So recent observation of our circumstances has motivated me to move these blog posts to once every two weeks. The internet is very undependable, and our schedule makes it difficult to keep our intentions of a post once a week.

That being said, things are still going very well here!

On the personal side, our passports have been approved until November 2nd, 2013 and we'll only need to get them stamped one more time to ensure our safe and legal stay here at Wildtracks in Belize. There is a full volunteer crew now, and this is giving us a bit more personal time... although I am honestly missing the more busy, intense schedule we had when we first arrived. I've had a lot of opportunities to show the new volunteers how things work here, and I'm starting to think that talking about manatees and educating people about them is something I enjoy almost as much as caring for them. I've really learned a lot the past few weeks about how manatees will interact, feed, and even had the not-so-happy opportunity to learn what a sick manatee looks like.

Duke, our slightly older and bigger boy here, had an unhappy day recently of stomach cramps. We were so happy that he had gained 5 lbs and maintained eating well for over a week, but this came to an unexpected halt when we noticed he wasn't being himself and seemed very reclusive. Soon after, he was curled, floating, and uninterested in people. Soon, he seemed doubled over and gassy, and it was apparent to the volunteers and directors that he wasn't feeling very well. Our director, Paul, gave us the order to bring him down to the lagoon soon after this realization, where Duke was able to swim and be active to get his mind of his stomach ache. It didn't take long for him to have a rather impressive bowl movement, and a day later he was back to his normal self again. Thank goodness! This is not the kind of excitement we want here at Wildtracks!

Rameses is doing wonderful, and should be entered into a manatee eating contest.
Because of how well he has been eating, he was recently taken down to the natural lagoon... which has become his new temporary home. This is a HUGE step toward his release back into the wild, and as long as he continues packing on pounds it won't be too long before pre-release procedures begin to be implemented into his daily routine. Such exciting news! His personality and character has truly blossomed since being taken down to the lagoon. Doing sit-ins with him are fun, and I'm so happy to say that he hasn't missed a bite - last week he ate 52 water lily hyacinths in one day!!

I haven't been working with Khaleesi too often recently. Dan and Jo, a couple that joined the Wildtracks volunteer team a few weeks ago, has had the amazing opportunity to work with her. Because they like to keep new introductions to a minimum with little Khaleesi, Todd and I have spent a lot of time working to get Duke to start eating as well as Rameses. I truly hope for the opportunity to work with the little baby manatee, and find myself feeling slightly jealous as I watch others bond with her. I'm so happy to be here until December, a month just isn't enough time to do and learn everything there is here!

Getting Duke to eat is an entirely different challenge, and his belly ache definitely held us up. We're brainstorming ideas right now to entice him to eat more, and spending even more time keeping him occupied and happy with company. Manatee grass seems to be his favorite vegetation, so we're going to keep up with that for now... until we can hopefully get him more turned on to sea grass. He is so lovely and frisky, I really hope to speed up his progress before our next entry!

The otter rehabilitating here, Missy, is soon to be released and hard to keep in her cage. I was scared of her playful tactics at first, which includes some nibbling and biting, but I am getting used to her and it seems like she co-exists very well with all of us here at Wildtracks. She is hunting and eating her own crabs, with a side of fish, and happily swimming around the lagoon during her hunting trips with her caretaker and our operations manager, Afrin. It is awesome to watch!

The weather here has been much better, and our water pump is working great. The critters are out to say hello! We've seen lots of snakes, including baby boas and rat snakes, and tons of yellow-belly geckos. The "Doctor flies" are evil little b******s that like to bite and scrape your skin, and even as I type I am swatting them off my nose and feet. It is definitely a different lifestyle here, and I am truly and completely enjoying every moment of it. So much more coming soon, thank you for reading everyone!

Todd's insights - "The last couple of weeks have definitely mellowed out.. Now with 14 volunteers, instead of 6 we have a bit more free time; but only as of the last few days. So I have been rushing to get my side of the blog together. On top of it all, our charger for the chromebook has died. Now to find a 14V AC charger in Belize with a matching plug. The manatees are doing well in some cases and not in others; Rameses is eating like a champ, Duke is eating on and off (mostly off), and Khaleesi is finally starting to bottle feed a bit better (but only for Paul and Zoe). On the monkey side, we have gotten 3 new healthy monkeys in. 2 are howler babies, 1 is a spider monkey adult; all of which were brought by the forestry department from the pet trade. The spider monkey has been named Rafiki, and has a pretty good temperament but has a hump on his back probably from an injury or birth defect. In the last week, Rameses has eaten an insane amount of water hyacinths and sea grass. Nearly 60 hyacinths per day, and 6-10lbs of sea grass when its available. The only problem, the hyacinth pond has become very depleted. There will be a trip in the near future to Belize City for more hyacinths. Duke on the other hand is barely eating, and only hydrilla when he does. Which is good when he does, but he needs to get more intake to be cut down on the tube feeding which tends to stress him out. He is the case that Emily and I have been basically assigned to getting to eat, which has become a bit stressful. We will get him to eat in some way though and consistently. Sorry for the sort entry this time. running low on battery and have to figure out something before the chromebook completely dies."