O'ahu Seabird Aid Program Begins

Sam arrived today to start up the O'ahu Seabird Aid Program. Her plane landed about 2 pm, we picked up the Hawai'i Wildlife Center van at the Young Brothers pier, & she headed for the Honolulu Zoo to begin setting up. I went back home to take care of a few things and get Dad's dinner ready.

The guy at the gate for the Young Brothers pier said, "Follow the blue dots." He wasn't kidding! Young Brothers transported the HWC van for free.

When Sam returned she said there was a bird waiting for her when she arrived at the Zoo! She evaluated the bird and found it just needed to be returned to the water; she released it before coming back to the house. At this time I don't know how or when I'll be able to actually provide any hands-on help, but we are happy to provide a place for her to sleep and shower.

I did my share of "wildlife" rescuing today. Chibi caught a gold dust day gecko and brought it in the house. Then she let it go; when she pounced on it the tail broke off & was wiggling around distracting her. The gecko took off.

Chibi getting ready to have some fun indoors with her new buddy.

That decoy tail really works!

Unfortunately the gecko headed for the Hoy-Hoy roach trap, which is a sticky trap. Poor gecko! It was stuck tight; it took me about 30 minutes of careful prying & lots of bits of newspaper to free it from the sticky trap. I then used coconut oil to remove the glue. (Many adhesives use oil as the solvent.)

Unstuck, oiled up, & ready for release. Note all the pieces of paper now stuck to the sticky trap surface.

I released it in the back yard. All its legs looked like they were working; I was concerned I might break some bones or dislocate a joint trying to get it off the sticky trap. One problem, however, was that its toe pads were all oiled up; it wasn't able to scurry up the wall after all that. Hopefully, it was able to get to a safe hideout to recuperate.

Gecko in the chive planter; note how the toes on the right foot are still stuck together.

Xander is back home again. He did better at the vet this time; he ate well enough he gained 0.3 pounds over 11 days! I think that's a combination of eating and not exercising. He was much more relaxed about being in the carrier; he was even talking to everyone that walked by. But you could tell he was happy to be back home.


I had to go to Kaiser Moanalua today to pick up more Boost Breeze and Boost Compact for Dad. On the way in I saw one of the cats I used to see when I would bring Mom for her transfusions.


WARNING - Tick photo at the end of this paragraph. Tick total = 86. The count when I left for the Big Island was 82. While I was gone Curtis found one. Then the day I returned I found 2 more. Tonight I found another one; this one was in the kitchen. Auwe! I was hoping all of them would be in the bathroom where they are easier to find.

Its in a plastic container, the alcohol bottle with the ticks is in the bathroom & Sam was taking a shower when I found the tick.

Happy Birthday to Alan, John D., & Sili!