Introducing the Marmosets

So let me introduce a few of the characters here at the sanctuary, with promises of many more to come over the next few weeks.

Goliath is one of the many marmosets here, mostly rescued from the pet trade. I’ve spent the past few days feeding them, topping up their feed later in the day, and then hand feeding them tiny pellets later in the afternoon. One enclosure contains three meanies, whom we’ve nicknamed the ASBOs (for non-Brits, that refers to Anti-Social Behavior Orders). The three line up like little gangsters when anyone comes near, spiky hair sticking up. They have attitude. Then there’s Bushman, another little meanie. He scratched me on my very first day and then tried to bite me; apparently he’s the same with everyone.

Goliath

But Goliath is a sweetie. He likes hand hugs. When I hold my hand up to the wire, he reaches around and clutches hold with both hands, and then rubs himself up and down. His mate Barney tends to look unimpressed by the whole shebang.

Incidentally, I have a namesake here. There is a marmoset named Fiona, but sadly I have no fun stories to tell about her yet. She shares an enclosure with Goofy, an elderly marmoset who is now quite senile. He sits around looking generally confused, and often has to be reminded to eat.

That’s just a few of the marmosets. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about the real crazy cuties – the capuchins.

In other news, the weather for the last few days has been hot, hot, hot – close to 40 degrees. Today was much cooler, only 34 degrees. Last night the winds really whipped up and for a couple of hours, it seemed as though the roof might blow off, while leaves and debris from outside came blowing in. It sounds like it’s whipping up again this evening.