Slices of Life in Belize - Septermber 15, 2016

Farewll

Some sad news to report. We recently had to put our dog, Sam, down. He contracted tick fever back in January, but thanks to the ministrations of our vet, Dr. Charles, Sam made a recovery. But we were warned that a relapse could happen at any time.

A little over a week ago, we noticed he started to exhibit the same symptoms as before -- no interest in food or water and being very lethargic. Dr. Charles confirmed our suspicions and pumped him full of antibiotics and vitamins. Later that day, Sam's temperature had dropped from 103.5 down to 101 degrees. Things were looking up.

But the next morning, his temperature spiked at 104.5 and he still refused food and water. He was so spent, he could barely walk. Dr. Charles made a house call and, after looking Sam over, told us his liver and kidneys were shutting down.

While we know we made the right decision, it was still heart wrenching. We take comfort in the fact that he had a good life, was well loved, and one of the bravest dogs I've ever known. I mean he took on anteaters, twice!

Sam -- good, loving, and missed.

Festivities

On a happier note, September in Belize is like a never-ending party. Why? Because 21 September is Independence Day and every district in the country uses the entire month to host various festivities. 

This year Belize turns 35 years old and this is this year's theme:

You can read about the history of Belize here.

In Corozal, parades of all kinds are scheduled, as well as a block party, Carnival Jouvert, dances, and of course, fireworks. 

And our small village of Ranchito has a bevy of events slated for next Wednesday including a children's parade, the crowning of the Queen of Ranchito, family friendly festivities and a free dance. Pictures of all the fun will be posted on the Ranchito Village Council Facebook page. 

National motto: SUB UMBRA FLOREO ("Under the shade I flourish")

Goodbye and Hello

Early this month, Tanya passed away. She was a sweet girl who did her best to keep up with Sam. But age and arthritis made it difficult for her to be very active.

In the 18 months that we owned her, she became part of our family. I'd like to think we provided her some creature comforts that she may not have had in the past. 

Whenever you lose a pet, it takes time to come to terms with it. And while we knew we wanted to get another dog at some point, we didn't want to rush into anything.

A few weeks went by, and we found out that friends of ours, who needed to move to Canada, were looking for someone to adopt their dog.

Ladies and gentlemen, please say hello to Lizi:

 

She's two-years old, about 40 (ish) pounds, and quite the looker. Lizi came to live with us this Thursday and made fast friends with Sam:

Once the introductions were over, these two decided some play time was in order. For the first time, in a long time, Sam has a playmate that can run as hard and fast as he can. It's such a cool thing to watch.

Olivia, our puppy, initially had her panties in a twist over our new arrival, but finally got over herself. Now the three of them hang out together, run like maniacs, and all is well with the world.

Now the cat, Bronte, has been a slightly different matter. It's only been today that she has deemed to come off of her perch on top of our closet for any extended amount of time to check out this new beast. She's still not 100% sold on Lizi, but I suspect she'll come around in time.

And speaking of Bronte and Olivia, they just turned one year old. Don't know where that time went. And it's hard to believe that when we adopted them, they looked like this:

And now?

Bronte and Olivia

Olivia went from weighing in at two pounds when we first got her to now being a solid 20-25 pounds. It now takes two hands to scoop her up, instead of a one hand grab.

Bronte weighed only one pound when she came to live with us. Now? Well, I don't want to say she is fat; more like pleasingly plump...well upholstered...Rubenesque. Okay, she's fat.

So there you have it, as far as the Wright pets go. Thank you Ed, Maria, and Thomas for sharing Lizi with us. She's a wonderful, wonderful dog.

Once this dratted rain lets up, I'll take and post more pictures of Lizi and the rest of the gang. Stay tuned.

You might also like...

• Say Hello To My Little Friend
• It's a Pupapalooza!
• Angel and Demon in a Three Pound Package
  

When Anteaters Attack

There we were, sound asleep around midnight Sunday. We heard Sam and Tanya bark, but didn’t think much of it. As our trusty guard dogs, they’re very good about letting us know if they think something is amiss in the yard.

We no sooner rolled back over, when all hell broke loose. In just a matter of seconds, the barking escalated and the sounds of some animal in pain echoed through the yard. David jumped up, threw on some clothes, grabbed the machete and a flashlight, and raced out of the house.

He reached the dogs, who were by the side gate, and saw Sam being attacked by some long-snouted animal. David came charging back to the house, grabbed Sam’s leash and somehow managed to get Sam tethered when the animal in question broke its grip on Sam’s face.

In the meantime, I put Bronte and Olivia in the bedroom, started turning on lights, and grabbing towels because David had yelled that it looked like Sam was bleeding.

When David got Sam into the house, there was blood dripping from his ear, face, and mouth. He was panting so hard, it took some time to get him calm enough to examine his wounds and get him to drink some water. David’s breathing and heart rate were spiked as well, as you might imagine. When his blood pressure came down enough, I asked what the heck he thought was the attack animal. He said that it reminded him of an anteater, just smaller. Presuming that my dearly beloved was still jacked on adrenaline, I just said, “uh, huh” and continued my examination of Sam.

The poor dog had puncture wounds all over his face and shoulders and his ear was badly gashed.  

Results of anteater attack

He also reeked to high heaven with a smell similar to having been sprayed by a skunk. However, after a bit of time, the cuts started to coagulate and the bleeding wasn’t so severe. While I got him settled on the porch, David was surfing the Web trying to identify what kind of animal we had in the yard.

Turns out it was this:

 

A Collared Anteater or Tamandua. What do you know? You can read all about them here, but the upshot is that while they have no teeth, they have very long, sharp claws. They also will spray their opponents, much like a skunk. As their name suggests, they eat ants and termites and often hang out in trees. This one must have come down from one of the palms when Sam discovered him. Probably they both scared each other and the fight ensued. Tanya, our other adopted dog who is about 10 years old and arthritic, managed not sustain any injuries but lent her bark to let Sam know she had his back.

Now I don’t know about any of you, but I never knew anteaters lived in Belize. Possums? Yep. Armadillos, crocodiles, and tarantulas? Sure. Nor have I ever had to call the vet to make an appointment for my dog being attacked by one. Dr. Sheila didn’t skip a beat when I got in touch with her. Just another anteater incident and typical day at the office for her. She gave Sam the once over, checked his weight,  gave him a shot, and provided a week’s worth of antibiotics. Her cost: $18 BZD or $9 USD. Once the swelling in his face goes down, hopefully in another few days, and his cuts start healing up, we can gently clean his wounds with soap and water.

Anteaters. In our yard. Attacking the dog. Still trying to wrap my head around that one.

Slices of Life from Belize - 9/25/12

See Ya’ Later, Crocagator 

During a recent field trip to Orange Walk with friends of ours, Colleen and Bruce, they gave us a tour of some of the go-to stores in town, including a bakery. There were all kinds of yummy bread options to choose from, and we walked out of there with four croissants, two lovely sandwich rolls, two sweet rolls, a large bottle of water, and this guy:

Isn’t it great? Apparently, the bakery is known far and wide for this little croc. Guess how much he cost. Would you believe $1.75 BZD, which is about .88 cents USD? The total for everything we bought came just over $3.00 USD. Man, you can’t even buy a large bottle of water for that in some places in the States.

Right after taking this shot, I couldn’t resist the urge to sample it, and I’m sorry to say (well, not really) that our croc is now without a tail. While breaking it off, it took me back to those chocolate bunnies I would get at Easter. How well I remember asking my Mom if I could have a piece for a snack and being told, “Yes, but only one ear.” Or, “You can only eat his feet.” Cannibalism by chocolate or, in this case, by crocodile.

Leaving the Scene of the Crime 

So not that long ago, we decided to pull out the bedding plants that were on either side of the porch entrance and transplant some marigold seedlings. David turned over the beds, mixed in some sand, and generally made the area all ready for its new plant residents.

Once the marigolds were in the ground, I kept noticing that dirt from one of the beds kept showing up on the pavement. Then I noticed that one of the marigolds had gotten uprooted completely. Dirt was everywhere. Did we have some kind of varmint? 

Noooo, we had Sam:

Suspect caught during escape

 

Seems he likes the area now that the dirt is nice and soft and thinks it’s a cool place to make a little nesting area. Ay, caramba!

If he didn't have such a cuteness factor...

...well, who knows what I might be tempted to do.

Splitting Hairs 

While living in the States, I wasn’t the type of girl to buy all kinds of beauty and fashion magazines. My guilty pleasure were cooking publications. However, I did have a reasonable idea of what the various trends and fads ladies just had to have to stay pretty and youthful looking (can you say Botox?). But when I saw this sign in downtown Corozal, I was stymied:

What in the world? Are your eyebrows sewn together in some way? Made to look fuller? Does it require a needle to go with the thread?  It sounds like something that would really hurt, doesn’t it? 

Curious, I did some Internet searches and discovered that it’s a beauty technique whereby a thin, twisted piece of thread is rolled over unwanted hair to pluck it out. Apparently threading can take out an entire row of hair, which gives a straighter line. Furthermore, the practice has been around for ages and ages.

Who knew? Well, clearly I didn’t, but think I’ll stick with my trusty tweezers.