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.