Christmas Day 2006 has come and gone.

Christmas day 2006 has come and gone. So you might wonder what the children of Cañaote think about that. All the scientific treaties on Howler monkeys will tell you with no equivocation that howlers eat leaves, nuts and fruit, with occasional insects and eggs. All our children had a Christmas dinner, not dissimilar to my own. Vegetables, pumpkin, carrots, cauliflower, peas. Meats, Turkey, ham, and chicken. Added, a little salt free white cheese. This was followed by a rich plate of mixed fruits. This morning the plates were bare. Every morsel consumed. Someone is teaching them bad habits. It was an enjoyable day and I wish I could have shared it with you. I took my own dinner around the enclosures and shared the time with them all. Mañiña, not happy with just his own plate, stole from mine and so did Schatov. MonaLisa helped Rosita choose the best bits. Emma and Nancy grabbed all they could in fistfuls and disappeared into their house before coming back for more. Marco as usual dropped his plate on the floor. Somehow a little bit of dirt is a great condiment for Marco. Totto and Sophie sat on their marble table and carefully examined what was being offered before launching into their Christmas dinner. Sussy sat with elegance and sophistication at her table. Unlike the younger ones, she eats with her hands, not directly into the mouth like cats and dogs. She pawed through the dinner and started with the turkey, then the chicken, then the cheese, leaving the vegetables until last. Altogether, it was a fun time and they enjoyed it. Something different for me to sit with them for my own meal. They understood this I am sure.
The photographs need little introduction. The big picture is the gang. The smaller is Sussy enjoying a day with her human mother.

Chalk and Cheese

I have posted several times on the personality difference found among howler monkeys. Nowhere can you find such pronounced examples as Nancy (left), and Rosita. Nancy is slightly overweight and quick to find fault. Rosita is slim and tolerant. Rosita is friendly and trusting. Nancy is suspicious and touchy. Rosita readily comes to hand with an inquisitive expression, she enjoys interaction with humans and loves sitting on shoulders. Nancy approaches very tentatively, ready to draw back at the slightest sign that you might want to hold her. Nancy displays the group mentality. If it appears that one of the others is being attacked she will puff up and take an aggressive stance. She will also do this if it appears that attention is being shown to another in the group. This of course is quite dangerous. Once the others see this behavior, they all get ready for battle and further contact is then impossible. At this point, my advice to anyone is ‘get out’. It is difficult to explain the difference between Rosita and Nancy. I believe it can be traced back to events of the capture. Howlers have long memories, for example, Rosita still does not allow Louis Angel to approach her.

Happy Birthday Marco.

We can never be sure of the actual date of birth of our monkeys. They come from diverse sources. Some come fresh from the forest. Unscrupulous people, bent on profit and not the wellbeing of their captive, captured them. Some come from good human homes, where they have lived subsequent to their capture and sale. Therefore, we only have the faintest notion of the actual date of birth. We give all our children a birthday but this relates to the day that they first came to live with us. Their age of course is a different matter. We rely on what we are told by the human donor for that information.
Marco came to us three years ago today. He was a tiny fellow weighing only 500 grams. After a few weeks of living close to us, we decided that Sussy would make a good foster mother. After all she had brought many fine, strong children into the world, like Teddy and Bungy. The idea went well and Sussy accepted him as her own child. From that time and for nearly a year he traveled everywhere on Sussy’s back. He has grown rapidly. He is now a large and powerful monkey. In spite of his great strength, he retains his childhood naughtiness. Hats can go flying as soon as the unaware enter his enclosure. He is playful but not aggressive, although care has to exercised in handling him because he does not know his own strength. He is a healthy and vigorous person. He plays on his walkways, swings and ropes hard all day. He is an incredible athlete. We have a plan for him to go to live with Vicky and Ronnie at Manrique, the home of our friend Gabriela. There I am sure he will be fulfilled and become a father. We will not lose Marco, we love him too much but Gabriela will, I am sure allow us to visit him often. His fulfillment as a male monkey is more important than our sentiment.

Schatov now has a wider circle of friends

Schatov came to us from Caracas, almost a year ago. Since then his caring human family have visited often and are almost in daily contact with us here at Cañaote by internet. He has had a few changes since he has been here. First, he lived with Emma in a house and garden that we built especially for him. This enclosure was outside our security fence. Because of security considerations, we decided to construct a new house and garden for them within our security fence. During this time, Emma was gradually reaching maturity, whilst Schatov is still a young fellow. He is too big for her to mother but not adult enough yet for her to consider him as a husband. Female howlers reach maturity much younger than the boys do. Girls usually mature at about three years and the boys at four to five. The new enclosure has a large garden with two tall mature trees and extends to the corridor surrounding the house. This is a large area and able to support a number of monkeys. With the emergence of Emma’s adulthood, we decided to give her the chance to foster Nancy. This has been very successful. It has also given Schatov a wider circle of friends, because MonaLisa and Rosita also share that enclosure. They interact well together, Schatov, Mañiña, MonaLisa and Rosita, Emma and Nancy. He is particularly popular with Rosita and Nancy. There are occasional squabbles between Mañiña and Schatov but that is to be expected and they are not serious quarrels. Largely the two boys play well together, vying with each other for the most daring swing on the ropes or leap onto the hammock. The enclosure backs onto the window of my bedroom and late afternoon Schatov is allowed into our house. Just before our dinner, MonaLisa and Rosita are also allowed the freedom of the house. Mañiña is allowed in much later because he is so boisterous that it would cause too much chaos at our mealtime. But he is not left out. Finally, MonaLisa and Schatov with Rosita, settle down to sleep with David. Mañiña has his supper with me and drops off to sleep across my feet.
My picture shows Schatov in the new enclosure. Examine the photograph carefully and you will see the beautiful sheen on his coat. He is a healthy and happy monkey.

Totto said 'What is for breakfast dad?'

I have just finished reading a new book by Michael Crichton called ‘Next’. I have been one of his fans for many years. I find his writing thought provoking if not always the accepted view. His book on climate change, ‘State of fear’, was so mind blowing as I read it just two weeks before the terrible Tsunami tragedy. It almost seemed prophetic. This is a book of fiction but so full of real life drama. Michael poses the question. Is science inventing climate change in order to bolster the income of research companies and universities looking for funding? He lectures widely and puts his alternative view very strongly.
So it was with some trepidation that I opened his new book ‘Next’. ‘Next’ is about stem cells. “Next’ is about cross genetic experiments and is illustrated by a talking monkey that is so human that he wears clothes and goes to school, quite apart from his ability to talk and think. A thinking talking and mathematically talented parrot joins him. Between them, they make this into a fascinating drama, with high finance, learned professors on the make, and kidnapping all thrown into the exciting tale. These animals have been the subject of stem cell experimentation.
So why talk about it on Forget me not?
The news these days is full of claims that some scientists are making for stem cell technology. Not many days go by without claims that cells injected into the brain, the heart etc cause amazing and healing results. Men walk again after paralyzing strokes and Jesus Christ is again on the earth. It is good that Michael has published his book at this time. Perhaps as a timely warning. Test and vigorous clinical trials, with exhaustive requirement of proof are needed. The acquisitive and the unscrupulous must weeded out from the genuine seekers of the advancement of science and the health and happiness of all creatures on this earth. That includes the animals that they use for experimentation. The senseless use of animals to test trivial products must be stopped.
What kind of answer is that? Good question. I live with ten monkeys. I rub shoulders with talking parrots, this is my life and theirs. Is it going to change? Are they going to start talking to me intelligently? Already I know that the Howler monkeys have a language, which appears to be universal. Wherever our monkeys come from, they make the same sounds in response to their mood, happiness or fear. For me this book comes very close to home.

Colgate eat your heart out.

In our picture today, you can see MonaLisa and Mañiña arguing about a toothbrush. MonaLisa has just cleaned her teeth. Just off picture, Rosita is demanding her turn and Mañiña is getting very pushy about it. They are not taught to do this and beyond the initial shock of the strong peppermint flavor they seem enjoy cleaning their teeth. This is not just knawing the brush. They really do give their teeth a scrub. Given the chance, all our monkeys like brushing. MonaLisa will reject a brush that does not have toothpaste on it. This is one of the imponderables about domesticated Howler monkeys. I can understand why they like to use the loo. In the forest, they position themselves on a branch overlooking a stream or river for defecation. It is no great step from a branch to a loo seat. They are over water. I do not understand why they love to clean their teeth with a toothbrush. I think it must be more than just mimicry although I cannot think of a parallel in nature except that they use their beards like a brush, yes even the ladies have beards, to mark out their territory with an enzyme in their spittle.

There is no place like home.

Gabriela, Sussy’s human mother, came to visit a few days ago and noticed that Sussy was developing some patches of hair loss in her coat. Her general health has been a little concern for a while now. She has lost some firmness in her leg muscles and is looking her sixteen years. Even so, she is attentive, very active and eats well. Gabriela took some hair samples to a clinic in San Carlos for examination. The answer came back that she had a parasitic infection in her coat. Today Gabriela returned with medicines and vitamins. We shampooed Sussy with the medicated shampoo. We were impressed by her dignity. She was very calm and allowed us to bath her without complaint. One of my pictures shows her after the wash with Gabriela. To avoid re-infection, we prepared another enclosure for her that had been recently painted and spring-cleaned. She has been inspecting and enjoying the exploration most of the afternoon. Her new dwelling is actually the original house that we built some years ago for her. She has a cute little cottage with a green roof. Her dinning area has a ceramic table, a clean and comfortable place to eat. There are two natural and mature trees in this area. She has many walkways and ropes to keep her active and interested and there are plenty of good places for her to lie in the sun, which is what she really loves to do. She can also see across the way to the garden where Totto and Sophie spend their day.
In the meantime, Marco took advantage of all the action surrounding Sussy to leave his enclosure and head for the trees. He spent most of the afternoon experimenting with different kinds of leaves. He is a great athlete and the sound of him crashing through the trees punctuated our work with Sussy. He tired towards sundown and returned to his house. A little bribery with a white bread roll finally convinced him that there is no place like home.

They must think I am rubbish

Today I revisited Ramona the street Monkey with a plate of red papaya. She greeted me with a cry of delight, jumping on my shoulder and making happy noises but her conditions have worsened. The pile of rubbish around the small tree where she is chained has grown. There are signs of rat infestation. Her coat has a lost its lovely sheen and she is pacing up and down like a caged animal. I spoke to someone from her home and he assured me that they were about to build a large enclosure for her and that her present location was only temporary. It would be a good solution if they build a cage around the existing tree, but only if they clear the area of garbage. I warned him that Ramona could become very ill if this continues. I am sure this family loves her but like so many others when confronted with a monkey problem, are at a loss to solving it. An additional problem is that Ramona is now sexually mature and is seeking a partner. She is confused because humans do not respond to her. This could increase her tendency to bite, when her overtures are rejected. William, one of my people, is particularly clever at building cages around trees. I will ask him to advise them. I imagine Ramona has been attacking passers by in the street at her former location. Well, all monkeys bite. That is the first thing you learn about monkeys. In fairness, I should tell you that Ramona sleeps in the house at night and is only chained in the daytime. I will be monitoring their progress with frequent visits. I didn't want to leave her today and there were tears in my eyes as I waved goodbye.
My pictures show the pile of garbage surrounding her tree and on the right, Pretty Ramona, chained to a tree among the garbage.

Ramona, when day is done you'll hear my call.

Yesterday we visited Ramona, the street monkey as part of our ‘Outreach program’. We were horrified to see that she had been moved from her street tree to a location behind a shop. There is a tree but it is inferior to what she had. The whole area was dirty with discarded boxes and rubbish from the shop. Ramona was chained and clearly very unhappy. She was pacing up and down in the manner of caged animals. She has lost that fine gloss that she had on her coat. Continuous incarceration like this could seriously damage her mental heath. We will visit again during the next few days, to see if we can convince the owner to improve Ramona’s condition. My picture shows her today after I had delivered a fine bunch of fresh leaves taken from the forest this morning.

Below I repeat a previous posting about Ramona for those of you who have not yet read her story.

As well as looking after the monkeys we have in house, we also operate an outreach program. We visit monkeys we consider to be at risk in various areas of our locality. Ramona is a street Howler; she spends her day chained to a leafy street tree. When we first called on her, the owners were adamant that she was a boy and called her Ramon. ‘You can see, it’s quite obvious that Ramon is a boy’, the owners said. They were pointing at the external genitilia of a female Howler. Even though we showed the owner photographs of the male and female organs, they still refused to accept that their very beautiful young lady was a girl. Time passed and we continued to pay regular visits with bunches of leaves collected freshly from the forest. One day a year ago, she was not in her tree. We asked about her whereabouts and we were told that she was sick and in the house. The owner took us to see her asking if we could recommend a Vet to examine her. The whole story then came out. She had freed herself from the chain and climbed up onto the electric cables that ran across the top of the house. She received a shock and fell to the ground. She was in severe pain when we examined her. We called the ARFA to see if their Vet could come and treat Ramona. Fortunately, the Vet was available. So a large party came to visit Ramona. The president of ARFA Lucy Alio, Gabriela, and Gomikko the ARFA Vet and myself. The Vets opinion was that she had no lasting damage from the shock but had a hairline fracture from the fall. A course of treatment and medicine was prescribed and we left leaving a now visibly relieved owner.
She responded well to the treatment and within a few weeks, she was back in her tree. We have continued to visit Ramona.
A few months later, we again found that she was not in her tree and I was alarmed, thinking maybe that she had climbed onto the wire again. However, no. She had been moved to another tree behind an adjacent shop. She had become aggressive and had started biting people. Fortunately, this was only a temporary phase and on our later visits, she had returned to her tree in the street.
A strange reason finally convinced the owners that Ramona was a girl. We were taking a young male howler for a check up to the Vet in San Carlos, he has been plagued with mites in his coat, and we planned a short visit with leaves to Ramona on the way. Ramona gave us her usual friendly greeting and accepted our gift. The owners noticed the monkey in the car and wanted to play with him. ‘Oh that is a boy’, the owner could see the difference and now at last recognizes Ramona as a girl.

Nancy graduates

I have blogged before about the difference in personalities among Howler monkeys. Nancy has been difficult to determine. At one moment, she wants to be close and resistive of any attempt to dislodge her from her perch on my shoulder. At the same time, she is terrified of any attempt to handle her. I suppose that her capture was traumatic and that she finds it difficult now to trust a human. The howler’s memory of trauma is long lasting. I mentioned the incident involving Rosita and Louis Angel in a previous posting. Rosita still screams when Louis approaches. It is a great shame because he does love her. Nancy has not bonded well with any human here. But she has warmed to several monkeys. She is very fond of Schatov and Mañiña. MonaLisa would like to adopt her in addition to Rosita. Emma, much to my surprise, has been behaving very ‘mother like’. We decided yesterday to give Emma a chance. Nancy very quickly mastered the surroundings of Emma’s enclosure and for the first time we saw her climbing ropes and walking on the bamboo pathways. Suddenly she ‘came alive’. I was doubtful about leaving her over night so late in the afternoon, I approached them intending to bring her into our house for the night. But No. She would not leave Emma. We decided to let her stay with Emma. Schatov was disappointed when she did not appear at bedtime but soon got over it. After all he had the company of MonaLisa and Rosita.
I was pleased at this result. New baby howlers are difficult to wean from their human parents. Nancy has graduated. She now has a relationship with another monkey that should last until adulthood. She is still bottle fed. I will be there this morning with the bottle but I suspect she will not need it. She learns very quickly. Last night I rested content. I had seen a very happy little girl howler.
Our picture shows Emma and Nancy together in one of their trees.

Tarzan of Cañaote.

Mañiña is a happy monkey but never more so than when he knows that his human family are going to visit. He is expecting them tomorrow. In our picture left, you see him on the swing ropes. He plays on these furiously every day and is an accomplished gymnast. He uses multiple ropes at one time and all that is missing is the famous Tarzan jungle call. Having said that, he now joins the morning chorus with a strong resonating voice. The whole of Cañaote vibrates to their morning call, all ten of our children join in. This lets the local tribes know that this is the territory of the Cañaote family. In the picture on the right you see him posing for the camera, a real artist.
He shares his quarters with MonaLisa and Rosita and Schatov. They are a compatible group. Sharing food and playing together. Occasionally the games get a little rough but they are all good natured and they soon settle down. They eat together, sharing their food and drink. Their quarters are partly inside our house with a doorway leading to the outside and a couple of mature trees. Mañiña loves human company. He shares our dinner in the evening and after an exhausting day, settles down to sleep on my bed. Little Nancy, who has an eye for the boys, cuddles up alongside him.

Totto and Sophie

Nothing has pleased me more than seeing how well the relationship between Totto and Sophie has worked out. She has always been a difficult monkey; with unexplained hatreds for some of the others. You remember that MonaLisa was her surrogate mother. For a time she would tolerate no other company. When we finally separated them, she pined for a long time. Totto has been a cause for concern because of his aggression. He is a big monkey and he does not encourage familiarity. His moods have always been difficult to interpret. The friendship between them has worked a miracle in both cases. Totto is much calmer and now approachable. Sophie is obviously devoted to him; she is always by his side. He courteously shows her great deference especially at meal times.

Nancy goes to the restaurant.

There is no doubt that softhearted people get unnecessary problems. I had an appointment to look at a possible new site for our home. Nancy gave me one of those looks, which said ‘I am a poor little orphan; surely you are not going out without me.?’ Yes my heart melted and I reluctantly put her on my shoulder. I knew it was a mistake. She yelled all the time. She was not interested in the view from the car. I planned to put her in her blanket as we passed through the police checkpoints. No that was not to be. She shouted even louder and refused the blanket. Even a banana would not assuage the flow of tears. The house and land were interesting although far too expensive for us. It even had extensive clean chicken cages that we could have used whilst constructing new enclosures in the trees for the children. On the way home, we decided to have lunch. We selected a restaurant with a large open front, so that Nancy would not cause too much attention. She sat on the table and savaged anything she could grab. The salads disappeared and large amounts of chicken. Where do they learn to eat chicken?
You guessed, the other diners crowded around. ‘Isn’t she cute’, syndrome was in evidence. One man claimed that he had a large male Howler at home. We enjoyed a brief discussion with him about his child. I got home with ‘Never again’, on my lips. But she knows I don’t mean it. All she has to do is give me that look.

The old man under the moon.

I have a couple of stories for you this morning. Marco will be three years old this December. He was just a tot when he arrived, with barely five hundred grams. Sussy showed an interest in him and became his surrogate mother. He traveled everywhere on her back. Time went by and now his weight is six kilos. He is a big monkey. These two monkeys occupy a large enclosure with three tall mature trees and they have a choice of two houses. As Marco has grown, he has become increasingly boisterous. Sometimes pushing and teasing Sussy. Now and then, he has made her cry. He has a pleasant nature and does not intend to hurt her but he is big and strong. We have found it necessary to separate them for certain hours of the day. He is in every sense mature and healthy. He plays vigorously all day on his walkways and swings. It is time for him to find a mate. My good friend Gabriela has two female Howlers. I have written about them previously on the blog. Both Ronnie and Vicky are mature. I have had a conversation with Gabriela and we are agreed that in January 2007, Marco will move in with them, hopefully to fulfill his proper role as leader and father. Vicky and Ronnie do not live in enclosures, they are free in the trees. I know Marco will be happy there. I shall of course ask to visit him often. My little boy going out into the world.
Nancy is settling down well. This morning we had a great walk in our arboretum. She was fascinated with the Horseradish Tree and stole fruit from the Surinam cherry avenue. She has made a number of friends. She gets on well with most of the others but she likes Schatov and Mañiña in particular. She plays with Schatov in the daytime and sleeps with her head on Mañiña shoulder at night.

Our pictures show a new photograph of Marco (this morning), Left. Schatov and Nancy share a meal. Right.

The old man under the moon (月下老人) is an old man appearing in an old Chinese story, and is a synonym for the god of marriage or a matchmaker.


The Story
During the Tang Dynasty, there was a young man name Wei Gu. Once he was passing the city of Songcheng, where he saw an old man leaning on his pack reading a book in the moonlight. Being amazed at it, Wei Gu walked up and asked what he was doing. The old man answered, "I am reading a book of marriage listing for who is going to marry whom. In my pack are red cords for tying the feet of husband and wife." When Wei Gu and the old man came together to a marketplace, they saw a blind old woman carrying a three-year-old little girl in her arms. The old man said to Wei Gu," This little girl will be your wife in the future." Wei Gu thought this was too strange to believe and he ordered his servant to stab the girl with his knife.

Fourteen years later, Wang Tai, the governor of Xiangzhou, gave Wei Gu his daughter in marriage. The daughter was a beautiful young woman, but Wei Gu found that there was a scar between her eyebrows. When he asked what had happened, he was told that she had been stabbed by a man in the marketplace fourteen years before.

This article relating to a myth or legend from Asia is a stub. The story comes from the Wikipedia

Rose tinted glasses

Monday evening started well. David arrived back from a weekend trip to the Palm Society in Caracas. The Rose Wine he offered me just before dinner was delicious. So much so that I helped myself to a few glasses. In this slightly rosy state, I heard a crash from just outside the living room door. Mañiña had left his enclosure early and was raiding the refrigerator in the kitchen. When I arrived, his guilty face was covered in ‘Toddy'. There was a broken cream pot on the floor. MonaLisa and Rosita were liberally spreading its contents. They had joined Mañiña in the kitchen raid.
I have a small fridge in my quarters. This is MonaLisa's favorite target. Its door is stiff but she has no difficulty in opening it. My fears were confirmed. She had attacked the fridge in the bedroom before moving on to the kitchen. The door was open and two packets of powdered potato were spread around the room. Whilst I was occupied in limiting the bedroom damage, Mañiña attacked a carton of red wine on the kitchen table. Fortunately, I was able to salvage most of it. The question I suppose is why do they do it? They are not hungry, but they do have a taste for foods that are 'forbidden'.
Schatov in the meantime, acting very superior and above this kind of thing, looked on from his comfortable cushion in front of the television.
Later in the evening, Nancy was introduced to this gang of thieves for the first time. MonaLisa predictably fell in love with her. I feared that she might reject Rosita in favor of Nancy but so far that has not happened. At bedtime, Mañiña slept quite happily alongside Nancy. I think that Schatov is going to be her best friend. They spend a lot of time together and the unhappy noises from Nancy are noticeably less. As for Rosita, we still do not know but her reaction seemed quite favorable.
As for Nancy herself, she is still missing her mother. Howlers have a universal language, and she is saying Wah oh. Which being roughly translated means 'Mother where are you?'. Bonding to a human will take more than a few weeks and I expect a lot of Wah Oh over the next days.

Shuffle the pack

I have been asked why we do not put together a pack from our animals and release them as a family into the wild. This is my wish. But there are constrains and I have here, briefly put my reasoning for our policy.

In various places on my blog I have explained why I do not release howler monkeys that we have in our care to the wild. There is no possibility that we will ever release our monkeys as a pack.

In desperation (my death or incapacity to continue the work), they could be released in special groups, although this would be a dangerous procedure, possibly resulting in the transfer of diseases that they have acquired during their association with humans to the children in the wild. The effect of simple diseases such as flu or the common cold can have far-reaching effect on monkeys. These diseases are known to involve the brain in monkeys.

More serious from the human point of view is that the viruses will evolve and at some point come back as a retro virus. This is the most dangerous aspect of release. We think of Aid’s, Mad Cow disease, Chicken flu as a short list of the current problems evolving from retrovirus from the wild.

I continuously scan the literature for a report of a vaccine that could obviate this problem. From personal experience, I know that even the most scrupulous, professional examination of a sick animal is still unable to detect all possible dangerous infections. I do not wish to elaborate more here, on this subject but if you need to know, please ask me.

It would be my dearest wish to see my children free in the forest where they belong. My puny effort at providing a near normal life for them palls against the possibility of real freedom. They are part of a grander design that is faulted without them.



From a purely practical point of view, we have to consider the patricidal characteristics of Howler society. I have recently blogged about patricide

Given the opportunity.

Totto would kill Mañiña, Schatov, and Marco.

Sussy would kill Emma and Schatov. Some time ago she attacked both of them resulting in the loss of a finger in the case of Emma and a very swollen hand in the case of Schatov.

Sophie would kill Rosita, Nancy and Schatov.

The attack that resulted in Imanol’s fracture was caused by Totto and Sophie attacking him through the cage.

If unsuccessful in killing the target, it would result in the intended victim fleeing.

We have experienced fleeing many times. Many of the animals that fled years ago now have families in the wild near our compound. I visit them quite often.

This is the reason why we carefully select companions for our Howlers and keep them in separate enclosures, they are not all compatible. They are not like Capuchins who are much more tolerant in their groups.

I suppose that I should come clean and say that I personally oppose release into the wild of any species. I know that ARFA would not agree with me about that but they are aware of my views.

Nancy with the smiling face

Today we welcome Nancy to our family. Left, you see her sitting comfortably in her newly adopted blanket. She already loves it. On the right, she is sitting with Schatov who is behaving like a big brother, showing her around the house. Nancy comes to us from a family in Valencia. She has visited the Vet for a check up and she is in good health. She is about 4 months old. Certainly, it is too early to leave her mother. But what is too early? This poor little mite, has been torn from her mother and now lives with strangers. Her mother? You can guess. When will this terrible trade stop?
There is competition for her friendship, MonaLisa has already shown an interest and Schatov has been very friendly and given her a good welcome. It is early days and as usual, I will keep you informed on her progress. For many of our readers, English is not their first language. This is the reason I try to say many things with pictures. I hope it works for you.

A mixed bag

A slightly mixed bag for you today. Firstly, we went to visit our friend Gabriela in Manrique and got this photograph of Ronny, one of her two Howler ladies. I have met Ronnie many times but she has never allowed me to take a good photograph of her. This time she ate out of my hand and then posed for this photograph, it quite made my day.
Back at Canaote, Schatov (left), Rosita and MonaLisa, try their hand at solving the National Housing Problem. This little house was donated by Abu, a very lovely Capuchin lady, who stayed with us a short while on her way to release into the wild.

Trees, leaves and the fruit of the forest

There are minor differences in the way we treat our Howlers. It depends partly on the circumstances of their lives before coming to Canaote and partly on their disposition. If a monkey has had a very domestic life, we try to provide at least some of the elements of that life, here. Without exception, all the Howlers have access to trees and sunshine and are provided with leaves and fresh forest foods. They all have their 'own space'.
The more domesticated ones like Schatov, Mañiña, MonaLisa and Rosita are allowed free run of our house in the afternoon and evening. This can cause some complications at mealtime but it's all fun and we enjoy the interaction.
Our pictures were taken yesterday and show Schatov and Mañiña in their morning enclosure. They are good pals and play together for a good part of the day.

For Imanol

Only the skin and bone of earthly clad lies here.
Imanol free spirit, lives in the canopy above.
There! Out of the corner of your eye
You see a small monkey make a giant leap
from the highest to the lowest bough.
Yes it’s Imanol. His final great escape. Free at last.

I celebrate his young life.

I have delayed this posting because I could not decide what to say or even if I would report it at all.
On Thursday, we took Imanol, a young very healthy Howler monkey to a well known clinic in Valencia. I have previously reported that he had a severe leg fracture. He underwent over an hour of surgery, at the end of which the surgeons told me that the operation had been a success. They return to the operating theater. Shortly afterwards they told me that at the very end he had died of an adverse reaction to the anesthetic.
At a time like this, we all examine our consciences to see whether we were to blame.

The person who recommended this firm of veterinarians is blaming herself.
This is unproductive and useless thing to do. I examine my own actions. Example. If I did not permit, Luis Angel to feed Totto and Sophie, then I would have seen Imanol approaching their house and prevented him. It does not help to know why or how he died. He is dead and we cannot bring him back.
The blame starts when he was stolen from the forest. We are not to blame. We truly did everything in our power to help Imanol.

I celebrate his young life. I marvel at his love and his great faith in me. He was a gift from God, he changed my life whilst he was here. I organized my day around his needs and he was my constant companion.

He filled my life so much that now there is a great emptiness. I still expect him to steal my shaving cream and to grab my toothbrush. I expect to feel him sitting of my left foot as I walk around the farm. That emptiness I am sure will soon be filled. The Lord moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform.
I shall never forget Imanol. He was loved by everyone who met him.

Emergency at Canaote

Yesterday was a low day here at Canaote. I have written about the inexplicably violent behavior of some female Howlers. I have also written about Imanol’s ability to escape from any enclosure. You remember we finally decided to let him run free in a limited way. Yesterday these two items came together and became prophetic. Imanol wandered close to the Totto, Sophie enclosure and began to climb. He is a very happy carefree and unsuspicious person. He little thought that Sophie had been watching him and was ready to pounce. Totto joined in, pulling Imanol further into the enclosure whilst Sophie bit Imanol’s tail deeply. Seeing this frightening sight, Luis Angel rushed to the aid of Imanol and dragged him away from the wire. Unfortunately, Imanol clung tenaciously to the fence. The result was a clean fracture of Imanol’s left leg. No one is to blame. Luis Angel was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. I have seen the rage of female howlers and I support Luis in what he did. He had no other choice. We spent most of yesterday getting X-ray’s and visiting Veterinarians. Finally, we were able to set up an appointment for surgery early today. This has to be done quickly as delay could cause further complications. Our gruesome picture today is of the x-ray taken yesterday. He is in good spirits. In spite of all efforts to make him sit still and rest, he is as active as ever.I promised to give you the ups and the downs of their lives. This was one of the downs.

The singer not the song.

It has been said that my blog is very anthropomorphic and that I tend to treat the monkeys as if they are human children. This is not my particular intention although it does seen to come out that way. Possibly because their behavior is in many ways, similar. But there is an underlying message. I hope you are not missing it. These animals belong in the forest with their families. They are a part of a bigger design, which is flawed without them. It is wrong to take them from their habitat and to keep them in houses and cages. Once they have had contact with humans, they cannot be returned to the forest. The reasoning behind this is elsewhere on this blog. The message? Leave these proud animals in the forest where they can live full lives and come to the ultimate completion by having children
I have written about both of our featured personalities recently. Sussy and Totto. No, they don’t know each other and I have no idea how they would react if they met. Sussy is crazy about pancakes soaked in lemon juice and so am I. You see her here indulging in her favorite snack. Totto has shown himself to be a gentleman where the ladies are concerned. For example he always lets his wife, Sophie eat first, and stands between her and any visitor to their house. I really like this picture of him. It shows how handsome he is. He is a big monkey as you can see. His coat is shiny and evenly colored and he is in perfect health.

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A penny for your thoughts

Emotion amongst animals is supposed to indicate a higher level of cranial activity. I am certain that Howler monkeys display emotion. Cognizance of time, past and future is another area that we can explore.

Sussy, Sophie and Emma display very strong emotions. All three of these females have attacked other howlers with great viciousness and purpose. These were not ‘go away’, attacks, meant to warn off the other party. These were attacks, which could have led to the death or bad disfigurement of the animal attacked.
Sussy attacked the very young Emma, when we expected her to take Emma under her wing and mother her. At that time, Sussy was going through an emotional crisis of her own. The little Marco, that she had fostered and carried around on her back for so long, was now fully-grown and sexually active. He spent much of his day teasing Sussy to the point where he would make her cry. Finally, we had to separate them for periods of the day. Was this the cause of her antagonism to the new arrival? Did she think that the little female was a rival?

We thought that Sophie might make a companion for Emma. This was before Schatov’s arrival. She reacted exactly as Sussy had but this time we were on our guard and prevented the attack from developing.

In recent days, Emma has developed a dislike for Mañiña. This is in spite of the fact that Mañiña is a much larger animal. Is this a case of the abused abusing as with humans? I have asked that question before. This is a complex jigsaw. Why would she adore Schatov and hate Mañiña? She is also fond of Imanol. Both Schatov and Imanol are very young and small in comparison with Mañiña. Could she be protecting her, yet unthought-of offspring?
Infanticide is the major cause of infant mortality in red howler monkeys. Mothers try to protect their infants from invading males, but with only a 25 percent success rate.
Fierce sexual competition often exists between male howler monkeys; members of a bachelor troop will fight with a male in charge of a female troop in an attempt to take over. Males are expelled from their natal groups upon reaching sexual maturity, and must invade an outside troop to gain admittance. Once a male successfully enters a new group, he kills all infants present, thus insuring all offspring belong to him. Some years ago, before we decided on using enclosures, our monkeys ranged free in the canopy around the compound. The dominant Howler at that time pursued a smaller male and badly injured him. On another occasion, the same dominant male killed a very small baby in our group.
Since we adopted the enclosures, we have been able to select the occupants to ensure that they are compatible.
These are strong primitive drives that we see working here. But what is not clear, is why females adopt aggressive roles.
Sophie watches obsessively for a chance to attack Imanol. She even watches shadows under her door to see if he might be on the outside.
Time is a philosophic entity, and one would not expect a Howler to appreciate time. Every day I mix the monkey’s milk shake and everyday Imanol and MonaLisa try to help themselves to the mix but before the shake is ready. Every day I tell them to wait but in vain. The concept of ‘ready in one minute’ is not understood.
Persistence of an idea can be demonstrated. Some months ago, Rosita was involved in an incident with Mañiña. She was playing on the ropes at the top of his enclosure and being very small she was able to exit through the wire on the roof, into a very tall tree. Luis Angel, seeing the danger of the little one getting lost in the big tree, rapidly caught hold of her and pulled her back into the enclosure. She squawked and Mañiña grabbed her by the tale and bit her quite hard. This was just his knee jerk reaction to the situation, he did not intend to hurt her and in fact, they are now very good friends. However, Rosita identified Luis Angel as the cause of her problem and since then she cries out every time he is anywhere near her.

MonaLisa, her hope.

MonaLisa has adopted Rosita. Or perhaps it is the other way around because Rosita will now not allow MonaLisa out of her sight for even a moment. This reflects the tragedy of taking a wild animal out of the forest and introducing her to human care. MonaLisa has no interest in male Howlers. She did not have her own mother to guide her and teach her the way of the forest. She does not recognize male howlers as sexual partners. She does not see them, as a route to what we know is her fervent hope. She desperately wants to be a mother but does not know how. Rosita is the second young howler that she has adopted. She also fostered Sophie. In the time before Rosita’s arrival, MonaLisa attached herself to every young human she could find, giving the tongue signal. Female howlers are always the most active in setting up a relationship, by moving the tongue in and out. If they get an appropriate response, they continue with a relationship, if not the female moves on to another prospect. When I observed her courting with young humans, it brought me to tears. We have tried hard to introduce her to male howlers but so far in vain.
In our pictures today, you see how pretty Rosita loves her food and how rapidly she is growing. The second picture shows her seated on MonaLisa’s back. This is her position for most of the day.

The old rocking chair.

Sussy is not a youngster. In fact, she is sixteen years old, intelligent, athletic and friendly. She has been a mother to several powerful males, and foster mother to Marco.
Sussy waits patiently for mealtimes. She has an excellent appetite. There is always a great welcome for visitors. Sitting in the sun is her morning occupation, until mid morning snacks. Siesta is at about midday for a couple of hours. Afterwards she will get on her rope rocking chair for the rest of the afternoon, watching the farm go by. Sussy is content. I sit with her during breakfast; she loves to hear me sing, as she gets comfortable on my lap. So what song does she really like? 'All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small'. At Seven thirty in the morning, why don't you sing it with us? (link at the bottom). This is when I get my second wash of the morning. Her human mother visits her at least once a month and has done during the whole three years that she has been with us. I don’t have any favorites but if I did..

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/l/allthing.htm

What is for dinner?

It is just before three in the afternoon at Canaote. The tables have been scrubbed down and the water bowls scoured and replenished. Our picture shows Luis Angel in conversation with Mañiña. Mañiña is anticipating dinner. ‘Why do we have to wait until three thirty for dinner? Why can’t we have it now?’

The meal times at Canaote.We serve dinner at three thirty in the afternoon. Today we have steamed vegetables, apio, carrots, and pumpkin with a large helping of creamed corn. There is a side order of lettuce with a lightly steamed egg.

At eleven, we have a morning snack of fresh leaves, which Luis Angel collects from the forest.

Breakfast is always at exactly seven thirty and is usually fresh fruit and a fortified banana milkshake with added vitamin ‘c’. This morning the fruit is Lechosa (papaya to our non-Venezuelan friends). We cut it longways and leave it in its skin, just the way they love it.
The Lechosa is a very special sweet variety from our own Botanic Garden. The fruit is varied every day, sometimes lightly cooked banana and for a change, occasionally Quaker oats.
This variation in diet is most important and reflects our understanding of the foraging habits of the Howler monkey. More about that in another posting.

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Schatov and Emma are now accustomed to their new more secure home. Our photographs today show them in a rare quiet mood. You will remember that Schatov came to us from his family in Caracas and Emma came from ARFA. It only took a few days, together, before they became great friends and completely devoted to each other. We have built a new home for them, within the high voltage fence and adjoining our house. Their new house is a careful copy of their original home. The only difference is that now there is an access to our house. They enjoy the excursions into our home sometimes in the evening. When they visit, it’s a case of hold on to your dinner plate. Schatov is very outgoing on these trips; he wants to play with everyone. Emma is rather more withdrawn and choosy about her friendships. Mañiña is also in house on these occasions and looks over somewhat nervously at Emma, there is no love lost there. But MonaLisa and Rosita and Imanol are here and they are his special friends. Quite a Mad Hatter’s tea party.

From The Mad hatter's tea party, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. `Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,' thought Alice; `only, as it's asleep, I suppose it doesn't mind.'
The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: `No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw Alice coming. `There's plenty of room!' said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.
Mad Tea Party
`Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.
Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don't see any wine,' she remarked.
`There isn't any,' said the March Hare.
`Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it,' said Alice angrily.
`It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited,' said the March Hare.
`I didn't know it was your table,' said Alice; `it's laid for a great many more than three.'
`Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
`You should learn not to make personal remarks,' Alice said with some severity; `it's very rude.'
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, `Why is a raven like a writing-desk?'
`Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. `I'm glad they've begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that,' she added aloud.
`Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?' said the March Hare.
`Exactly so,' said Alice.
`Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.
`I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know.'
`Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!'

Look and listen.

I have been reading an article in the ‘New Scientist’ magazine, which reports an important conference, held at the Royal Society in London last week. The conference was concerned with, how animals interpret the world. One thing is clear, they do not see it in the same way that we do. Understanding how they see the world will help us to understand their problems, both physical and mental. Accepting that there is a difference can help us to care for them better.
The first example that the article gives does not have my wholehearted agreement. I quote.
‘Your dog falls ill, so you take him to the vet. After a quick consultation you take him home, and soon he appears to be better. But he is not. You and the vet have failed to realise that he is still in severe pain, and the drugs the vet has prescribed will turn him into a social outcast, a dog that may be shunned or even attacked by others.’
The paper goes on to say that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics can destroy important bacteria that live in its anal sac and produce the individual scent by which it is recognizable to other dogs.

So what don’t I like about this?

The presumption that it is a ‘quick consultation’ seems like salting the mine. Why should quick consultations be a cause?
Why does the dog appear to get better, if he is sick, he is sick?
Why does the writer suppose that we do not recognize that the dog is in pain? Isn’t that why we took the dog to the vet in the first place?
The matter of inappropriate drugs is not a matter of understanding the dogs thinking or suffering as much as an ignorance of the physiology of the dog. Aren’t vets trained in these matters?

This was an unfortunate introduction to the subject, which may have given the impression that the whole subject was being treated in a lightweight manner. This is far from the truth.

Several investigators have developed a list of indications relating to specific animals. Pigs and chickens are given as examples. There were also workers in the field of primates that gave very specific lists of indications that the animal was conveying.
Wiseman-Orr and Reid have designed a simple one-page questionnaire that can be used to evaluate whether a dog is in pain, an approach they say can be used to objectively evaluate the welfare of any animal in any setting. Their latest test monitors the health and welfare of dogs suffering arthritis. A series of 109 questions covering 13 facets of a dog's appearance, behaviour and habits allow a vet to track the progression of the disease and which treatments are working. The idea is to replace subjective assessments with an objective, repeatable system of logging symptoms.

David Morton of the University of Birmingham, UK, is developing a system to help vets and owners decide whether an animal is suffering so much that it ought to be put down. Its ratings weigh signs of physical distress against positive signs, such as a dog wagging its tail, to give a dispassionate measure of how an animal is faring.
Françoise Wemelsfelder of the Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh is looking at a different aspect of welfare: developing a way to assess the suitability of the environment in which animals are kept. She asks observers to watch recordings of groups of animals and then choose adjectives that best describe their physical condition, demeanour and behaviour in a particular environments. These "emotional profile descriptors" are placed on a grid according to how positive or negative the words are. Completed grids show clusters of words which reflect the body language of an animal in that environment

I can only praise this seminal work. This is the beginning of a better understanding of the needs of our neighbors.
From my own experience, I can identify a happy Howler monkey, by its vocal expressions and its bodily movements. Equally, their words of distress are also identifiable. Howlers come very close to having a language, which is universal. The same sounds mean the same thing from wherever the Howler monkey has originated.
Their body language is also universal. The puffing up of the fur when in a challenging situation. The forward and backward movement when in attack, testing the will of the other party to fight. The shaking of the head when angry.

There is no dictionary for reference. Maybe someone will get around to writing one.

The substance of the conference was that animals, by their body language as well as verbal indications are able to tell us a great deal, if only we will look and listen

Imanol and Schatov will look just like Totto.

When people buy the cute little bundle of red fur along the roadside, they do not realize that they are buying a time bomb. Totto was once small, like Imanol and Schatov. Imanol is charming and naughty simultaneously. He will throw your phone to the floor and then let out a squeak, which more or less says ‘I didn’t know that was going to happen’, then snuggle up to you and smother you with licks. It makes it impossible to reprimand him. Schatov is mainly interested in what you might have to eat. He can be very patient but his hand can dive into your pocket and in a flash he has run off with what he has found. He also steals hats. Emma and Schatov are an inseparable pair. Where Schatov leads, Emma is never far behind. One day maybe, you guess my thoughts? But for now they are very young.
Totto is big, sullen at times, aggressive if he does not know you. It is difficult to determine his mood if you are not in his circle of friends. He is potentially dangerous if you are not wary. In spite of his very macho attitude, he is courteous and respectful to his wife Sophie. He is not a good Christmas present. However, someone once thought so. Take it from me. All monkeys bite and the bigger they are ……

I have been surprised and pleased at the way Totto has worked with me to make a relationship. I don't think he realises that I have been his match maker. But he does recogise me as a friend and that really is something.

Yes in a few years, Imanol and Schatov will look just like Totto.
In our picture you see Totto posing for the camera and in the second picture, Schatov (left ) facing off with Imanol.

Female, the toughest sex?

We have had no opportunity to blog over the last few days. We have been traveling, seeking a new home for ourselves and our monkeys. This is a difficult task; Canaote is a hard act to follow. We have traveled widely from near Turmero high up in the mountains and just over the hill to Colonia Tovar, to Manrique in Cojedes, seeking a refuge from banditry and theft. Nevertheless, life goes on here. We all have colds. Totto has a bad one but is responding well to treatment. Marco has completely recovered. Curiously, the females, Sophie, Sussy, MonaLisa, Emma, and Rosita have been immune to the infection. What does this tell you about the strength of the sexes?
We returned from our travels with fruit not grown in Cojedes. Our picture today shows Mañiña enjoying a peach. The other is of Schatov, having a quiet moment in his new residence. Because his new home adjoins our main house, some of the newer pictures of Schatov show him visiting us. He is very domesticated and very comfortable in human company. Recently we found him asleep on David’s bed. More of those pictures on a later posting.

New challenges await us

After I wrote about the bandit attack on Canaote, we were overwhelmed by your response. Every one of our regular readers has written offering practical advice and actual help. What has become clear is that we can no longer remain at Canaote, the place that has been our home and dream for the last twelve years. We will leave behind the work of these years. When I walk through our arboretum and see the rare fruit trees in full fruit after many years of waiting and the magnificent mature Palms, my heart is very heavy. I do not know what will happen to this work of love. Trampled by bulls, torn by machines? I cannot allow my sentiments to stop what must be.
Bandits have attacked us six times now, each time the attack has been more violent and dangerous. This time they threaten to return and kill David and me. Additionally the farm has been systematical striped of its equipment almost on a nightly basic. Our bull weighing equipment, a very large and heavy device, welded into the structure of the coral disappeared in the night just recently as did our electric plant, which was actually, cemented into the ground. These people have no fear of the law and no respect for decency and fair play. We are not rich people and do not understand their obsession with us.

We have received generous offers of land in several fine locations and we will over the next days visit and determine where we will move to.
I want to make it clear that our dedication and commitment to the Howler monkeys remains unchanged. Where I go, they will go with me.
If our commitment is strong, I must tell you that the commitment of our friends is also strong. We will need to construct five large enclosures to house the five pairs of Howlers we have. One friend has already volunteered to build and pay for two of those enclosures.
We will have to face the ergonomics of moving our monkeys; we have been offered help with this task.
It is difficult for me to sufficiently express my gratitude to our friends.

We are being tried but we will not be found wanting. Maybe our work here is complete and now new challenges await us.

Paradise lost.

I have always thought that Canaote was a paradise and my mission was to care for the children that were brought to me here. In spite of the events I will now recall, I still believe that.
We were attacked by armed bandits again this morning and they held all my staff hostage. This is the 6th time bandits have attacked us here. Young Luis Angel got a very severe blow across the head. The others have been deeply frightened by these people. They stole our old Toyota. The police were about as much use as nothing. Lawlessness has taken over and we live in conditions worse than the Wild West. At least they had Matt Dillon. The long and short of it is, we cannot continue to live here. All my staff without exception have resigned and do not intend to return. The loss of our housekeeper Josephine and Luis Angel is critical
My deep sadness to the people of Venezuela. If you cannot protect the people who love you and want to better and enhance life here, then you enter a new dark age.

My principal concern now is to find another place to live; I have to sell this place of course, as we are not so rich that we can just walk away. I have to find a place where I can erect sufficient enclosures for my 10 monkey children.. That is 5 locations to build.
Maybe our work was finished here. That’s looking at the situation positively. The wages were becoming quite staggering for little or no return. For what we want to do, this farm is just far too big. On selling the place it could be an interesting buy for someone. Perfect grazing for 500 cattle 12 months of the year. It has all the documentation complete required by the new land laws. It could be good for the right people. I am no longer the right people. Any comment you have as a friend would be welcome.
I must say that my commitment to the little red monkeys remains unchanged. I will take them with me wherever I go. I will choose a place suitable for them to be with me. Please have no doubt about my commitment to them.
If you have any suggestions about a location for us to move to, your input will be welcome.
Our horror picture is the five stitches that Luis Angel received on his head wound.

The Malay Apple

The Malay apple or more correctly Syzygium malaccense is a delight to the eye in every respect. It is admired for the beauty of the tree, its flowers and its colorful, glistening fruits, without parallel in the family Myrtaceae. Here in Venezuela it is called Pomagás. We planted this tree in August 1998 and it is fruiting for us this year for the first time. This is another welcome addition to fruits for Venezuela. The Monkeys love it.
It has the texture of a delicate apple and has a similar flavour. Both white and red wine can be made from its juices.
Pomagás is presumed to be a native of Malaysia. It is commonly cultivated from Java to the Philippines and Vietnam, in Bengal and South India. Portuguese voyagers carried it from Malacca to Goa and from there it was introduced into East Africa. It must have spread throughout the Pacific islands in very early times for it is featured in Fijian mythology. The wood was used by the ancient Hawaiians to make idols. The flowers are considered sacred to Pele, the fiery volcano Goddess.

Looking back

When we began to care for howler monkeys, we allowed them to roam freely in the forest. We provided shelter in the roof of our house and two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. At night, they slept in the roof, leaving after breakfast to spend the morning foraging in the high trees of the forest. Midday they returned for siesta, and then they would race off to the forest again until dinner at four in the afternoon. The size of the group varied anything between eight to fifteen individuals. Some chose to leave the group and make off on their own. Some of these children have found partners and live with their families in the nearby forest to this day. There was some loss because of unexplained sickness. We were never able to identify the sickness in spite of expert autopsy at university clinics in Caracas. We do know that it was not Yellow Fever. The one outstanding fact was that animals in enclosures were not affected. This was a forest born disease born by the wild Howlers. Even though we were not aware of any direct contact with wild tribes, the process of ‘marking out’ could easily explain the spread of the sickness. Howlers have an enzyme in their spittle, which they transfer to their beards. The beard they use as a brush to paint the marking point on the tree. This spittle could easily be the reservoir of the disease.
The monkeys that chose to leave the group are more difficult to explain. Anna, one of our early residents, hated other females and caused at least three to leave and find their own place in the forest. We know where they live and often visit them. We do know that they have likes and dislikes of other howlers. This can be surprising. We were sure that Sussy would love Emma when she arrived. Emma was small and baby like and Sussy has been a mother many times. However, the opposite was true; she attacked Emma viciously, resulting in the partial loss of a finger. On the other hand, MonaLisa loves both Imanol and Rosita. She tries to treat them like her own children.
Now as a young adult, Emma attacked Mañiña and he is in fear of her and tried to leave the other day to get away from her. Is this a case of the abused abusing as with humans?

The dynamics have changed because of our decision to keep all the children in large and friendly enclosures. They can no longer leave at will. But that has not stopped this strange dislike that some of them develop to others. This is the reason why we choose partners carefully and make certain that each monkey lives with others that are friendly. Where possible we pair them as husband and wife.

We are often asked, ‘why are your monkeys in cages, why don’t you release them to the forest where they belong?’ From what I have written above, I think you are beginning to see the reason.

One answer lies in the kind of monkey we have here now. In the early days, the howlers came from the forest, having been confiscated by the National Guard from children selling them at the roadside. These wild untamed monkeys had little or no contact with humans. Giving them free range of the forest was not a problem until we began to identify diseases.

All the present permanent residents are from human homes in Caracas and Valencia. They are semi tame. They have special needs that are not answered by the forest. They look for human company and care.

Animals that have been in human company are able to transfer the diseases that they have acquired from humans to their wild friends.
These diseases can then return to the human race through wild animals sold at the roadside or acquired from wild sources. These are the famous Zoonotic diseases, Frequently the disease has been altered and come back with a new strain that humans have not yet encountered. Think of AIDs, Mad Cow disease, Avian Flue just to mention a few that come to mind. This is our main reason for not returning monkeys to the wild.

I have already mentioned that monkeys in enclosures are safe against forest diseases. This is another good reason for housing them in enclosures. It is now five years since we had any problem with health.
Before coming to Canaote some of our children have been sleeping on sofas, covered lovingly with blankets, eating human diet and are frankly not prepared for life in the wild. We try as best we can to give them the comfort that they are used to, but perhaps with a slightly more suitable diet than sardines and spaghetti

When MonaLisa arrived here a few years ago, she had never seen the sky, never felt wind and rain on her face. Never seen let alone climbed a tree and never seen another animal and does not know how to make a baby. She had been living in an apartment in Valencia. Yes, she was loved and well cared for but where was her life? To this day she will only tempt the very low branches of trees. In spite of many opportunities to go with an attractive howler male, she does not identify with them and tries desperately to make love to human males. It is heart breaking to see this.
We try to teach her monkey ways but it is an uphill struggle.

Orchids at Canaote

Canaote Botanic garden is home to many rare species of fruit and palms. For many years, we have collected the rare and exotic from our friends around the world by seed and plant exchange.. This is a useful scientific endeavor. We want to identify the plants that will grow well in this xerophytic environment. We have included many vegetables in our plan but this was not the main purpose.

Some things grow here naturally because this is their original home. The orchid Cycnoches chlorochilon sometimes commonly called the Swan Orchid is one of them. Its shape resembles a swan. Some folk think the photograph is upside-down because most orchids are oriented the other way up but the photograph shown here is correct. It was originally discovered near Maracaibo, Venezuela by a certain Herr Moritz, a German living there. Curiously the R.H.S in London do not accredit this orchid as being of Venezuelan origin, they are mistaken. One feature of Cycnoches species was the extraordinary number of seeds in each seed capsule. Numbering 3,770,000 per pod, with each plant producing six to eight pods. If each seed survived, the earth would be buried under these flowers in fifteen years. Luckily, only a few survive in each generation. There are only sixteen species that we know of. The one in our picture appeared here at Canaote in that location naturally. It is mildly perfumed. We are thrilled to have it here.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Yesterday was a bad day. Just about everything that could go wrong did.
Because of the heavy rains, the local rivers, which cross the roads here, were swollen and impassable on foot or bike. Our staff come from a village some eight kilometers beyond Canaote and need to ford three rivers. The result was that none of them arrived for work. This left me with the heavy chore of cleaning six enclosures, and preparing breakfast and dinner for our ten children. I must say this is no mean task. This is not to mention the chickens, a turkey and six dogs, two macaws and a green parrot.

The second disaster occurred at about three o’clock in the afternoon when I discovered that Mañiña was not in his enclosure. He had gone walkies and was nowhere to be found. This was my main anxiety over the next fourteen hours. All night I was awake least I should hear him on the roof or trying to get back into the house.
The next event was a call from William my driver. He had been arrested and taken to the local police station, charged with receiving and handling a shotgun without proper documentation. Strangely, he had just finished his negotiation for the gun and paid for it, when a police officer arrived on a motorbike and said ‘allo, ‘allo what’s all this. William complains that the whole scene was complicity. This was shortly resolved in Venezuelan style, by me over the telephone. No charges and the gun was properly documented in any case, and that is the end of the matter.

At about three thirty, I took dinner around to the children. Imanol followed me without being noticed. I opened Totto’s door, and entered, Sophie was looking under the door, she suspected that there was another monkey outside. She was right. Sophie suddenly rushed past me, intent on attacking Imanol. Just in time, I scooped him up and held him safely in my arms but not in time to prevent Sophie from escaping. She spent the next two hours in the high trees racing around the canopy like a wild thing. I enjoyed watching her jump from high branch to high branch, she is very skilled. One thing you have to know about Sophie is that she loves bananas. I took a large banana from the kitchen and offered it to Sussy. This was too much for Sophie and she came down from the tree tops get her share. And so to bed for Sophie but not before Totto had given her a clip behind the ear for deserting him.
At seven the next morning, Dennis one of the staff, arrived with Mañiña in his arms. Curiously, he found him in exactly the same spot where Imanol had been found a few days before, hiding among the plants in the greenhouse. I just could not bring myself to believe that Mañiña would desert me, after the good relationship we have formed. He knows that I care for him and that he is loved and wanted here. He was relieved and happy to be back in my arms and very hungry. Of course, we have had a post mortem, why did he want to leave? We discovered that he had an quarrel with Emma, with whom he is sharing. She can be argumentative and has eyes only for Schatov. He was trying to get away from her. We have divided the enclosure as a temporary measure, so that he has access to my room at night but separate from Emma and Schatov. Emma and Schatov occupy Chateau Schatov. We will make a more permanent arrangement later in the week. More about the social attitudes among howlers in another posting.

Well everything had a happy conclusion, everyone is safe and well, and it shows that even a very bad day can turn out well in the end.

Our picture shows Dennis, and Mañiña just returned from his trip and very glad to be back home.
I also have some good shots of fruit and orchids here at Canaote. All coming soon.

Murder most foul

Pablo the Pavo killed Tweety Pie the green parrot last night.
Two young macaws, two green parrots and a male turkey have lived, harmoniously, in the large tall enclosure in front of our house for two years. Until recently, and for six months, they also had four capuchin monkeys as guests. Pablo has always kept himself aloof from the others. However, we have never seen any sign of animosity between any of them. Last night at about five o’clock, I heard loud and urgent squawking. I rushed outside and saw Tweety Pie lying on her back with Pablo biting her chest and neck. Tweety Pie was in a bad way. She died in my arms a few hours later in spite of our aid. It is difficult to say what started the attack. It is possible that it was about food. But whatever, it was unexpected. Tweety Pie and her mate, Thomas were a loving and inseparable pair. Both were talkative and friendly. Tweety Pie was a star because she mimicked our housekeeper perfectly and this caused great amusement. One of the most memorable things was her ability to open padlocks. At one time, I named her 'chief of the escape committee'. Tweety Pie will be missed and not only by Thomas.
We have moved Pablo to other quarters.
Our photographs show Pablo being motherly to some eight-day-old chicks and Tweety Pie working on a padlock.

A new Chateau Schatov

Just to show we have not been sitting on our fingers, here is a photograph of a new house that we have built for Schatov and Emma. It was completed only a few days ago. They are now sharing with Mañiña and to make them really feel at home, we have duplicated their house. What you see is a new house in the enclosure next to the farm main building. Mañiña is still not too sure about his new companions but he is curious and not unfriendly. We have moved them to address some security concerns.

Our other picture gives us great satisfaction. Some years ago, we were given two macaws. A boy, named ‘Pieces of eight’, after the famous pirate (in the picture) and a girl named Sally. They have lived at liberty with us for many years. One day they disappeared and we saw nothing of them for four months. We thought the worse; that they had been captured for sale. We were wrong because when they returned, they had two young ones. They remained in the area of the farm until yet again they disappeared and returned with yet another two children. That is now six macaws at liberty in our immediate area. This is in addition, to the two very young ones that we are nurturing. We have succeeded in re populating this area with macaws. It is unfortunate that these birds are the prey of villains who capture them for sale. They bring a very high price in some quarters. They are a magnificent sight when you see a family of them in flight.

Totto and Sophie in the morning chorus..

At first sight, I was sure that Totto was going to be a problem. We arranged a large enclosure for him. Literally, a house and garden. We converted our unused cheese room into a house and added an extensive enclosed garden. The garden already contained a large mature Calabash tree, famous for making maracas. (Cresenta cujete). The entrance to the garden is through a doorway that we built in one of the windows.
He was very aggressive when he first arrived and made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Canaote. Fortunately, he decided to avoid us whenever we entered his house. He would leave through the garden door, leaving us free to houseclean and provide food.
In the two months, that he has been here the situation has changed. His natural curiosity has overcome his aggression and he now has more confidence in us. He now greets us by rolling over on his back, in a sign that tells us that he has no aggressive intention. He knows that I often have a tidbit of one of his favorite munches in my hand.
In a previous posting, I reported on the experimental introduction of Sophie into his life. She is a mature adult and needs male attention. The initial meeting went quite badly but as time past, they have become good friends. They now sleep, eat and share the facilities of the garden together. I feel confident that they will be a successful pair. You will remember that MonaLisa adopted Sophie when she was very tiny. Sophie would still like to go home to mum but there comes a time in every girls life when she must leave home and give her loyalty to her husband. It will be interesting to see if this union will make changes in Totto's attitudes.
Where possible we try to pair our monkeys, to give them the dignity of parenthood. The very thing that was taken away from them when they were sold at the roadside.

Our photograph shows them together in full voice in the morning chorus.

The little boy that Santa Claus forgot

I have written about Marco before but always about his relationship with Sussy. I have written very little just about him. He arrived at Canaote in December 2003. The police, who had confiscated him from children trying to sell him on the roadside, handed him to us. If people just realized when they buy monkeys in the street that the mother has been shot, to make this sale possible. The more you buy the more helpless animals will meet this fate.
At that time, he weighed only 500 grams. Sussy adopted him and when he was small, she carried him about on her back. Sussy treats him like her own and they are inseparable. However, he is now over 4 kilos and not a baby anymore. He is very athletic, he plays on the ropes and swing in his garden all day until late. When visitors see his size and discover that he is only about two and a half years old, they are often incredulous. He is a character, he wants you to join in his games, and to make sure that you do not leave too soon he often snatches a hat or other available possession. Marco is an expert pickpocket. He is friendly but not cuddly. You won’t find him sitting on your shoulder or in your arms. He is after all an alpha male. I have watched him develop from a toddler to adulthood. I heard his first thin pathetic morning calls change into the full-throated deep and vibrant call he demonstrates today. A bit of a joker, yes but he has all the proud bearing of a leader. Male alphas are aggressive to other younger monkeys. Particularly if they are not his brood. I have never observed that attitude in him. Quite the contrary, I often see his invitation to join in the game.
He is loved and respected by all the staff here. I don’t have favorites but if I did…
He has no visitors that come specially to see him. No e-mail enquires. No phone calls to ask after his heath. Who needs toys anyway? Having said that, he is not lonely and most days he really enjoys himself.

In our picture you see him eating a Santol, a fruit from Malaysia. Quite rare here in Venzuela, our trees are probably the only ones in this country and they are growing and fruiting happily in our Botantic Garden. The children have lots of rare treats from the large collection of fruits we have from around the tropical world.

Christmas comes but once a year for ev'ry girl and boy,
The laughter and the joy they find in each toy.
I'll tell you of a little boy who lives across the way;
This little feller's Christmas is just another day.

He's the little boy that Santa Claus forgot,
And goodness knows he didn't want a lot.
He sent a note to Santa for some soldiers and a drum;
It broke his little heart when he found Santa hadn't come.

In the street, he envies all those lucky boys,
Then wanders home to last year's broken toys.
I'm so sorry for that laddie;
He hasn't got a daddy,
The little boy that Santa Claus forgot.