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