#toucans

Sometimes, animals need to go to a higher level hospital, kind of like visiting the Mayo Clinic after having first been treated at the local community hospital. When the toucan's person first wrote to me, he was looking for that higher level hospital.

Toucan was born in 1965. His person got him by sending in box tops from Fruit Loops Cereal. Earlier this year, he decided that Toucan, while still furry, really needed a bath, and he sent him, along with his friend hippo, to a hospital (not mine). When they came back, they were clean, but their colors were faded, their fur was gone, and their facial features (as well as hippo's ears and tail) had all been replaced. Their person was, needless to say, not happy.

Here is the diagnosis photo of Toucan that he sent:

Toucan was supposed to be two shades of yellow as well as blue and purple! His man was ok, with the new eyes, but his beak was malformed (he couldn't get small bugs with that rounded tip) and his tail had a poor patch.

Hippo (who was too shy for diagnosis photos) was similarly pale and unfurry, with the wrong ears, eyes, nostrils, and tail!

The only treatment I can offer for fading and balding is new fur, which I explained to the pair's man. He thought this would be acceptable (especially since it was reversible if he didn't like it, unlike their earlier cleaning), so he sent them in -- I got to be the Mayo Clinic :-)!

We went through a few options for colors and furriness amounts, but eventually figured out the right balance and surgery commenced. Here is the Toucan all better and waiting for some Fruit Loops:

The hippo took a bit longer. While the man had photographs (old original photos from film!) of them younger, the angle on Hippo was not great for his nostrils, and it took a few tries to get them and his eyes just right. But here he is all better too... he's even showing off his new tail!

They flew home (not far, just down to Los Angeles) and their person wrote:

A fiery billed araçari (Pteroglossus frantzii) in San Vito, Costa Rica

Yellow-Throated Toucan

#ToucanTuesday :

Hunt Slonem (USA, b. 1951)

1. Toco Toucans, c.2001

Oil on canvas, 108 by 107 in. (274.3 by 271.8 cm)

Via Sotheby’s

2. Uma, 1989

Oil on canvas, 72 x 84 in. (182.9 x 213.4 cm)