News - January 2007

---

Trubute to Henry

Our year ended tragically when my house in Harare was broken into and ransacked, and one of my beloved caracals, Henry, was killed by the intruders. His brother Harry was injured. Henry was blind in one eye and disabled after being caught in a bush fire, so had little defence against the intruders. I raised Henry and Harry from new-born kittens, together with my other caracals Twala, George and Arthur. They have been a devoted family unit, living together with me in my house and providing companionship and great joy to me over the years.

We buried Henry under the moon flower tree in the garden and the scent of the flowers in the early evening brings him back to us in our memories. We will always love and miss him.

"The things which will not awaken are giving life to those that do, and thereby shall live again this spring...and always."

Gwen Frostic

As always, the friends who make Bally Vaughan Sanctuary what it is, have been exceptional during this time. Donald and Carol Hobbs, who support our donkey rescue project and the Sanctuary work in general, embarked on a secret fund-raising mission, kept from me by everyone involved, and collected $2 452 000, to replace cash lost in the robbery. I cannot adequately express my gratitude to Donald and Carol and all those who contributed - you have given us the means to continue our work at the Santuary, and restored the faith and hope necessary to carry on.

Waylon Lewis and Mike Trask stepped in to help with the day to day running of the Sanctuary and to offer help and support above and beyond the expectations of any friendship.

Mel Phillips and Anne Marie Witkowski, our friends who are far away but still with us in spirit - thank you from the heart for your immediate and unstinting help.

Ian and Sue Grierson, Sylvia Carter, Karen Gent, Brett Cameron,  Anesh Ramlaul, Lesley Ives, Dianne Twiggs, Bernice Guthrie, Heather Israel   - true friends in times of need, which at Bally Vaughan seem to be rather frequent!

And, as always, Vin Ramlaul.

Despite having lost most of my wardrobe in the robbery, and facing the daily challenge of only owning 3 socks, I do still have the two pairs of suede thigh-high boots (one black, one fire engine red...) that were kindly donated, together with a box of horse tack (!!)....by a benefactor. Watch this space for details of the new Bally Vaughan Sanctuary staff uniform...

Scandal erupted just before Christmas when our matriach sheep, the regal Shabby, produced twins who strongly resembled Harry the goat. Maurice, Shabby's hen-pecked husband, has however had his manly pride restored as Melinda and Miguel are slowly metamorphising into minature versions of him. For some reason the sheep have developed a keen interest in catering and spend most of their time breathing heavily on the kitchen threshold, watching the chef's every move with intense concentration. The waiters lodged a complaint, justifiably I suppose, that they were probably the only waiters in the world who had to fight their way through a flock of gigantic sheep in order to get to and from the restaurant. Our staff meeting minutes are quite unique to say the least.....

Norman, our tiny vervet monkey baby whose mother was shot by a farmer, is enjoying life with his foster mother Waylon and now goes to day care, in the Bally Vaughan monkey enclosure, so that he can get used to Tarzan, Jane and Helmut, our other monkeys. Special thanks to Ibone, Jonothan and Nubia Verhey who rescued Helmut and brought him to Bally Vaughan, and are now his sponsors.

We successfully released a spotted eagle owl this month, although he regularly returns for room service on the roof of the owl hospital. A little white-face owl also came in, with exquisite copper-coloured eyes and outrageous tufts of feathers bristling bolt-upright on his tiny head. He has also been released and is doing well. A crow with no tail feathers and a large white goose, four muscovy ducks and eleven rabbits also joined our family

Rudolph and Elize de Wet have made it possible for us to renovate our owl hospital, which was in danger of falling down. Their generosity will also make repairs to the monkey enclosure possible. These renovations are a huge project and one that would never have been possible without the exceptional support of the de Wet family. Thank you so much for making it a reality rather than something we could only wish for. Mike Trask is in charge of the project and has dedicated a great deal of time and energy to it, coping admirably with my constant mind-changes and diversions such as herding escaped goats, putting a hasty stop to the lions' attempt to dig down to Australia to find Trixie, diverting the flood waters that swept into our curio shop and patiently spending our coffee breaks listening to yet another of my complicated monologues that usually begin with the dreaded words, "I've been thinking...."

Whelson Transport donated and delivered a huge load of used truck tyres to Bally Vaughan which were put to immediate use as toys for the big cats - the lions were completely over-excited at the new additions to their enclosures and spend happy hours chasing them about and, rather alarmingly, chewing briskly through the steel-belted radials! The other tyres will be used as fence supports and a variety of other projects. Sincere thanks to Whelson Transport and to Lesley Ives for facilitating this.

Magnum the donkey has joined Biscuit, Crumb and Jasper on the "naughty spot" - the area across the dam where bad donkeys live. Magnum was bullying the little lambs and had deadly intentions towards our inscrutable cat Strauss and the neurotic, bat-eared, bulging-eyed Elenor, our little dog. The bad donkeys entertain themselves by chasing the goats and shouting insults across the water to the good donkeys, Spike, One-eyed Jack, Coco and her baby Milo, and Clovis .

Darling old Spike, our senior donkey, had a lovely day on Saturday, with 2 childrens birthday parties to attend, where he supervised the party games, including watching "Pin the tail on the donkey" with great interest, and ate rather a lot of Tina Wicke's delicious chocolate cake! Thank you to Thomas Wicke for your generous support of the marmoset monkeys.

By the time Ryan and Jordan Hobbs' third birthday party ended that evening, Spike had ingested so many korn kurls and fairy cakes that he went straight to bed without eating his supper.

Dasher the Mongoose and his intrepid family continue to try our patience with their expansionist policies - they firmly believe it is necessary to establish a banded mongoose empire throughout the Enterprise Valley and we spent many hours tracking them down. On their last break-out, we spent all afternoon sitting in a quagmire of red mud, in the rain, playing the same cell phone ring tone over and over again in the hope that they would think it was another mongoose muscling in on their territory and come rushing out the anthill they had barricaded themselves in.....I think the only reason they emerged three hours later was because they couldnt bear to hear "Hello Moto!" played one more time.

We said a very sad goodbye to Trixie Rhodes, our Australian volunteer who lived and worked at the Sanctuary for two months. She will return early this year which we are very pleased about. Trixie had a typical Bally Vaughan send-off.....on her last morning, as she was saying an emotional goodbye to Tarzan, a large python suddenly materialised in front of her, swinging casually from the roof of the monkey enclosure. A very Jungle Book moment! (except for the Australian-accented expletives that one hopes Walt Disney would never have used....). We then set off for the airport with the python in a sack beneath Trixie's seat, and had to stop en route to release it in a suitable place. A friend messaged her from Australia to ask if she was home yet. "No" she messaged back, "Still in Africa . Just releasing a python on the way to the airport."

We then had another stop to collect Norman the monkey, who christened Dr Ramlaul's new car by using the cup holder as a travelling toilet, and then picked up a goose, a crow and an owl. A memorable end to her time at Bally Vaughan.

We also have an English volunteer, Anna Jones, coming out in April. Anna is a vet student and I am sure her time at Bally Vaughan will serve her well in the future.

Details of our Overseas Volunteer Programme can be obtained by contacting us on this email address.

Our Christmas Lunch was fully booked a month in advance and was a great success and the festive season saw many friends and supporters of the Sanctuary visiting us. All three of the Sanctuary vehicles broke down over Christmas, I sprained my ankle so badly chasing an escaped bird that I had to transported from place to place on the back of my sturdy chief Keeper, Maxwell, the game fence fell down on Christmas Eve and Tarzan the monkey had to have his arm amputated after a fight with a wild monkey....but apart from that it was a happy Christmas at the Sanctuary!! We welcomed a new volunteer, Lesley Ives, who is a motivated and dedicated addition to the team of volunteers without whom the Sanctuary could not operate.

 My sincere thanks to the Middleton family and Miss Hatton who gave sponsorship of members of our Bally Vaughan family as a Christmas gift to friends. Jeff Bunnet remains a dedicated sponsor, as do Radiator Services, Belts 'n Hoses, Daire Cullen, Emma Robinson, Annie de Wet and Migual Trindade, Nikita, Tweezy Duncan, Crugs Chooks , Montana Meats, Steve Curle, Yo Africa, Richard Lombard (who produced our superb Ultimate Diaries), Green Park , Hamish Cameron (Pvt) Ltd and Milborrow Animal Health.

Our Childrens' Birthday Parties are a unique and memorable way to celebrate! We offer a variety of options for all ages, available every day of the week except Sundays. We also offer an exquisite wedding venue.

Thank you all for your support and interest in the Bally Vaughan Animal Sanctuary. Everyone who visits us comments on the superb condition of our animals and birds, and on their clean and spacious enclosures. The Bally Vaughan family live fulfilled and happy lives thanks to our supporters and sponsors - every time you visit us or tell someone about us, you are helping to keep the animals contented and cared for. In the current economic environment, it is not possible to continue with our work without you. No matter how great the challenge, giving up is not an option and I thank you all, from the heart, for giving us the means and the inspiration to continue to love and care for our ever-expanding family.

Sarah and the Bally Vaughan Sanctuary Family