Rosita the bag lady.

It takes 1000 years for a plastic bag to be finally decomposed.

I have several times posted about Rosita’s small size and how she is able to wriggle through the enclosure wire. Her birthday brought it home to me that she really should be bigger. Then when Tutti arrived the comparison in size was quite alarming. This 4 month old male was bigger than Rosita. We began with a batch of tests to determine whether there was an underlying cause for her apparent stunted growth. Parasites were ruled out and so was infectious disease. We separated her from her foster mother, MonaLisa, so we could observe her carefully. You will understand that in the group environment it is impossible to handle or observe a member of the group without interference from other members. This can be dangerous. If the group feels that you mean harm to a member then the whole family will attack fearlessly . In this family, MonaLisa, Emma, Nancy, Rosita, it is a case of ‘no fury like a woman scorned’.*

As a result of this separation, several things came to light.
We had already noted that Rosita was very interested in food. When ever food was served in other enclosures, Rosita, using her ability to wriggle through fences, would join each group and share their food. She would also come into the house when our own food was on the table. Why was it then, with this fascination with food, was she so small?
What became clear as a result of our closer study, was that she would only eat a small amount before moving on to the next dish. Even then she would select mouth size pieces and she has a small mouth. Our attention was further concentrated when we realized that recently she has been loosing tone in her arms and legs.

The present situation is that she is now with me all the time. She lives and sleeps in the house, away from other monkeys and is carefully observed during meal times. Her meals are carefully selected to be things that we know she likes and this food is available to her all day so that she can have a little, as and when she likes. She returns to her food table often during the day. This would be impossible in the group because at the end of meal time either all the food would have been consumed or it would have been distributed around the enclosure. Monkeys are not clean eaters. She has a regime of vitamins and calcium and fresh leaves from the forest every day. The result in a very short time has been quite dramatic. She is putting on weight and muscle tone.

* While many attribute the quote to William Shakespeare, it actually comes from a play called the "The Mourning Bride" (1697) by William Congreve. The complete quote is "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."

One thing has puzzled us; she loves to chew plastic bags. The chewing is quite vigorous. Naturally I view this as a bad habit, one has no idea what chemical deposit may be left over from the manufacturing process that might be harmful to a monkey. Plastic bags are everywhere in our society and it is difficult to prevent her from finding one. Needless to say as soon as this behavior is observed the bag is confiscated. She is not alone in the habit; MonaLisa also has a passion for chewing bags. I refuse unnecessary plastic bags when they are supplied in shops. It takes 1000 years for a plastic bag to be finally decomposed.
Our pictures are both of Rosita. One with a plastic bag and better one with a bunch of fresh leaves from the forest.

Eslabon and the washing machine

Eslabon has settled in very well. He is a happy and playful monkey. He entertains Tutti and Rosita in his enclosure and they play happily together. He makes use of all the locations in his enclosure. Monkeys love old washing machines and he spends the early morning in his. Most of the rest of the day he plays in the garden with Tutti and in the late evening, he gets comfortable in his house. Our picture shows him checking out the facilities on the washing machine.

Totto and Sophie Fishcake

I am very fond of fishcakes and I make them quite often. Totto and Sophie also like them, so I always make a couple of extra servings. In our pictures today you see Sophie enjoying hers and Totto with fishcake in both hands. It’s a hard life when you can’t make up your mind which one to start with first.

Question and Answer board at the Simian Society

Recently there has been some correspondence on the American Simian Society Question and Answer board concerning the diet of Capuchin monkeys. One contributor advised using commercially available foods. As you know, my experience is principally with Howler monkeys in our shelter in Cojedes Venezuela. Although from time to time we have sheltered Capuchin monkeys for fairly long periods whilst they were being prepared for release into the wild.

I replied directly to Jake, who was the original questioner but there were some points in my letter which may be of interest to readers here.

‘I am also in Venezuela and share Jake’s difficulty in obtaining ‘Monkey Chow’ or any of the specially prepared monkey foods. Quite apart from the inconvenience of importing directly, there is now an added disadvantage to personal importation. Goods arriving by post are subject to new regulations as well as a prohibitive tax of 150%. The actual process requires you to visit the post office in Valencia or Caracas (Local post offices are not enabled for this job), and complete a document with seven copies. Then visit a bank across town to deposit approximately five dollars. This is only to commence the transaction. You must then return to the post office, with proof of deposit, to be informed of the customs charge. Right, yes off to a different bank to deposit the 150%. Then return with proof of payment to pick up the goods. This backwards and forward will take you the best part of a day and woe betide you if your to and fro ing crosses the magic 11.30 till 3 lunch period. Certainly for me, importation is not an option.

From what Jake has said I think he is doing all the right things. We also had concern about providing a balance amount of protein in the Howler diet and in the absence of ‘Monkey Chow’ in Venezuela; we did an internet search and from that compounded our own ‘chow’

Here is the formula:

Ground beef fat removed, or ground chicken for protein. 100 g
Milk powder Two large spoonfuls
All Bran flakes. (is fortified with Vitamins A y C calcium and zinc) 200 g
Quaker oats , has vit A and C 200 g
Soy protein soaked in hot water for 20 minutes before use and drained 100 g
Eggs two large Eggs as Protein and binder.

The quantities can be varied dependant on the taste of the monkeys and the ingredient can be varied dependant on what is available.

We mix the all the dry ingredient together and allow to stand for an hour. We whisk the eggs and add them this should give you a slightly moist mixture which can be formed into shapes. We use a smallest size standard kitchen biscuit former. We place the biscuits on a metal plate and put into a hot oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Allow to go cold and then chop into mouth size pieces.
The children love their biscuits. They keep fairly well in the fridge for a couple of weeks although I like to make mine weekly so that they are always fresh. I call them protein bombs. I regard them being as a supplement to the fresh fruit, leaves and vegetables that we give them daily.

We feed our children twice a day.

Once at about 7 am. Milk banana shake with added Merengada flavor Mantecado, ‘Kiddi’ vitamin syrup and a small shot of Mirrapel (omega 3 y 6 from veterinary shops). A plate of fresh fruit, varied each day between cooked and raw bananas and papaya, a daily a plate of quartered oranges.

Midday a bunch of fresh leaves from the forest.

Second meal at 4 pm

As much as they like of mixed vegetables Apio, Pumpkin, carrots but daily a different flavor. One day Soy with Tuna, another day boiled eggs in mayonnaise, once a week steamed chicken pieces.
This vegetable mixture is steamed and chopped into mouth size pieces or sometimes grated and served raw. (not the chicken of course)

I am not trying to better the 'Monkey Chow' offering but in the absence of commercial importation we have to improvise'.

Eslabon and Tutti spend the day playing together

Eslabon has settled down well. He has overcome the trauma of relocation and has made new friends. He has explored his enclosure and now has his favorite places. Surprisingly he has chosen to sleep in the small hammock rather than the house we have built for him. But he may come around to using it when he discovers its comforts. He uses the large hammock as a springboard onto the many ropes and bamboo walkways in his enclosure. During the day, Tutti shares his home and the pair of them get on well. You can see Tutti in our picture, practicing his gymnastics. Eslabon is pictured here early morning, still in his small hammock. Soon he will be outside in his garden, making the best of the morning sunshine.

Introducing Eslabon

Eslabon came to Cañaote last Thursday the 2nd of August and we understand that he is one year old. He is physically fit and his coat is in good condition. He is taking his separation from his human family badly. He cried frequently on the first day. Now he is establishing a new bond to me and he is very demanding. He wishes to be with me all the time. This is frequently the case with children who have had strong relationship with humans before coming here. Of course I like to think that this is our specialty, caring for highly domesticated Howlers.

I see our task as twofold. Firstly the most painless transition to a new home that is possible. This, we try to achieve by keeping the monkey in close proximity to us. When a new monkey arrives they always have a home adjoining our house and where frequent contact with them is possible. If they are unhappy, we can hear them crying and go to them with love and support just as you would a human child. Usually on the first and subsequent nights we take them into our own rooms. This is necessary because as yet they will not have a companion. Howlers depend for warmth in the night by close proximity to another monkey. Sleeping alone is open to the danger of hypothermia.

Second part of our task is to settle the child with a suitable companion in a location designed for long term living.

Often our monkeys have never lived as monkeys. Rather they have been treated as small human children. We attempt to teach them the monkey life by giving them natural surroundings and suitable companions. All our enclosures are large and have real trees. Their food is as natural as we can possibly make it with fresh fruit and leaves brought in from the forest everyday in addition to a specially prepared balanced diet. At the same time these children have become accustomed to some human comforts and it would be mean to deprive them of these things on a matter of principal. For example, Howlers love hammocks and the more the better. They love boxes of all kinds and old top loading washing machines. In preparing a suitable home for Eslabon we had a special task of converting an old washing machine for him. This particular machine had been of high quality and the central spindle appeared at first impossible to remove. At first we thought we it too difficult but fortunately an engineer, who lives near us, saw our problem and came with suitable equipment and succeeded in removing the spindle. It now resides in Eslabon’s enclosure.
His enclosure is really quite crowded with furniture.
He has a large house with pillows and blankets. This has been specially constructed for him in Saman wood. It is a tall house with two soft doors so that he has easy access but at the same time stays warm. The walls are plastic coated to give him added comfort. Yesterday the farm was filled with the sound of the wood cutting machine and drills applying screws to his new house. He has a human size hammock as well as a small one. Numerous ropes and of course his washing machine.
His enclosure has been built in the corridor of our house in a location adjoining my bedroom. It also has a gated window to his outside garden, which has live trees as well as many bamboo walkways.
In the coming days we will be introducing him to a number of other monkeys. We will be looking for a suitable companion for him.

He is a charming and gentle monkey and I am certain he will be happy here.
Our top picture shows Eslabon testing out the bed in his house and the second picture shows him getting comfortable on my lap.