I took to many photos again + male update
Posted by: Tamandua Girl / Category: animal, anteater, chihuahua, cute, dogs, exotic, girl, hike, lovely, mini pin, pet, pua, Tamandua, walk, муравьеда, アリクイA page and a half of flickr photos but it's all one walk. Pua has loads of energy.
Looks like we will be waiting another month plus+ a bit for a man. There are no males available in the states right now. So we will need to import a male from Guyana for Pua like we did her. That's not a bad thing.
A study was done that tied Tamanduas with monkeys as number one most commonly killed as a nuisance animal. Most are available June and July because they are at the age they leave mom and get into trouble. They can be worthless and dead or a price put on them to keep them alive. It's also regulated trade under CITES as they are a CITES II animal. They limit numbers that can be exported to ensure it wont impact the wild population. And for the record the importer only deals with people that have a USDA license, which we do.
This is where we run into problems right now. The yearly limits are issued mid September so we are at the end of the year and likely at the limit allowed. So we must wait till September :( Females do cycle every month so some kids happen year round. So we wait for September then for a fellow to find his way to us.
On the plus side Pua is doing great now. Was great to see her really running again and happy tail too. So she will be okay for another month, thanks to that grief remedy. It is disappointing though.
Today we jog
Picking up speed
Tail is gaining altitude
We have full happy tail
Video - Run Pua Run
Zooming down a hill
Still moving pretty good
She had lots of energy to burn
and that's what she did the first two thirds of her walk
Heading down the road to the next trail
Having finaly burnt off some energy...
Pua starts looking for burrows to nap in
Maybe something up higher
Pua's ear ring
Notice the sawdust covered cobweb hanging from her ear.
This cave is to small for napping in
Nothing in this tree
She traded the cobweb for moss
Anteaters have no interest in slugs
Pua investigates a tree
Straddling a tree
Darn no mud
the creek dried up
Exploring the dry creek bed
Pua in the "jungle"
Sitting in another tree
Checking out a limb
I never let her get out of reach.
Relaxing on the ride home
Happy but tired
One claw down the other still need to go
Pua's claws had have gotten way to long. I didn't want to do while her emotions were so delicate. This one is now perfect though looks rougher and more pointy than it is due to the angle.
Takes awhile to work them back. She doesn't like the file. The smaller one's I can trim but nervous of hitting the quick.
Hyzzie "cooperating" with photo time
I rearranged my room some and put two dressers behind the bed. Hyzzie likes this arrangement.
I'm gonna cry
Wouldn't let me get a good photo because she was waiting for the neighbors dog to bark again.
Hyzzie on the dressers
12:03 AM
About the male, I'm astonished that you say tamanduas are considered a nuisance animal. I lived in Costa Rica in the 90's, studying wild monkeys. I only spotted a tamandua twice in 9 months of walking 12 hrs/day in the jungle. In that time, I saw thousands of monkeys, so tamanduas are rare by comparison.
And since tamanduas eat termites and ants--both agricultural pests--the Costa Ricans loved them and wished there were more of them. They're like the ladybugs (aphid killers) of the mammal world.
So I'm quite surprised by what you wrote. I would assume they these tamanduas are only being exported to make a profit, rather than because they are pests. Anyway, it's legal to buy them, apparently. But I think the reasons they're giving are not quite true.
12:46 AM
No there was an official study but now that I need it don't see it online. Their being less anteaters makes than monkeys makes it all the sadder.
They are often killed by hunters because they are believed to kill dogs. They wander into people's homes. Many are rescued from city areas. I have a photo I can dig up of one rescued not to long ago from a light pole in the middle of a freeway. I'm not sure if I still have the photos of one in a dumpster. They are also commonly trapped in agricultural areas. They do eat fruit sometimes. They have a real sweet tooth. There's a video of one that wandered into a patio area of someone's apartment on you tube. I've seen much more too but not sure what I can dig up quickly.
Yes they are very elusive. Another study where they radio tagged them they rarely saw them when they went after them and they knew they were there. But when they come into contact with humans their are often problems. This is most common with young ones trying to find a place and ill ones like Pua was.
Might dig up some of my proof and do a blog post on it.
I know some areas view them differently. Some people eat them while other areas would never dream of it and some even think them sacred to some degree, I've heard. So not surprised if they are loved in some areas and countries but in other areas they are not so welcome.