I haven't posted recently as I'm heartbroken, I found out a few days ago a week ago, that the handyman, working to get my house rented, while I'm in Central America, has instead robbed me + trashed the house. So, I have to stop what I'm doing here, and return asap to deal with my wrecked house. :(

Golden Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata palliata) Pulling down a branch (to eat) #monkey #photography #bocasdeltoro #panama

Red-crested Turaco San Diego, California 2025 Unique among birds for possessing true pigments in their feathers, rather than relying on light refraction. Their unique copper-based compounds: red turacin and green turacoverdin, are found in no other animals on Earth. #birds #photography #turaco

Panama is idyllic. Yesterday, while hanging out in a hammock reading, I glanced up and could see a howler monkey, a three-toed sloth and a keel-billed toucan (pictured) in the trees around me. Life doesn't get much better than that. #panama #toucan #life

Wishing everyone health, wealth and happiness in the New Year! Let's hope 2026 brings a return to sanity, and empathy.

Merry Christmas! From Costa Rica Yesterday the rescue threw us a Christmas Party Live music, BBQ, team building games, piñata, a lot of fun. Happy Holidays everyone. #holidays #Christmas #costarica #wildliferescue #fun

Visitors at the release site yesterday. Remember Joan Embry (Johnny Carson or Leno) She's an animal advocate and avid horse woman. She's on the board of directors here. Today I was supposed to move to our HQ location, but the marketing team was called by Wild Kingdom for some filming, so tomorrow AM

Frodo Baby Golden Mantled Howler Monkey Frodo arrived at the release site a few days before I did and was so tiny. His likelihood of surviving was equally small but he was a dear little guy. Rescue/rehab is a tough business, being nurturing enough but not so much that the animal can't be released.

Collared Peccary Today my pig buddy is leaving for HQ. Tomorrow she goes to a sanctuary. A hunter spared her so she ended up here, but we rehab them and release animals and she's tame. I've made her pen a mini jungle, bringing daily bowls of vines, grasses, seeds, nuts. We bonded. I'll miss her.

win-win-win

Wild Plumed Basilisk (aka Jesus Christ Lizard) Basiliscus plumifrons Love these guys, I don't see them too often here, they're mostly scurrying out of sight. Got lucky for a minute today. #plumedbasalisk #jesuschristlizard #reptiles #photography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #basiliscusplumifrons

Wild Howler Mom and Baby in Beach Almond Tree Sarapiqui, Costa Rica Suddenly, many of the wild female howler monkeys have babies on board. And one of the babies about this size hangs out a lot with the troop leader, who is male. #howler #monkey #photography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #babies

Wild Golden Mantled Howler Monkey Sarapiqui, Costa Rica The wild howler monkeys like to lay across this PVC pipe betweenthe Intern House and another structure, which has the added bonus of making the dog go crazy. #howler #monkey #wildlife #photography #wildlifephotography #costarica #internship

CINNAMON Cinnamomum verum New growth on a cinnamon tree Sloths, who like koalas, will only eat very few species of leaves, will eat cinnamon. The bark is the part we use as a seasoning, but the leaves also smell delicious. #cinnamon #plants #slothfood #costarica #pretty

Wild Plumed Basilisk (aka Jesus Christ Lizard) Basiliscus plumifrons Love these guys, I don't see them too often here, and when I do they're mostly scurrying out of sight. Got lucky for a minute today. #plumedbasalisk #jesuschristlizard #reptiles #photography #wildlife #wildlifephotography

December Move Mid-December I head to HQ. While in CA, I agreed to split my time between the release site and HQ where I'll work with baby animals. Initially, disappointed, but HQ's location allows more freedom to travel around. I will miss the abundant wildlife here. I will not miss the mosquitos

Escapees Yesterday, the unexpected arrival of inspectors at 8am augmented a crazy morning. We'd already discovered a mouse cage breach, that our deep freeze thawed and the contents rotted, that municipal water was turned off following days of heavy rainfall, and we were knee-deep in animal dishes.

Great Green Macaw eating fruit Sarapiqui, Costa Rica One of the local macaws like this fruit. I'm not sure what it is? Not fleshy like an orange, the outside is hard, they eat the interior and leave the outer skin/shell/husk? #birds #photography #macaw #greatgreenmacaw #costarica #fruit #wildlife

An article about it is here - Didn't see Dodgers or Swifties but these brands are partnering: DoorDash, Impossible Foods, Topgolf, Cracker Barrel either partnered with or donated to the "Jimmy Kimmel Big Beautiful Food Bank" initiative, which has brought in 40+ addl. big brands + 60 smaller brands.

RachelMarta@rachel99marta.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Jimmy Kimmel announced that his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” formed a “big, beautiful” food bank in Los Angeles, intended to help people struggling, particularly those affected by the loss or reduction of their SNAP benefits amid the govt shutdown. Dodgers showed up to donate. Swifties For Hope donated

The Jungle Heredia, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica It's cattle land, lots of cleared pasture. This piece is partially cleared, partially overgrown. There's enough infrastructure to get around, enough wild to get lost in, which is nice. It's home, if I'm lucky, until March. #photography #costarica #jungle

I'm back on this account again, finally! Hopefully this will not knock me off the photo account. Sheesh! I'm in Costa Rica until mid-March interning at a wildlife rescue/rehab/release place. I'm at the release site, it's kind of like high school, but I'm 3Xs older, and already sick of the games.

New Chapter...coming soon! 10 days 'til baby howler monkey nanny! 😬 Oh, this is a juvenile howler La Selva, Costa Rica Found homes for the animals! Sorting, sorting, sorting, ugh! so much stuff On the path for repair, fixing up house #wildlifephotography #photography #monkey #howler #costarica

American Badger (Taxidea taxus) Hunts burrowing mammals — ground squirrels, voles, mice, gophers, and prairie dogs by digging them out of their dens. Also, snakes, amphibians, insects, birds, and plant foods such as corn, mushrooms, some fruits and nuts. #wildlifephotography #photography #badger

Watermelon Days Disappointed that they have been pink, not red and not very sweet. Still the ducks liked them and they're beautiful and HEAVY! #gardening #pink #watermelon #photography

Lady Slipper Orchid (Paphiopedilum vietnamense) Quito, Ecuador #flowers #orchid #photography #ladyslipperorchid

Lost both dogs last Sat - on our fire road. Sun AM leads, no dogs. A neighbor insists coyotes killed my cat (O for 3) Sun PM cat returns for dinner (1 for 3) Mon 1 dog returns solo (2 for 3) A long week later 2nd dog's found sporting a couple of chewed ropes, tied to her collar. (3 for 3) Yay!

Leaving indefinitely for Central America in a few weeks. Emptying my house/farm (after 25 yrs) so it can be rented. So thank God my colonoscopy ride (next week) called to start mansplain it all. I said thanks but I've got instructions already. He got mad. Relax! Calm down! You're over reacting! 😬

I got the internship in Costa Rica! YIPPEE! I'll leave a month earlier than originally planned, and will be responsible for photography + care of babies, howlers + more - interesting as my sisters didn't trust me with their kids (though they could have). I deal with baby animals of all kinds often.

Note to self: if it's not you fight, stay out of it! Otherwise you might have to detatch a mad goose from your arm. Ow! My ganders were fighting and I thought I'd "help" #goosed #bruised #stayoutofanimalfights #duoh

Yeti This is Yeti living his best life. Much loved, his family lives near the beach + recently vacationed in the PNW. So grateful for the pix! ♥️ Last year, I adopted Yeti from a shelter, he wasn't a good fit here, so we found him a home. It isn't often a rash moves, yields such a positive result.