Ever wanted to say "been there, done that, have the t-shirt"? Well, now is your chance! You can get your limited edition Parrot Rescue t-shirt and help the parrots. T-shirts are available at the bargain price of $70MXN from the Unico store next to the Pacific Pearl in the Golden Zone and the ConAmigos Thrift Store at Luis Zuñiga 505 in Centro. The thrift store is open from 4-7 week days and 2-5 on Saturday.

Paul and I have been caring for 50 baby parrots now for more than a week. It has been a lot of work but also quite an education. While we have had birds in our household in the past (and are still working on getting our Amazon, Tiko, to join us here in Mazatlan) it is quite a bit different to have so many babies in the house.

Yep! Bertha and I are foster parants. 15 of the little critters. They are now being fed by spoon, a few of the younger guys still want to be feed by the 'force feeder'. They need a little 'clean up' after the spoon feeding. Each one has started to develop a personality. Remember the 7 dwarfs? Well we have them, Doc has found the swing perch above all the rest. His only trouble is to return to the bottom of the cage at feeding time.

Hace mucho años existió el jaguar , era unos de los depredadores mas grandes y fuertes, comía armadillos gigantes como del tamaño de un hombre, y a esta era se le llama la era del mamut, el jaguar se adaptaba a la selva por su color amarillo y sus manchas negras, pero aquí en las sierras de Sinaloa se les llama onza al jaguar negro y al jaguar amarillo le dicen tigre, yo no se como no lo mató el hombre ¿Será por su belleza? ¿Saben como le dicen el jaguar en Maya? se dice Balam, Chacmool y Chacbolay. El es solitario y territoriales, los jaguares se mueven por la noche, y solamente de manera muy ocasional se les ve en grupos familiares, formados por una hembra adulta con sus crías. Trepan a los árboles para ocultarse entre el follaje y dormir durante el día. Sus sentidos son delicados y alcanzan un gran desarrollo. Se alimenta de una gran variedad de vertebrados como tapires, venados, cuintles, agutis, jabalíes, coaties, armadillos, tamandúes, aves, iguanas, tortugas, cocodrilos, y peces, y no comen carne en descomposición.

Martha Armenta, the president and driving force behind Conrehabit, has initiated an unprecedented and incredibly bold outreach program to fundamentally transform certain cultural aspects of daily life in some of the more remote villages in the mountains of Sinaloa. Working proactively to educate the villagers, both young and old, to the virtues of living with nature as opposed to seeing the natural world as something that needs to be dominated, feared and exploited; she is making surprisingly quick progress.

When I volunteered my time to help Conrehabit expand their reality, I really had no idea what I was getting into, nor any clue as to where it would lead. Now, with more than 9 months into this relationship with nature, I am truly overwhelmed by the shear volume of encounter and adventure I have experienced in such a short time, everything from Bramadors to very big snakes.

When Martha told me she was returning to the village of the Bramador I immediately volunteered my truck and my time, for this was clearly going to be a high quality adventure. Not being real sure just what a Bramador was or did, added to my sense of participatory anxiety, which is requisite for any decent adventure. This impromptu trip would go from Mazatlan to San Ignacio for a late lunch and then on to the village of Tacuitapa, where we would spend the night out among the folks and experience the unique talents of the Bramador. I asked Martha about the accommodations and with a wave of her hand told me “The people in the village will take care of us. I’ll let them know we are coming.” In the face of her overwhelming confidence, I thought to myself “Well, this is certainly the easiest B&B I have ever booked.” Martha went on to elaborate about how this place is not on any tourist itinerary and that the people were ready to share some of their natural treasures. Well, so far this looked to be a trip as charmingly spontaneous and unpredictable as the woman herself.

The first turtle encounter happened two days before hurricane Lane hit Mazatlan. I was walking myself, my dog and my dog’s friend, along a beach known as Playa Bruja; the shaman. This is a section of sand rarely seen by tourists, in summer on foot; most are on 4 wheelers and horses. From a ways off, I noticed a small squiggly thing at the waters edge and went to investigate. I found a baby sea turtle making its terrestrial journey across the hot summer sand to the edge of the sea. I watched as a wave washed ashore and spread it’s long, foamy sheet of water and engulfed the tiny creature and carried it into an uncertain future.