Hola Vivian y Lizzi, Kim S, Denise 5S, and group,

Thank you for thanking me but I really owe the thanks to the group for allowing me to share my pics with all of you.  I have sent probably 30 or more of the jungle McCall y Leo photos to everyone I know, even briefly aquainted.  This last week, I even sent it to a local artist and asked if he would be able to paint this as close to real as possible minus the bungy cord.  I have this on my computer background.  When I look at it,  it makes me smile.  I sometimes wonder if I should have been more informed on how to raise them so they could be released.  I am not even sure that this animal is capable of learning the survival skills necessary to even have a chance out there without the mother schooling it on the millions of things they need to know.  I guess the truth is from the moment I nurtured him and Leo,  there is no way i could or would ever give them up.  I even fantasize about what if the government tried to take them away from me,  I would have to smuggle them out of the country and find a new place to live.   It took McCall a year before he even wanted to go outside and play on the porch.  Thats my fault for sure,  when i would take him out with his tail wrapped around my neck,  he would be so afraid, and I am pretty nervous to be out,  first off,  I am afraid of the dark and second,  there are big venemous snakes that come out at night.  So when it rained I would take him out for a shower but we both would be glad to come back in the safety of our home.   His first time outside with out me,  when it was raining, the little silly caught a cold.  I was so worried,  he could not breath,  I had to hang him from my neck all night and comfort him,  the next night he was worse,  so I pack him in the car, hanging from my neck and off to San Jose to get him checked by the doctor.  the stuffiness only lasted a week and he was back, to  what we affectionately call our monster  After months of playing right by the house he went off to play with the wild kinks within ear shot.  He came back an hour later all wild eyed and scared. He would not let me near him, growling and attacking if I got to close.  I had to call him around the porch to the window with the tear in it where he goes out to play. He jumped into the bedroom and onto the bed.  I closed the wood shutters so he could not leave again. When he finally settled down an hour later,  I saw he had blood on his face.  He had been attacked.  He probably went right up to some kink wanting to say hello like he does with the dogs and got his face slashed up.  Those slashes abcessed and I had to take him to San Jose to get lanced.  He was the perfect patient,  but that made me scared to let him out.  Its a jungle out here.  I have lost 4 horses in 5 years.  I get so attatched to my kids that I did not want nature to play odds with my baby boy.  He let himself out a few times after that and always hung on the porch,  but months later I forgot to lock the slider doors and off he went.  I called and called but, when he dun wanna come,  he dun wanna come!  So I left the doors wide open for him and all the night bugs to come on in when he returned.  I kept going out to the pool and calling him.  I could here him calling for me but he was not moving,  just calling for me,  he was scared. The trees were full of kinks that night.   After a couple hours of calling my poor baby I went into the house and crawled onto the recliner,  I had to sleep to relieve myself from the anxiety I was being attacked with.  Again, my husband is out of town and I tend to escalate my fears when he is not here to save me.  I jsut had to keep thinking,  He will come home,   He will come home, as I am tapping my heels together.    Well, sure enough about 4am I feel those familiar feet bounce across my chest.  He runs across me all night as he goes from spot to spot in the house. He makes me smile as he goes by and I smell cherries or his mango nectar on his face or some food he eats.    I was soooo happy he was back,  but again,  he was not  letting me near him. He just sat on the kitchen counter licking his paws.  I feared he got bit again. I just talked to soothe him and finally he came up for his snuggles,  He curled into my arms for his love then jumped on my shoulder and we went back to his garage.  I turned on the light so I could see why he was licking his paws.  The poor guy had 5 or 6 little blood holes on each of his feet.  I can only guess ,but I think he must have jumped into one of those thorn trees and spent the night trying to get off. You see, there are so many things that can take a wild kink out, that the chances of this butterball being able to survive the wilds even just playing out there for short periods  are decreased to a percent I could not chance.  After that I decided I would make him the best habitat and make up for not being able to be free.  The garage is just a temporary deal for them.  We plan on building a huge outdoor habitat that encloses a couple large trees for them to hang out and socialize with the wild kinks,  and still have a corridor that will allow them to enter the house to visit me.

It is incredible how social these animals are.  My trees are filled with them chattering and foraging together at night.  Like the monkeys they travel in groups going to areas that have trees that are in season.  Mangos,  Balsas,  wild figs, ect.

I am having the same problem with Leo.  I have had him 5 months and I know so much more about what they need to be able to be released,  buuuuuut,  I love him so much I dont want to let him go.  I want him to be my buddy for ever.  Well,  things always change with me.  Down the road,  I will probably let them go outside together,  there is safety in numbers and because I know now how attatched they get also.  You could not keep McCall or Leo away from me for too long.  They have to know where I am all them time.  Well,  what I really wanted to say is thank you for the welcome and I like to sign my letters sending laughter and kinkajou kisses.  

Kim S,  I am not sure what you can do with my stories, but you are more than welcome to take any stories of mine and  fix them up for your journals.  I apologize for not being more literate.  I was raised by back woods hillbillies and all though I went to college to be a nurse,  I still talk like I's aint got no education.  You can clearly see I dont know how to use periods,  just keep rambling on and on. 

Oh, Denise 5S,  hehehehe!  I love the names of your critters.

Well, take care yall,

"Bea" y critters