Seeing eye to eye about one thing.

I have blogged you about the strange preferences that Howlers sometimes have. The most puzzling for me is their addiction to coffee and this seems to be universal. Here in this picture you can see Imanol and MonaLisa completely absorbed in stealing coffee from the breakfast table. At first I thought is was just the sugar that attracted them but sugar water is of no interest and they only come when they smell coffee. Now this is not an isolated incident, anytime coffee is on the table you can expect a visit from these guys. Otherwise they are not yet really friends but they are getting there. There you are coffee makes friends.

Fish and chips.

Howler monkeys can be very clever and learn easily but you cannot teach them. They learn what they want to learn. For example, MonaLisa waits for me in the bathroom every morning, knowing that I will prepare a toothbrush with toothpaste for her. (Where are you Colgate? Here is an irresistible photo call). Then she cleans her teeth. Now this is not just biting the brush, she has watched me and imitates my technique closely.
Sophie can also clean her teeth and Imanol has just started, having got over the initial shock of the peppermint flavor. The picture is of Imanol, working away with a toothbrush which is just a little on the large side.

While they are about it, they also use the toilet. True they don’t always sit the right way around and have yet to get the idea of pulling the chain. MonaLisa always gets it right, Imanol nearly always gets it wrong but he is very young and has plenty of time to learn After all, it must be illogical to a monkey to want to dispose of excrement when the forest floor depends on it. Toilet paper is yet another silly human habit..

MonaLisa is also adept at opening doors and we have to take special precautions when she is in the house. Fridge doors are a frequent target. She knows exactly where we store all her favorite snacks.

Everyone knows that Howlers are tree dwellers and that their diet is nuts, flowers and leaves with maybe a few insects thrown in for a bit of protein. Additionally their foraging habits for food are highly selective and complex. (Maybe I will write more about howler foraging in another post). Therefore, it is difficult to understand why, given a choice, they would prefer chicken, fish or meat to fruit or vegetables. Throw in a passion for chocolate and coffee and you have a real mystery. Where do they learn it? There are not many cafes serving coffee or fish and chip shops* in the high trees.

*fish and chip shops are uniquely British and do what the name implies, they sell fried fish and french fries, but what do you expect when an Englishman writes a Blog?

Marco, what can I tell you?

Marco rarely gets a mention in these postings. He is two and a half years old, although looking at his size you could be forgiven for thinking that he was much older. I guess he is about six kilos. When he arrived here he weighed a mere five hundred grams and traveled around on Sussy's back. He lives in a large enclosure adjoining Sussy's. We separated him from Sussy when she was sick a few months ago. He wasn't actually hurting her but he would push her and make her cry. Sussy has recovered well and has begun to put on weight and her legs are filling out again with muscle. Since her recovery, we have tried reuniting them, but he still has a tendency to throw the clothing about and generally make a nuisance of himself. His behavior towards Sussy has been better and we will try again later this week to put them back together. You will remember that Sussy now has Sophie for a companion. That friendship has worked out well, although Sophie is a little pushy when it comes to meal times.
Marco scarcely seems to care about being alone in his big enclosure. He is very young an boisterous. Afterall it does adjoin Sussy and Sophie and he interacts with them through the wire. He plays on his swings and ropes in the morning. He sunbaths in the best spots in the afternoon. He always eats well. After the evening chorus, (Hmm... what is this evening chorus?) he puts himself to bed. Marco is always pleased to receive company and I make a particular point of spending a little time with him every day. He does not get much of a mention because he has no real problems and is carefree. When you visit, spend some time with him. The worst he will do is run off with your hat. He is quite an entertainer.

In sickness and in health

Howler monkeys like all of us suffer from ill health from time to time. Hopefully not serious or life threatening but nevertheless at the time, distressing.
Some three months ago, I notice that Sussy had lost some muscle tone in her back legs and had developed a wobbly gait. Sussy is normally very active and a great gymnast despite her age. Now she preferred to stay in her bedroom and only move about when necessary. With Gabriela’s aid, we contacted a well-known and trusted group of veterinarians in Valencia and immediately, Gabriela transported Sussy to their offices for tests and treatment.
She underwent an exhaustive series of tests that revealed a parasitic infection in her blood. She came home the same day with a prescription for drugs. At first she did not like the oral medicine, even though it has a honey flavor. We knew that she liked ice cream, so over the next weeks we bought different flavors of cream to present the drug. She looked forward to my visits with the ice cream every morning. Over the next three weeks, we applied the medicine and daily we could see improvement in her health. After three weeks of this treatment, she was back to her normal athletic self. We thank our friend Gabriela for her help in this crisis.

Schatov developed a swelling on his face, just alongside his nose on the right side. At first, we thought this was an insect bite and waited for a head to appear. When nothing happened after a few days, we suspected that the problem could be dental. We looked inside Schatov’s mouth and there low and behold we saw a blacken tooth surrounded by inflammation. We called our now trusted veterinarian in Valencia and asked if he had a dental expert experienced in small animals. Fortunately, he had a colleague with just that experience. We chauffeured Schatov to the doctor’s clinic and he underwent anesthesia for the extraction. The doctor discovered two rotten teeth not just the one we had observed. Later that night a somewhat sleepy Schatov returned to Canaote minus two bad teeth.. He slept that night in my bed until he awoke early demanding his breakfast. For some two weeks following the extraction he still had a swelling on his face but every day it was less until it disappeared altogether. Today there is no sign whatsoever of the problem. I do not know why but Howlers naturally like to clean their teeth with paste and a toothbrush. I first observed this with MonaLisa who cleans her teeth with Colgate every day. It took no great instruction to get Schatov into the habit. He gets a brush, ready for use, everyday with his breakfast.

Imanol had the most difficult condition to diagnose. In the evening of his first day here, he developed a straight-line hair loss across the top of his head. At first I thought that somehow he had come in contact with a fan and that the trauma was mechanical. Next day the condition was progressively worse ruling out the fan. The development was incredibly rapid so also ruling out bacterial infection. The loss was linear making fungus infection unlikely. We decided that the only culprit could be lice. We sent photographs of the hair loss to a skin expert and they confirmed our suspicion. On their advice we took scrapings with a little glycerin and submitted it for analysis. Back came the answer, scabies.
Over the next few days, the infection spread to a larger area of the frontal scalp. Anti lice drugs were applied and the infestation stopped. However, it took a few weeks for hair to grow again over that area. Thankfully, he now has a vigourous head of healthy hair.

Imanol goes for a visit

On Thursday, we went with Imanol to see friends in Manrique, which is a small town some 50 Km from Canaote. Our friend Gabriela lives there with her husband Miguel and two adult female Howlers, Ronny and Vicky. Gabriela is also the original human owner of Sussy and one of the most knowledgeable people in the country on Howler Monkeys. In the three years, that Sussy has been with us, Gabriela has visited her at least once a month. Everyone that knows Sussy loves her.
We had a wonderful day. After Imanol got over his fear of the adult monkeys, he settled down to play in this new house. He teased Ronny and Vicky, but by the time we left, there was the beginning of a good friendship. I am always surprised at the facial similarity between Ronny and our MonaLisa, they could easily be twins. In another posting I will show you what I mean. He made new human friends as well. In the picture you can see young Sergio playing with Imanol. Lunch was wonderful. Gabriela taught us some delicious new tricks in cooking eggplant. Imanol did great justice to a plate of ice cream. On the journey there and on the return, we allowed Imanol to sit in the car rather than in a carrying cage and he showed tremendous interest in the passing countryside. Imanol did not want to leave his new friends but when the time came to leave, he was already exhausted and slept all the way home.
Hmm. the photograph with the two girls in the background is not my best but its the only one I have showing Ronnie, Vicky and Imanol.

Totto at day six

Nearly a week has gone by since Totto arrived and I have to admit that progress has been slow. He is now accustomed to his house and feels comfortable in it and sunbaths in his garden. He uses the bamboo walkways and plays with the ropes. He is a shade less aggressive. I have taken the food route with him. I find interesting fruit in the arboretum like the Surinam Cherries and the Santols and the wonderful Canistel which he loves, he takes all them from me. Occasionally I hear the happy noise from him when I have found something that he particularly likes. I have yet to sit with him as I don't yet trust him entirely. This is something new for me, I have never felt nervous in the company of a Howler before. But I am sure that I am winning him over. He is not puffing up anymore and he has stopped marking out when I am present. I have the patience and I am already very fond of him. I suppose I am waiting for some sign from him that he wants my company. Talking of big Howlers, I have included on this posting, a distant photograph of Roberto, he has become completly wild and it's difficult to get up close any more. Roberto first came to us in May 1999. At that time he weighed only 500 grams. We have some photographs of him in the house bathroom during his potty training. Even then he was very hansom. Finally he decided to leave us and make his own way in the wild. He visits from time to time. He fancies Sussy and comes to woo her. I show this only as a comparison with Totto, who hopefully he will never meet.

A marriage made in heaven

I haven’t yet written anything about two of our most charming children. It is difficult to write about a very happily married couple because they are consumed with each other and their happiness is plain to see but is uneventful to the outside world. Such is true of Schatov and Emma. I have described them as a marriage made in heaven because they are so perfect for each other. Emma came from ARFA. Her name at that time was Monita but we wanted a prettier name. She reminded me of a female Howler that once lived here named Emma. She subsequently released herself into the wild, having found a wild husband. Reminded me because of a characteristic they shared in common. Howlers are arboreal and do not trouble themselves with walking on the ground. Emma one had the singular ability to walk upright on two legs, Monita also has this uncharacteristic ability. So we decided to name her Emma. She arrived at ARFA having been confiscated by the Guardia National from roadside children plying their awful trade. On one visit there I fell in love with her and then visited her in her enclosure at ARFA many times. Finally Canaote ARFA was formed and the responsibility for Howler Monkeys became the work of Canaote. Emma, much to my very real pleasure was transferred to us. So she came here as a loved friend from the beginning. We constructed a large enclosure for her complete with live trees, bamboo walks and swings galore. All that was lacking was someone to share this with. Howlers are social creatures, just like humans and hate to be alone. This was the problem that Emma had, she was lonely.

We had a visit from the owners of a very young male howler, with a human family in Caracas. They brought Schatov with the intention of finding a new home for him. Clearly the whole family loved him very much and was loathed to let him go. But they did realize from the outset that Schatov needed other monkey’s companionship and the possibility of living the full life of a monkey, rather than that of a small boy child. Schatov’s human family were so torn in their task between their very real love for him and the possibility of losing him from their daily lives that on the occasion of their first visit, they left the following morning and tearfully they took Schatov with them. The trauma I think at that monument was just too great to bear.
There were some changes needed to the enclosure, to make it suitable for Schatov. We planned that he would share with Emma but wanted to construct an enclosure such that it adjoined Emma’s house with an interconnecting door. In this way they could interact through the wire door and then when we were sure that they liked each, we could just open the door for them. To do this we constructed a whole new area called Chateau Schatov. This comprised of walkways, and a beautifully colored roofed house. This is a veritable upstairs, downstairs.
We informed Schatov’s family and they again visited us with Schatov and this time they decided to allow Schatov to stay. The human family has been in touch with Canaote and Schatov almost daily ever since. I quote from a resent letter from Schatov’s human parents. :-

‘Thank you for the beautiful picture! Schatov is big! He looks so different.
It’s sad that I have not been with him each day and to watch him grow.
I still have tears in my eyes each time I think of Schatuska. I think this will be for ever! This little boy has changed my life!!!
I love him so much. You can’t imagine!!’

This is letter by no means unusual or singular. These small folk so akin to human kind, can captivate us and cause us to grieve when we are separated. It is the people who really love them who want them to live full lives as monkeys and not as little human boys which of course they can never be. It takes strength of mind and real care to pass them back to live with their own kind and hopefully to the ultimate fulfillment of parenthood. To this Canaote is dedicated.
Schatov and Emma live together happily. They play vigorously all day and are happy and healthy. We hope that one day they will make a family.

MonaLisa, a wonderful young lady

On October the 29th 2001 in the canopy high above the forest floor, in a forest somewhere in northwestern Venezuela, a female howler monkey was born. She had no name because it is not the way of Howler monkeys to give each other names. She lived with her mother and her family for three short months, then boys entered the forest and shot her mother. She was kidnapped and soon she was being offered for sale at the roadside. This tragedy went unnoticed by the world; no one investigated her mother’s murder. No one wondered what had become of the little Howler monkey.

A young woman happened to be traveling along a certain road and saw a monkey being offered for sale. The boys said it was a male. But like most uninformed people, they could not really tell the difference. The female Howler has external genitals that resemble the male parts but actually are easily distinguishable. The young woman had long had the romantic idea of having a monkey as a pet. After a short negotiation she left with the little red ball of fur in a black woolen bag. She took her new pet to her apartment in Valencia. Then for one year and nine months the monkey never saw the sky, never felt rain on her face, never saw another animal, never climbed a tree. She was not unhappy. Her owner was kind and she was well fed and loved. She was also given a name. ‘Mona’, which is the Spanish word for a female monkey. Just like calling your dog ‘Dog’. Mona was of course bored. Long hours left alone in the flat whilst her owner went out to work. One day the door was left open and Mona slipped outside to investigate. She climbed a wall into the garden of an adjoining building. She was soon spotted by children playing there. There was a great hullabaloo and the parents came out to find the cause. In due course a complaint arrived with a demand that this dangerous wild animal be removed from the apartment.
The poor distraught owner had no idea what she could do with Mona. She remembered friends in Cojedes that had wild monkeys living around their farm. She decided to call them to see if Mona could be found a new home.
She was lucky and Mona was duly transferred to her new home.
For the first time in her life she climbed trees and felt the wind and rain upon her face. She felt the warm sun and rolled over in the dirt with sheer joy. Even after three years in her new home she never ventured far from the house and only climbed the lower branches of the trees in the forest around the house. Her new guardians decided that something had to be done about her name. Henceforth she was to be known as MonaLisa, being a much more appropriate name for a very beautiful young lady. It is not by any means sure that Howler monkeys recognize the concept of name. A dog responds when it is called by its owner, usually by wagging its tale. I have never notice any response when a Howler is called by a name. But there, that may be just an indication of their very independent nature. Even though I have noticed a lot of non-monkey behavior amongst Howlers in semi captivity. I can say that I have never managed to teach a Howler anything. MonaLisa for example cleans her teeth with a tooth brush after paste has been applied. (Colgate take note). She is most insistent on doing this at the same time as me. She copies me but I did not teach her to do this. She goes to the toilet in the bathroom. But again she has not been taught to do this. It’s a fact that Howlers in the forest always select a tree above a stream or river for defecation. And the loo is the nearest thing in our household to a stream.
She has a favorite blanket like many human children. She seeks this during heavy rain or thunderstorms or anything which she finds frightening. It’s very comical to see a head moving about under a blanket in the middle of the living room.
She sleeps at night huddled up in David’s bed, heads on the pillows and under the clothes of course.
Sadly, MonaLisa's former owner has never been in touch. Not once has she phoned or mailed to enquire how MonaLisa is fairing in her new home. Just another problem less. Thats not how we see MonaLisa, she is the light of my every day.

Postcript.
This of course is not the way it should be, but it would be unwise and cruel to turn her out into the forest.
Once a monkeys or any wild animal has been living in close proximity to humans, they should never be allowed to return to their wild habitat. They can become infected with human viruses and diseases which they can transmit to other wild animals in the forest. The wild animals of course have little or no resistance to these infections. In turn, these viruses can become modified and then at some future date returned through wild pets to the humans in an even more aggressive strain.
Monkeys live in trees in the forest. And that is where they should be. Howlers make poor pets. They become unpredictable, aggressive and vindictive as they get older. For this reason, they are not a suitable pet for a young child. I have seen several young people with very severe bites from Howlers. In most cases the attacks were completely unprovoked.

Did you know that I speak 'Howler'?

This is day three for Totto at Canaote. He has been aggressive I believe because he feels insecure in his new environment. I am sure that he will ease up completely as he becomes sure of his surroundings and the people and monkeys around him. He has spent most of his time here marking out his house and garden. Marking out? Yes, there is an enzyme in the spital whch they transfer to their beards and use that as a brush to mark their surroundings. This is a good sign because when the work is complete he may feel that this really is his home. MonaLisa has shown great interest in him. In fact this morning she entered his house just behind me without me knowing. I quickly put her out as I feel that it is still too early to have them meet face to face. Yesterday they had a conversation through the wires and they both made friendly language. You didn’t know that among my talents I speak Howler? This evening in addition to his vegetable meal he had a leg of chicken and for the first time since he has been here I heard the happy noise. One day I will compile a dictionary of howler words. In non verbal way I think he is telling me something. This afternoon when I entered his house, he left through his garden window and shut the door behind him. Now what was he telling me? Maybe he was waiting to see if I responded to his marking out. In the photograph you can see him in the garden, resting after breakfast.

Complex relations

Recently we had a reorganization of the relationships of some of our monkeys. Sussy had been unwell for about a month and Marco her partner did nothing to help. He did not hurt her but he persisted in pushing her and making her cry. We decided at least for the duration of her sickness that we would separate them.. They have a very large enclosure which is naturally divided into two parts. Simply by closing the communicating door we were able to give them both their own space. This was a successful move and now Sussy has been restored to good health we are loath to change things. We had another social problem with Sophie. Sophie doesn’t like new comers. She took an instant dislike to Imanol, the youngest of our children, and had she not been restrained she would have attacked him. We experimented with putting Sophie with Sussy and after a few days of complaint from her, she has more or less settled down with Sussy. She is very devoted to MonaLisa and it took quite some courage on our part to separate them. MonaLisa is after all Sophie’s surrogate mother. Now that leaves MonaLisa looking for a friend. She likes Imanol but at the moment he is resisting the friendship, he still associates MonaLisa with Sophie. Well the way ahead maybe that MonaLisa will couple up with Totto. She is already showing an interest, or she may become mum to Imanol. So you think that human relationships are complicated, then try sorting this lot out.
In the photograph Sophie is above and Sussy below.

Totto arrives at Canaote

Saturday the 17th of June 2006 Totto arrived at Canaote. He is a six year old male Howler and he is big. Formerly he lived with his owners in Caracas. The family and friends brought him here for shelter.
I spent time with Totto on Saturday night and got a mixed reception. I visited him at breakfast yesterday morning and he attacked me. I have a small fairly insignificant bite on my right hand.
I looks as if we will have to embark on a program to pacify him. At the moment he is violent and threatening to me and my staff. He is dangerous. This is the first time I have encountered such hostility in an adult howler. We will show patience and gentleness of course. He finds himself alone among strange people. He feels that he is being threatened so his reaction is not difficult to understand. Howlers do not like being alone and we have a plan to introduce him to a number of possible lady friends but this aggression means that we will go about the introductions a little more slowly. We will introduce them through the enclosure wire at first rather than inside. There is no question that we have a big problem. Fortunately I have the time, the will and the patience to make him happy. We will have to rebuild part of the enclosure. It will be necessary to construct a double door at the front as well as the one that exists at the garden side. The wire on all the 6 windows will have to be reinforced as with his great strength he could break out and that would be an absolute calamity. Anyway the long and short of it is that this is all more expense. Nothing comes for nothing. Do I hear the flick opening of cheque books? I am just about to go and deliver his evening meal and I hope he is in a better mood.
Round one to Toto.
This can become as exciting as the World Cup. (England will surely win) We had a much better evening meeting. I gave Totto his evening meal and additionally he had our special milk. He ate voraciously and drank the milk shake. I noticed that he was a little anemic in his gums so I added iron and vitamin B complex to the drink. He was a great deal calmer. Just at that moment MonaLisa came over to the enclosure and Totto saw her for the first time. I held her in my arms in front of his window and they both made favorable happy noises. This is an excellent first contact. I still think that changes in the enclosure are needed. For the peace of mind of my staff I need to construct a feeding hatch and the ability to close the interconnecting door to the garden remotely, so the staff can enter for the daily cleaning whilst Totto is in the garden. Maybe this is all excessive. As he settles down over the next days that will become clear. But from a legal point of view I need to make these improvements. If not and he bites a staff member I would not have a leg to stand on. Believe me I have already fallen in love with him and will do everything I can to make him happy.
He has started to exercise in the garden. I saw him in the tree in the afternoon. I think he likes the environment but he needs company.

Canaote Botanic Garden Honored

Canaote Botanic Garden, situated outside Tinaco, Cojedes, is recognized by both academia and enthusiasts as one of the most important collections of fruit and palm trees in Venezuela. David Clulow the founder and curator began this work some eleven years ago when he arrived here from his native England. Many of the early plantings are now mature and the garden has a very mature ‘park like’ feel to it. All the major plantings have a label that gives scientific detail. Where the seed originated from. When it was planted. Both its Latin scientific and local name are shown. Initially he visited many areas of the world collecting seed which might be successful; in this xerophytic ( half year very dry and half year very wet) environment. But more importantly he established relationships with fellow botanists around the world and today those friendships are still providing seeds by cambolache or seed exchange that continually provide new experiments and new plants successful in Venezuela. This scientific work has already been of great benefit to the country. For example David was the first to obtain the very sweet ‘Red Lady’ variety of Le chosa from Thailand, and the Yard long’ beans which grow so well here are the result of David’s investigations. He has grown Galapnuts in Cojedes very successfully, an excellent and superior substitute for brazil nuts, and formally only grown in Papua New Guinea. This nut should be investigated as a protein high food source and a fruit for trade development. The yellow Pitaya cactus grows well in Cojedes but the red variety is unknown, that is until David introduced it. This is sweeter and with finer texture than the yellow variety. Currently the red fruit bring a very high price in the Miami markets and would be ideal for local planting and commercial development. Alongside this work, he has created a reference collection of palm trees. If you want to know if a palm will grow and succeed here then visit Canaote and see for yourself.
He joined the Palm Society some years ago and has been active on the council of the body, giving many papers relating to his studies. Last weekend whilst giving a paper to the Avepalmas group, he was honored, firstly by the Caracas Botanic Garden with a life long free pass, and then by the prestigious Palm Society of Venezuela, who awarded him the ‘Golden Palm Award’, a distinction only awarded very rarely, in recognition of his work for horticulture in Venezuela.

Who lives with us?

Sussy and Marco live together. Their friendship is somewhat tempestuous. Marco is very young and very strong. He wants to play all day. He is only two years old. Sussy is a grand old lady. The mother of numerous children and she is 16 years old. When Marco first came to us he was barely 500 grams and traveled around on Sussy’s back. Now he is alpha and wants everyone to acknowledge that including Sussy. His play become so vigorous at times that we have to separate them. We have built a division between the front and back of their enclosure so that Sussy can have some peace in the mornings when Marco is at his most irritating. The helper will hear Sussy cry out and shut the small gate that separates the two sections of their residence. He is not mean and doesn't actually hurt her, but he pushes and teases and he really doesn’t know his own strength. After dinner they retire to their house and sleep close to each other. They wouldn’t be separated for all the tea in China. Sussy human mother visits her often. A great friendship between a monkey and a human, full of love and respect.
MonaLisa and Sophie are a somewhat unusual couple and not without problems. MonaLisa originally came to us from an apartment in Valencia in October 2003, she was one year and nine months old. She had never seen another animal, never felt rain upon her face and had never climbed a tree. Her owner has not called even once in the time she has been here. She is very domesticated. She uses the bathroom, cleans her teeth. I have seriously thought of sending a photograph of her with her toothbrush to Colgate. Hates climbing trees and covers her head with her security blanket when it rains. She has a delightful personality. But she bit our housekeeper for no reason anyone can think of. She can be a bit of a nuisance when she is on heat as she prefers young human males to monkeys . We have tried introducing her to a fine male howler but she showed only mild interest. Sophie is a waif and was handed to us by the GN, having been confiscated from children selling her on the roadside. MonaLisa and Sophie at once hit it off and this small red bundle jumped up on MonaLisa’s back and stayed there for about a year. Surprising because MonaLisa is the only person Sophie likes. She attacks all other monkeys with a viciousness that is difficult to believe unless you have seen it. This is interesting because it demonstrates our philosophy. We decided to experiment with creating a human domestic environment combined with a monkey enclosure. We have an unused cheese making room a short distance from the other enclosures. MonaLisa cannot be on the loose as she was formally, because she really has frightened our housekeeper and Sophie wants to attack the two young howlers that that have their enclosure nearby. So we kill two birds with one stone. They both reside during daylight hours in Casa MonaLisa. Complete with dinning table and Hammock They sleep in our house at night.

Abu is a mature female Capuchin. She formally lived with a kind family in Caracas. Clearly she has wanted for nothing and has been much loved. It has been an important challenge to us to provide a home for her where she would not feel loss. Her human family have visited her since she has been here and she cried for two days after they left. Just like humans only time cures the feeling of grief or loss but it does help to have friends. We deliberately put her in an enclosure with green parrots, apparently she had two parrot friends in her former home. Additionally there are two Macaws in that enclosure and a male pheasant. Enough to be getting on with we thought. Well the idea has worked out well. She has a busy day attending to all her chores like weeding and digging in her garden and hustling the birds. Today we installed a set of children's swings and this has been a great success. We were concerned that she did not have enough toys. Difficult to find toys that cannot be destroyed by the sharp beaks of parrots and macaws. The swings, being made entirely of metal have solved the problem for us. We have also installed a double seat, so that when she entertains, her guests will be comfortable. The news is that a male capuchin will be arriving next Tuesday. We are hoping that they get on and maybe a wedding will be announced. We have heard that a young Capuchin of about 7 months is looking for a home. Do you think that Abu might like the roll of mother? We wait and see and I will let you know.
Emma and Schatov
I have said it before. The love affair between young Schatov and Emma was made in heaven. Never have I seen such a perfectly matched pair. Emma came to us after many months at ARFA. Frankly, I fell in love with her long before she finally came to live here. I made several trips to ARFA just to see her. Two groups of her former carers have visited her here since she arrived. We had early problems with her settling down here. She was attacked first by Sophie and then amazingly by Sussy. Sussy being the great mother was really a surprise to me. I really though Sussy would want to mother her. Ultimately we have solved all those problems. There is now a double wall between Sussy’s house and Emma’s domain and Sophie is now resident in Casa MonaLisa for most of the daylight hours. So Peace rains. Schatov started out with an acute attack of homesickness. For two days he did nothing but pace up and down the enclosure. He didn’t want to talk to Emma or me or anybody. He just paced up and down with a low moan almost continuously. On the third day there was a miracle Luis Angel, one of the carers put a large wad of forest leaves in his path. It stopped his pacing at once. He launched himself into the leaves and just suddenly came alive to his surroundings . I think that’s when he decided he was in love with Emma. He has gone on to success after success. He is very macho, he is the Alfa. He is bold, he is bright, he is handsome.
His family visit and care for him. He is much loved.


Well that’s the line up at present although we are expecting additions shortly and I will post you. If you have friends that you think might like to receive Forget-me-not , please mail me but essentially and firstly it is for people who have or want to bring their monkey children here. The miracle of digital photograph makes this all possible
You don’t have to be rich to help us in our work. Just getting the word around that it is BAD to buy monkeys at the roadside and subject them to an unfulfilled life. Monkeys belong with their families in the jungle. Let them live in peace.
That is not to say that donations are not welcome. Extending our facility and feeding the children as well as paying the staff to care for them is really pressing my pension hard especially since I never want to turn a child away. Even small amounts can help. Recently a friend of Canaote gave us a roll of wire with which we were able to complete a location that had been waiting for the cash to finish it. But you don’t have to give money to help what we do. Just give us your prayers and He will do the rest.
We can accept Paypal and for Venezuelan friends you can deposit directly into our account, simply ask me for account details by e-mail. canaote@yahoo.co.uk.

The Lord cares for and blesses those who love his small children. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost are with you.
Allow the little children to come unto me

I don't know why they do it.

Introducing Imanol. He is a young male howler monkey He came to us on the 12th of May 2006. He was born on the 1st of November 2005. He is typical of the young howlers that we care for in that he is highly domesticated and has been treated in every way like a young human child. On arrival he gave us a shock because he was wearing a nappy, and this is the first time I have ever seen a Howler wearing a nappy. He has a blanket which he loves and runs to at any sign of danger He demands, and gets 24 hour attention. At first he took all his meals from a scaled down version of a baby bottle. Now he is eating fruit and vegetables normally in addition to the bottle. He is very inquisitive and loves to explore his surroundings. Just recently we began taking him into out Botanic Garden everyday. There is a special tree that he likes because of its helta skelta appearance. That is the Meringa tree or Horse radish tree to give it its common name. Imanol plays in this tree for literally hours at a time. He is fascinated by it. As for me I take my tablet computer with me and write notes like this one for ‘Forget-me-not'. I am going to load a photo of Imanol in the Meringa tree.

I don’t know why they do it and I know there is no parallel in the wild for this behavior but all my monkeys cover themselves when there is a heavy rain storm or thunder. MonaLisa makes a dive for the nearest blanket or sheet and covers herself. Imanol does exactly the same. Sussy and Sophie have a pillow and blanket in their house and they also cover. Schatov and Emma are a little different; they go into the lower dark part of their house, which normally they do not use. It is extraordinary to see two animated blankets moving across the bed as I observed in a storm last night. I should explain that both Imanol and MonaLisa are now sharing my bed. He is still absolutely terrified of her but now tolerates her presence. She on the other hand is being incredibly patient and understanding with him and he is slowly responding to this approach. I am not sure I want this as a permanent arrangement. It remains to be seen this weekend when Toto, a 6 years old male joins us from Caracas. On past performance, MonaLisa may not be impressed, she has directed her attention to young human males, but I live in hope. (This is another crime her original kidnappers have committed against her) .Ultimately I would like to see Imanol with a female about his own age. Changes in social behavior are quite rapidly accepted. For example Schatov no longer misses his former very loving human family. He is too busy looking after Emma. In the same way Imanol has accepted he new life here.
Imanol’s garden activity has been slightly curtailed. I was hoping to be able to leave him there for short periods whilst I am working for example. But no, he is still small enough to wriggle through the wire. It takes him exactly 30 seconds to escape and follow me into my office. So basically, at the moment he is only using the garden when I am sitting with him or when Luis Angel has free time for him. We had exactly this same situation when Schatov came to us. We had to obtain very small aperture wire for the enclosure because he could easily wriggle through the larger gauge wire. This of course will not be a permanent situation, as he is putting on weight quite rapidly. We are continuing with our visits to the Meringa tree daily and I know he loves that.