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Rainsong's Animals: Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary has already had many wild animals that have passed through its doors. Some have been healed and released. Some have died, and others are still with us. Click Release List for a list of the animals that we have successfully helped and released so far. Spikey the baby Porcupine Spikey was found, one day old, on the road, by Marta Guardia, a lawyer with LLMR&T Law Firm, who by the way does all of Rainsong's legal work for free. His mother had been run over and apparently Spikey was pushed out of the womb during this horrendous accident. Against all odds, he was found by someone who knew just where to take him, and he survived. In this photo hie is five days old. At this age, just a few days old, a baby porcupine (puerco espina in Spanish) has soft fur, with just a few spines showing. A couple months later, Spikey is still small and mostly has fur, but more spikes are showing. Porcupines are very rare in this area, and nocturnal, and so most people in the area have never seen them, although they sometimes they become aware of their presence when their dogs return home with a mouthful of spines. Since Spikey was found, a second baby porcupine has also come to Rainsong, still with umbilical cord attached. He seems to be doing fine on a diet of goat's milk. Lola the Parrot Lola was donated by someone who was unable to care for her. She was missing many feathers, including all of her tail feathers. She was unusually friendly and apparently grateful for the attention and care she received at Rainsong. After several months, her feathers are growing back and she is in good spirits. Nipper the Baby Coati (Pizote) Nipper was found playing in the road in Santa Teresa by Amanda of Tropisphere Real Estate. He apparently had been someone's pet and had either escaped, or was released. He earned his name because he likes to scratch and bite, and Mary has lost a lot of blood while playing with him. Coatis are extremely smart and although he will be released into the sanctuary, we expect that he'll hang around. Gallo the Peccary Gallo was donated along with his sister Pinto, by an elderly woman who was unable to care for them as they grew larger. Pinto came to us in an emaciated state and died a few days later. We think it was due to parasites. Gallo was extremely sad and morose for many weeks, but has eventually made friends with the Rainsong dog pack, and now is as happy as can be. Peccaries are very social animals, living in family groups whose social characteristics are more like humans even than monkeys. Males and females hold similar ranks in the family structure, and both protect the young together. Peccaries run in groups on well-worn trails in the jungle and are therefore easily found and killed by hunters. They are a primary prey species of jaguars, so protecting them is essential to the health of the big cats as well. Selina the Paca MINAE has also given us permission to raise Pacas (Tepisquintle in Spanish) for reintroduction into the jungle. This is a favorite prey animal for hunters, so they aren't as common as they should be. An important seed disperser, they are nocturnal and very difficult to see in the wild. We discovered that they can easily climb fences, and can easily jump two meters high! Selina was purchased from a breeder north of Paquera. She had a baby, who was unfortunately killed in her cage by a wild Raccoon. Now we need to find a way to impregnate Selina again. Baby Aracari This baby Aracari was donated to Rainsong in July, 2007. Aracaris are a type of small toucan. Despite their reputation for eating sugar cereals, they in fact eat fruit and are carnivorous, eating everything from insects to lizards, to baby birds of other species. This one was found in a tree that had fallen down, and his siblings had died in the accident. Baby Squirrels Someone at Rainsong named these guys "Tweedley Dee and Tweedley Dumb", and the names have stuck. One of them is shown here, on Mary's shoulder. Frida the land turtle MINAE has given Rainsong permission to start a captive breeding program for the native endangered land turtles in the area. The specimen shown on the right was found crossing the road near Malpais / Santa Teresa. We currently have four red turtles - one male and three females, and two black turtles. Some of the red turtles have laid single eggs, which we hope will hatch into a babies to release back into the jungle. Our biologists tell us that hatching eggs from these types of turtles has never been done successfully in captivity. Turtles become prey species for large cats and other predators who don't have enough food. Black Land Turtle This turtle was found by Amanda and Geoff of Tropisphere Real Estate and brought to the sanctuary in July. It was found in a pit which had been dug for a septic tank and never used. The turtle was very light and thin and may have been there for weeks, nearly starved to death. Raccoon A very scared and wild raccoon was donated to the sanctuary. After a checkup by the vet, it was declared fit for release, and was freed onto the Sanctuary lands. Hercules Beetles The heaviest beetle in the world, this guy was discovered nearby. They are very rare, and we are using him to attract females. Eventually we hope that a rotting log, kept in his cage, will become a nest for its young, which will be released into the Sanctuary. It takes a very long time for the young beetles to emerge from the log. Baby Owl A baby owl with a broken wing and other unknown injuries was donated to Rainsong. After several days, he was eating well, but then day he suddenly died, which was a very sad day for all of us, since we expected him to survive. Kinkajou A badly burned and injured Kinkajou was given to Rainsong after spending three days at one of the local vets. He was too sick to save, but we had our hopes up because he responded well to treatment and fought so hard for life. Kinkajous are nocturnal animals, very shy and rarely seen. Kinkajous are frequently killed by electric power lines or transformers in the area that aren't shielded with insulating material. Green Iguana The green iguana is a vegetarian. This one was rescued by Alberto, the owner of an Eco-Lodge Hotel in the Playa Coyote area. Cruel schoolchildren were attacking him with rocks, and he was bleeding from his eyes and mouth. Despite his ghastly internal bleeding, he seemed to be able to keep his balance, and was able to move around a bit. We didn't have much hope that he would survive, but iguanas are very tough animals. We thought that if we can keep enough water and food in him, then perhaps he will heal. We also fed him lettuce and other veggies that were blended with water, using a syringe. At first he resisted, but later he seemed more eager to be fed. Many injured animals die simply from dehydration. He seemed to be recering, although it was obvious that he was blind due to damage to his head. After a little over a week, he died despite all our efforts. Royal Tern This injured bird is called a Royal Tern. They are a migrant bird that comes to our area of Costa Rica around Sept-Dec and typically fish at rivermouths. This one had to be force-fed with a bottle.

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