Hello to all Story Book Readers.
Christmas came early this week in the monkey house. It was a very special time. Santa wasn’t dressed in red nor did he have a white beard or a red nose. Actually his name wasn’t even Santa, it was Cam, Courtney, Leslie, Jenn, and our new friend Lori. This year Cam and Courtney went with one less present on Christmas in order to do something nice for the monkeys. They all arrived one evening with Christmas boxes for each one of the group. IT WAS WONDERFUL! Sweet Pea’s BIG box was filled with shredded paper and mixed in the paper were presents! A stuffed animal, a ginger bread cookie all wrapped up, some jelly beans in a container. WOW! The best present for Pea was that very special soft coat that she found in the box. She takes it up to bed every night to sleep with. Lexy’s box had a new doll in it for her, which she has since adopted as her new baby. Lexy doesn’t like just any doll, she is very particular, but her new doll was a good choice. Chelsea had a Sponge Bob Square Pants water toy in her box, it bubbles when you push the button. She really likes the sound that it makes. New rubber boots were also in her box! Everyone who knows Chelsea knows how much she likes boots. Mr. Jenkins got a stuffed toy snake and he enjoyed playing tug of war with Cam. They all liked their boxes so much. It was very special for us to watch them. Cam and Courtney did such a great job putting the boxes together. Cam and Courtney….you are very special for thinking of the monkeys and giving them such a wonderful day…thank-you!
We are glad you are all a part of our monkey family.

Today, Kathy and Jeff arrived from Toronto to help with the monkeys. They too came with very special presents. Some of Kathy’s students made monkey necklaces with pasta and hemp. Pierre enjoyed his so much. If any of you students are reading. Great job!!! Thank-you.

As I sit here blogging and being thankful and as yet another year is fast coming to an end, I feel really blessed at how many friends the monkeys have and how many people I truly call friend. So to all of you who have helped the monkeys in any way, we are glad you are apart of our extended monkey family, we are blessed to have you. Please know that you have made a difference and the monkey’s lives are better for it. My life is better for it, Thank-you. Sherri

Freddy is a muscovy..

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend! At the farm there was lots of activity this week, as we welcomed a new friend for Koo-Koo the dove and Mickey, a beautiful pencil marmoset. The boys, Pablo and Amigo were so curious all morning with the preparations and nuzzled her straight away to reassure her and say Hello. Mickey is a well-loved little girl, who needed to be with her kind, so she came to the farm to her new family.

Freddy is growing into a handsome Muscovy duck. His crest is now becoming prominent, as is the red colouring around his eyes and beak. It is quite sweet, as Duck (the goose) laid an egg this week, which she sometimes does. This kicked in Freddy's paternal instincts, so Sherri said he was watching the nest closely and became "big man on campus". He is very protective towards Duck and stays by her side. When we brought them in for the night, they rubbed necks and touched their beaks together. Very touching - showing once again how we can learn so much from our fellow creatures in the art of getting along and being peaceful!

The holidays are just around the corner. These times are very concerning for all of us, escpecially sanctuaries who rely on the kindness and generousity of supporters. We ask that you think of the primates and beings at Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary when completing your gifts and shopping. Canadian Tire money is helpful, as are donations, either cash or in-kind, or helping us spread the word. If you are not sure if you have something we can use, please feel free to check out the website, or email Sherri directly at: sherridelaney@hotmail.com. Donations can be made through the website or by mail to:

Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary
2315 Concession 10, RR#3
Sunderland, Ontario, Canada
L0C 1H0

www.storybookfarmprimatesanctuary.com

Thank you so much and have a great week!

Rachelle

Looking forward

Hi everyone! Can you believe that we are now into December???? So many things have been going on at the Sanctuary - Julian is settling in, and talks to his sister, Lexy. He has a good friend in Kim - she sits with him and he will shift for her, when it is cleaning time.

Freddy continues to grow everyday, he is a big beautiful duck - we are not sure what kind, but he and Duck (the goose) are the dearest of friends, chatting, talking and wanting to be part of the team.

Emma has been adopted by Val, one of our amazing volunteers. Emma is bringing laughter and new adventures to Niles, Val's other companion cat.

Please stay tuned as our 2009 Calendars will be available for download shortly.

Welcome to Julian!

It's been an interesting couple of weeks...Sherri heard about an incident in the Picton area concerning the escape of a Japanese Macaque from a place that has seen better days. She reached out to those people to assist and we went to the area on a rescue mission a few times! Tracking through woods and fields looking for a medium sized monkey is not so easy. 

But that is our commitment. To make monkey lives better, every day for the rest of their lives. Period.

So, last week, Julian was captured and Sherri went on down and he was released to the care of Story Book Farm...where you may ask was he going to fit into the barn? Some construction has been necessary this weekend to accomodate George and Susie to live beside Nan and Chelsea so that Julian can live amongst Lexy, Yoshi, Sweet Pea and Pierre. He arrived on Monday and had a nervous two days of not leaving his nest box. Sherri was becoming very anxious but on wednesday morning he had come down for a big drink and eaten a bit of fruit...whew!! Now came the aggression at his new situation. He was none too happy to have new roommates! He lashed out at Pea and Lexy...wouldn't let Sherri anywhere near. 

I went up on Saturday to see what I could see and it seemed that the instant he saw me, he  thought I was okay and he started to calm down. I can't take any credit, it was just I seem to be the person for him. He really turned a corner yesterday. I spent some time in the area, talking to Pea and Julian and even Lexy and Yoshi...we had a great time. When Julian got aggressive and started Pea off, I talked quietly  to them and Pea calmed down, then he did too. 

We decided to try to shift him over to Lexy's area and it only took 15 min, which is really astounding! He was so trusting. He was scared, don't get me wrong. He knew Lexie was around and had lived with her wrath before at the other place. They are actually  part of the same family and we hope to get them together in the future.

So, Sherri put some yummy food into the shift cage and I waited patiently to see if he would come over. He made lots of good noises and peeked through the shift door and eventually came all the way over. He didn't even look at the food. I had also thrown in some peanuts, but again, pad no attention. I was amazed at his level of trust. A  little overwhelmed at one point too...I am a big softie you know! Once he was feeling a little relaxed I closed the door and we were able to clean out his area and change the water from the inside! He went right back when the door opened again...I think he has shifted before and he is a VERY smart boy! Way to go Julian! I am very optimistic that he will make more progress soon and learn to trust all the souls that are around the farm including the human ones! Sherri will try to shift him today and hopefully that will go well. 

On a separate note, little Freddy duck is changing colour and looking beautiful and is extremely happy and content. Charmaine returned from Borneo and came out to help out and went home with a kitten for Dave! Only two left,,,actually Val will be taking one so just one left...Sarah, you need to come and get it! Everybody else is good and hopefully George and Susie will be moved today and enjoy their new area...they will be able to Jenkins again, I think Jenks will like that!

Okay, that's too many words for today...thanks to everyone who reads the blog, we know you're out there now! Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers and keep in touch everyone!

See ya out there...

kim

Sherri's now blogging!!!!!!!!

Hi Guys. This is a first!!!! So HELLLOOOOO.
Today was cleaning day at the farm so as I sit here typing I am noticing that I smell quite similar to my friends in the barn.... so this will be a short first start.
We have a new arrival, his name was Leonard but we have decided to call him Freddy. He is a baby duck. We are hoping that he will become Duck's new partner and friend. We will be taking it slow as both have been imprinted with humans. We will keep you posted on the progress. Everyone else is fine and still enjoying their access to the outdoors as summer moves into fall. I will bring my blogging to a close for today so that I can ease the noses that are in the house. Take care to all.
Sherri

Thank you for a great summer

Hi folks - so here we are at September 7, 2008. Hope you had a great summer...The Vegetarian Food Fair is wrapping up, and the colours of the leaves are changing. As we look back over this summer, it has been tremendous for the residents at the sanctuary. Thank you to everyone who made this possible!

Back in May, Sherri, Kim and I sat down to plan out what the summer could look like, including the idea of the first Open House of Story Book Farm. At the time, it seemed a bit daunting - so many things to do - Woofstock, Dog Days of Scugog, volunteer days, the Open House, and then the Baseball tournament and the Veg Food Fair - phew! So many wonderful things happened during each of these events, for example, the Dog Days of Scugog brought the wonderful Val into the lives of the primates. She has been an awesome volunteer and spent her vacation days helping us getting prepared for the Open House. We could not have done it without her!

The Open House was such a success - we had over 150 visitors to the farm, including the crew of CBC Newsworld - who filmed for 90 minutes in the morning and did a great, factual story entitled "Unwanted Exotics" in the national broadcast. Rob Laidlaw of Zoocheck was also interviewed, citing the lax laws and how it is easier to own a tiger or python, than it is to get a license to drive a cab or run a hot-dog stand. We will be posting the video of the broadcast on our site soon.

As you know, we had rain almost every day, so the thought of a rain-soaked day was possible, but we had fortune smile on us and it was a beautiful sunny day. As I think back on that day, our amazing crew of volunteers is the foremost thing on my mind - so many to thank including: Laura, Sarah, Taylor, Kim, Rob, Malcolm, Cindy, Val, Lucy, Lesley, Dan, Sue and her lovely "lemonade girls", Devon, Chris, Stacey, Jess, LJ, Tracey, Jenn, Lisa, Lesley and Cam, and the whole crew who baked cookies, donated goods and helped in so many ways. We especially want to thank our "web guys" Ken and James. One of the visitors asked how we were able to get so many volunteers to help - for this we are so grateful.

It was amazing to me to see how respectful everyone was of the residents - we had small groups, and requested no talking in the barn to keep things quiet - everyone did so and was so moved by "the folks". George, Mr. Jenkins, Pierre, Razzle, Kye and Kizmet really loved the visits - Mr. Jenkins was watching down to the pasture all the time, watching the activity. Pablo and Amigo, the little marmosets just loved seeing all the new faces, running through the chutes above, checking things out. Sweet Pea was so great too. It was so important that people understand what the monkeys have been through and how they can help.

Thanks to Larry for organizing the baseball tournament - we had eight teams participate, with people coming as far away as Kingston to join. The weather held up and it was a great day too!

In the midst of all of this, we have the privilege of watching the blossoming friendship between Sweet Pea and Violet. As Kim blogged earlier, we saw the first encounters with Violet going into Pea's area. As the summer progressed, it became a regular thing, with Violet coming in to visit Pea, and Pea grooming her and carrying her as she would a baby baboon. Last Saturday, Pea carried Violet over to the water bucket and placed her up on the ledge as if to show her where the water was! Violet stayed with her a long time, and stood up against Pea's face and pushed her kitten cheek into Pea's cheek - it was so moving! In this photo, you can see Pea grooming Violet as she is sleeping. We are so thrilled that Violet and Sweet Pea have each other and have formed this very special bond. As Violet grows, we are planning to make a little "cat door" into Sweet Pea's area so she can come and go.

Thank you again to all the people who have made this summer a memorable one - Laura for coming up so often; Sarah helping with outreach; Kim with husbandry skills; Val and Cindy doing carpentry work; Leslie and Cam; Sue - raising money at her garage sale; Larry helping organizing; and the merchants and vendors who donated goods - to everyone - with thank you so much! At most of all, I want to thank Sherri and Leonard for their compassion, determination and strength to put up with all of us :), and to daily provide an example of how 'everyday' people can save the world, maybe not the whole world, but for each individual - their whole world. Thank you for allowing us to be part of this!

Chelsea and her new purple boot

Hi folks! Hope you are doing well - we have been very busy getting things ready for the big Open House and fundraiser on Saturday! It was such a great experience working along side volunteers Laura, Val, Cindy, Malcolm and of course Sherri and Leonard last weekend. There was such a buzz in the air, actually, it was Leonard's saw...no, actually good chi!

The precious Chelsea, one of "the ladies" - Chelsea and her mom, Nan was so intrigued by all the activities going on. It is heartwarming to see how far they have come along from last fall when they first arrived - afraid, unsure, not knowing who to trust, but understanding immediately that Sherri was there for them.

Chelsea loves rubber boots - she grooms the soles and makes a quick num,num,num,num vocalization - we know she is happy when she is hugging her boot and "talking". So, as a girl, I thought, instead of a plain old rubber boot, she should have a pretty, shiny one. Off I went on a mission to find cute wellies for Chelsea. I was happy when I came upon a pretty purple Dragon Tales pair, complete with pictures. On Saturday, Sherri put the right boot in her area and I excited sat with Chelsea, expecting her to go straight for it. Well, no, she did not. For most of the day, she totally ignored it and favoured the plain boot. When I returned on Sunday, the pretty purple boot lay there, untouched. A bit perplexed by this..remember..we humans can be dumb about these things...I thought maybe I should play with her and the new boots. So I went and got the pretty purple left boot, sat down and started to groom the boot and "talk" to her...num,num,num,num...she watched, but did not react. I had to continue my chores..as soon as I was out of sight, I heard this num,num,num,num and Malcolm said - "she has the boot ". Going back, low and behold, there she was happily talking, grooming and investigating the grooves and the various textures on the boot. I sat back down with her and we had such a time, exploring the boot and talking num,num,num,num,num...It was such a sweet moment..

..at these times I wonder how can some people not see the soul and beauty of our fellow beings and understand...and am thankful for having such fortune to see and hear them as they speak without 'words'..

Sweet Pea moment

Hi everyone! I know you're out there! We had a great Volunteer Day on Saturday but I'll let someone else talk about that-Rachelle or Laura or Sherri please!

I want to relay an amazing story I was privileged to witness. Sweet Pea is an Olive Baboon with some behavioural issues mostly involving self-mutilation when she gets upset. These days she is doing this less and less, as she gets into the groove of the farm. Since the kitten has arrived there is some interaction for her. We have been finding the kitten sitting in Pea's area. There was some concern about her welfare, but she seemed fine. Over the past few weeks she has visited a lot. On Sunday, Violet was sitting in with Pea and Pea was soliciting grooming and trying to play with Violet. Suddenly she moved behind the kitten and made a dominating gesture and then picked up the kitten as any baboon would pick up a baby baboon to play. I see this all the time at the zoo where I work with Olive Baboons. Pea walked on her back legs with the kitten in her hands! It was so cute! Violet was so mellow she just hung there. Pea put her down and starting grooming her. Violet pricked up her tail and was rubbing against Pea. They are such good friends. This is such a positive breakthrough for Pea in her rehabilitation. Let's hope that they can have many more positive sessions! Yay for Violet and Pea! Too bad I don't have any photos of this, maybe another time. 

Dog Days of Scugog

Happy Monday - Hope you had a great weekend and did not get soaked...which is what happened to us yesterday! Sherri was scheduled to give a presentation on Sunday, but was rained out - too bad, we were all looking forward to it.

Sherri, Leonard, Malcolm, Linda, Stacey, Jan, Laura and I were tabling at the Dog Days of Scugog in Port Perry. It was great to talk to people about the sanctuary and the residents. Most people were shocked and surprised to learn that a) there is a primate sanctuary twenty minutes away and b) that there is a need for a primate sanctuary in Ontario.

Isn’t it surprising that you can buy a monkey for less money than a pure-bred dog? How about all the rigour applicants have to go through to adopt-a-dog (and correctly so), but if you have the cash, you can just buy yourself a monkey, lemur, zebra, camel, red kangaroo or whatever at the exotic animals auctions in Ontario? Pretty stunning, eh? God knows where those poor folks go....

We had lots of positive responses and conversations. If you were one of the folks who stopped to chat - thank you so much! The support within the local community means a lot.

Cheers,

Rachelle

Baseball Tournament - August 23, 2008

..Hey folks...as I said, we are really on a roll...

Thanks to local support within the Sunderland/Brock community, Story Book is having its second annual Baseball Tournament Fundraiser -

Saturday, August 23, 2008
8:00AM to 8:00PM (rain or shine)
Sunderland Arena Ball Diamonds
20 Park Street, Sunderland

¨ Prizes for First, Second and Third Place
¨ Silent Auction
¨ Raffle
¨ BBQ

Personally, I have not been to a baseball tournament before, so I am really looking forward to it. Apparently last year it poured, but everyone was such a trooper...so bring your wellies just in case!

Cheers,

Rachelle

Open House Flyer

Hi there! Please find attached the flyer for the Open House. As Kim said, technology can be challenging sometimes. Thanks so much Kim for putting this together.

Please share this invite with friends and family - all activities will be "primate-friendly"!

Cheers,

Rachelle

Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary - First Ever Open House

Hi folks! Hope that you are enjoying the summer so far! We have lots of activities going on at the sanctuary, including the first ever Open House! We invite you to come out and join us on:

Saturday, August 16, 2008
12:00 Noon to 4PM
Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary
2315 Concession 10
Sunderland, ON
www.storybookfarmprimatesanctuary.com

The sanctuary is not open to the public, so we are excited to invite friends and families to come and learn about the primates and farm animal residents, who have been rescued from situations of abuse, neglect and ignorance. During the afternoon we will be taking smaller groups of people up to the barn to meet the folks.

There will be plenty of activities for the whole family, including games, face painting, arts and crafts, bake sale, BBQ, silent auction, raffles, merchandise, etc. Story Book Farm is approximately 1 hour outside of Toronto, just north of Port Perry, straight up Simcoe Street.

Please feel free to contact me to RSVP and to have your name added to the tour list. If you have any questions, just let me know.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to make a donation to the sanctuary, please visit our web-site at www.storybookfarmprimatesanctuary.com.

Also, if you would like to donate item(s) for the silent auction or bake sale, please let me know and we can arrange pick-up.

Thanks so much for making 2008 GREAT!


Rachelle

Hmmm, I can't figure out how to add a pdf file. Perplexing, I will keep trying to get it on here, bear with me! As a consolation, here are some more pictures! Enjoy!

Well, I have managed to create a flyer for the Open House...hopefully I can attach it and everyone can see it! Technology is challenging sometimes, especially when you're crawling around in the dark. If it works, maybe you can print it out to give yourself directions. Hope to see you there!

Oh yeah, in case you're not on Facebook...we are having a volunteer day on Satruday, July 26, 2008 from 10 am until we're done! We will be helping to put siding on the barn, paint, general clean up for the open house and some outdoor caging. Bring your hammer, gloves and appropriate footwear...ie no heels or open toe shoes please!!! Come one, come all!

Welcome to Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary!!

Hi all!

Welcome to the new blog!! We will use this space to let you know what's happening on the farm with all of the folks. Whether it's a need for toys, stories about progress or someone not feeling well, we will keep you informed, especially if you can't come to visit us. We'll be posting pictures and video and let you know about the open house scheduled for Saturday, August 16th! Keep checking for news and leave us your comments! We would like this to be as interactive as possible! 

So welcome from Sherri, Leonard, George, Suzie, Pierre, Sweet Pea, Razzle, Kizmet, Kyoto, Lexie, Yoshi, Jenkins, Duck, Komodo, Charlie Brown, Maggie, Lady, Sam, Basil, Skinny, Minnie, Chili, and everybody else at the farm...as well as Kim, Rachelle, Charmaine, Laura and all of the other volunteers!!

Talk to you soon!