing time, but would be lying if I said I wasn’t salivating at the thought of air conditioning and restaurants.