Since the last update we've had to say good-bye to a few old friends.
Ziggy, Tito and Henry
The 3 girls dumped in February are now called Gilda, Jane and Joy. They are fun, sweet-tempered dogs.
Picture of Gilda from June 2018 (Jojo foreground).
Unfortunately Joy has hip problems which cause her significant pain and will need surgery. Despite this she is aptly named.
Gilda and Joy attack.
Jane has had no health problems since her broken leg healed.
Jane and Joy.
All 3 have been spayed -just in time to be big sisters.
Jane and Joy play with the wee ones.
May 3 Sean returned from a day in Merida to find 4 abandoned puppies in the nearby bushes. The smallest of them did not survive.
The remaining sisters are called Bindy, Biscuit and Boomer.
Bindy mid-May (she's part hippopotamus),
Biscuit (a pillow for Henry, early June),
and Boomer (mid-May) with Nico, Xmul, Sean and Murci.
It hasn't been all puppies, there were visiting bees
morning runs,
pitaya flowers,
then fruit.
Summer is a time of many milestones for us. July 29 was the 1st anniversary of finding 9 abandoned puppies; they are all happy, healthy, loved and sterilized. The occasion was marred by a street full of dead (poisoned) street dogs. They were not 'ours' but we knew and cared for all of them. We'd known some for years and the girls had been spayed. I'll spare you and myself a photo.
July 31 we brought in a stray and her 9 puppies. She had a burrow about a block away, in an open lot, where we'd been taking her food and water. It was a no win situation since we'd be worried to distraction either way -worried for their safety because of hot days, hard rain, and now a dog
killer, but also worried for our sanity if they were to survive and fill the
area with loud, hungry, fecund dogs.
We'll be desperate for homes for them as soon as they're weaned!
She is unnamed, friendly and sensible.
They are in a private pen. 6 females (+ mom) and only 3 males.
Did I mention we're desperate to find them homes?
Less than a week later, Aug 6, we heard something unhappy nearby. It was this poor little fellow, all alone. He isn't even properly weaned but he's brave. We've named him Willy because we're so happy he's a boy.
Aug 06, 2018
Our resident stingless bees keep busy in the moringa.
They've had plenty of company.
A squirrel cuckoo (Kip Cho in Maya).
hummingbird (Dzunum)
hooded oriole (Yuyum)
An odd shot: moringa, bee and grackle.
As of New Year's eve, Miles Monroe has been with us 9 years!
Miles and Eve on a recent walk.
Ernie joined us in December of 2008.
He has mellowed a bit since then.
Linda and newbie Hazel are always full of enthusiasm.
Tito, Hazel, Henry ...and Miles.
Hazel and some of theTribe.
The last Saturday of 2012:
Tito, Linda, Henry, Reggie and Hazel.
Stingless bees moved into our compost bin made from old tires! According to Wikipedia, the Mayan word for this bee is Xunan kab, literally meaning "royal lady". We've set aside 2 of the tires and they've settled in nicely. After witnessing neighbors burn a wild hive a few years ago, we're feeling especially happy to host them.
We've been busy the last few weeks... Otto is nearly recovered from tendon surgery. He went on his first walk in 2 months and had no problems!
Surgery is done
on the second of Rita's ears; her recovery is going well, though it is
gruesome. We hope this gives her some relief from her constant ear
infections.
This was shaping up to be a happy update, lots of progress and a new adventure on the horizon -a perfect time to have the reality of life here become painfully obvious.
Strays are everywhere; we do what we can to help people who want to have their dogs (or strays) sterilized. Last week Sean took 4 to the city, 3 to be spayed and one neutered. I had hoped to have good news to report; instead, two of these dogs are dead from poison. They were both the sweet, lovely, dogs of a fisherman who does a lot for strays. A fair amount of time and energy went into making everything happen, and to have them killed by someone, just because they could, is heartbreaking. This isn't the first or even second time his recently spayed dogs have been poisoned.
I'd intended to let you in on our plans, but we're both crushed and I'm in no mood to promote Celestun. Beach front encroachment and denuding goes unchecked, wild bird trapping is common, the plunder for profit of endangered sea turtle eggs is not unknown. The common and haphazard use of poison (we've found piles of dead dogs dumped in the woods and seen more than one neighbor spraying weed killer on the beach) is distressing. For a town that relies so heavily on eco-tourism, there is shit-all interest in the actual environment; maybe people won't miss the birds and turtles, but they'll care when the money disappears. Humanity shoots itself in the foot, but not before annihilating everything else that moves.
