Some special guest: Mr Koko and Sam the dog

Sometimes we have special guests coming to our garden.

Suzanne and Ska brought Mr Ko Ko. The bird is endemic to Guam, which means it is found only on Guam and nowhere else in the world. This bird is dark brown with white stripes on its stomach. The Ko Ko' came to the island thousands of years ago. At that time it was able to fly. However, since there were no predators on Guam it slowly lost the ability to fly. Then people arrived on the island and brought dogs and other animals with them. Sometime after World War II, the brown tree snake also found its way to our island. Since the Ko Ko' is flightless and builds its shallow nest on the ground, it was easy for these snakes to catch the Ko Ko' and its babies. As of 1994, there were only 200 birds left. Some Ko Ko's were released in Rota. They multiplied and some were released on Guam. The kids loved the bird and were so gentle with him. He will come over again sometime soon.

Sam was a special guest during one of our previous garden days. He is a dog with a job. He finds Brown Treesnakes for a living and gets paid with a ball. He LOOOOVES the tennis ball! Ginger is his handler and she showed the kids how Sam can find shed skins. Sam searched all around the garden for snakes and shed skins. After a brief boonie bee attack, Sam finally found a shed hidden under a bush. He came out, looked at Ginger, and sat. Sam was trained to sit next to his target once he encounters it. Then out came the ball! Ginger tossed the ball a few times and then the kids gathered around to give Sam a cuddle. We hope to have Sam as a guest again in the future. Maybe next time, he will find a snake!