Lala, a most beautiful and sophisticated lady arrives at Canaote

This has been a busy month at Cañaote. At the beginning we started an added calcium and vitamin program for Rosita. In itself it has been a difficult regime because the plan called for her to be separate from MonaLisa at night. This program is ongoing but now we are able to let her stay with MonaLisa. Separating her for treatment has proven easier than we first supposed.
On the twentieth September Billy arrived and we soon found that she brought problems with her. Her mobility has given us some headaches. I am not certain about my diagnosis of childhood rickets, another possible cause could be that she has suffered from a tight belt around her waist during her formative years. Her backbone is certainly bent just above the waist. This could cause a disturbance of her gait. We are waiting for the opportunity to take her for x-ray to finally resolve the problem. She has further problems with her diet. She does not readily give her trust. Remember that she is about five and a half years old and any quirks in her diet will now have become fairly permanent. She likes fruit, biscuits (Krakker) and Spaghetti. We discovered her liking for the pasta by chance when she stole some from my plate. She completely ignores the vegetable dish we prepare for main meal in the afternoon. She is still suffering from loss of her former family, but the pain is easing and she comes to me more readily. She is house clean and waits for the bathroom for her toilet.

Yesterday the twenty-ninth of September 2007, Lala arrived with her family. She is an adult of some nine years, very stocky and in general good health. She has been well cared for and comes from a loving human family. Clearly they did not want to part with her but I believe circumstances made it imperative. I cannot imagine these good people parting with her unless there was some overriding reason.
We have known about Lala for some years and there has been correspondence and phone calls about her. The family first visited us from Caracas about two months ago. At that time they told us that they were looking for the opportunity to bring her to us.
Our task is now to find the right company for her. The possibilities are Totto,Schatov,and Eslabon. Totto is already engaged with Sophie, so that option would mean parting them and finding another location for Sophie as I cannot imagine Sophie accepting competition. Both Schatov and Eslabon are very young and may not be acceptable to Lala. We will introduce her to the others over the coming days and see what is best. At the moment, of course, she is missing her family. I am spending long periods with her but she will have to live through her grief and come out the other end for a new life, here among her own people.

When will they ever learn?

Miss Billy has a friend at last.

Little Miss Billy we call her, for the avoidance of doubt. She arrived here on Thursday the 20th of this month and has rapidly won all our hearts. At first sight she is clearly not a normal Howler. She is an adult with a properly developed female genitilia. But she is small and light weight. Not much bigger than you would expect from a six month old female. I call her my ‘little old lady cut down short’. Her gait is poor and her mobility is restricted, yes you have guessed! She has suffered from ‘rickets’. She has the classic bowed legs, arched back and the tendency to walk on the forearm rather than the hands. She has all the classic symptoms of life in a Caracas apartment. When will they ever learn that monkeys belong in the forest and not on the settee in the living room? In conference with a number of veterinary friends I understand that a large number of Howlers, seen in Veterinary practice have this condition. What is the cause? Poor diet lacking in Calcium (milk etc), and lack of sunshine which normally causes the body to produce vitamin D. The poor gait is the monkey’s reaction to the joint pain which results from this condition. But this is all dejavue to those who read the stories about Negro, who also had this condition. The prognosis in this case is good. She will have high grade, absorbable calcium twice a day for three months and I am sure that in that time we will see a marked improvement. She is a delightful person with loads of personality. She smelt a bit high on arrival but we had a shower and she smells a lot sweeter now.
She really needs a special enclosure with walkways and areas not too far off the ground. If she fell she might severely damage her bones and this could be lethal. We do not have this area yet, so in the meantime she is living with me and Rosita. As you know, Rosita stays with me at night although she goes out during the day. Last night I was delighted to see Rosita and Billy cuddled up for the night on top of the fridge. Tonight Billy found a cardboard box with a cavelike front to it. Rosita waited for Billy on top of the fridge and Billy waited for Rosita in the box. Strong minded lady, Miss Billy. Billy won and our photograph is of the pair of them in the box. Miss Billy has at last got a friend.
Photographs Billy is on the left

Who is Loba?

Yes I know, this is a blog about Howler Monkeys. But this story I could not resist. I am sure that when you look at her photograph, your heart will melt the way mine did.
A few days ago we needed some maintenance to our walk in fridge. The engineer arrived and parked his vehicle in front of the house and got on with the job. In passing I noticed his dog in the back of his pick up. I remember thinking that she was one of the most pretty dogs I have seen in a long time.
The engineer finished his work, was paid and departed. Much to my astonishment I discovered that the dog was still with us. He had subtly abandoned the animal. This callous behavior is quite common and is reflected by the number of dead dogs one sees on the roads here in Venezuela. Enough said.
Two days later she gave birth to a liter on the mountain. She had been chased away from the house by my young dogs. We traced her and brought her back to the house and set up a kennel for her. She spends her day caring for her two babies. She has a delightful nature and we have decided to adopt her. She has a smart new collar to celebrate her adoption.

Goodbye Billy and Hello Wilhelmina.

We receive a call a couple of days ago from some folk in Caracas. They had a Howler monkey and they were looking for a home for him. His name was Billy. I forwarded a map and instruction on how to arrive at Canaote. Today they arrived with the child. They were amazed when I told them that Billy was a girl. Well no reason to change her name, after all the famous singer Billy Holiday was a Billy. Not much is known about her. She was in the care of the people who brought her here for only four weeks. Before that she lived in that vicinity in an apartment. She has been given various ages between three and a half and five and a half. She is small for either age and has the typical gait of a monkey that has been incarcerated in an apartment, although this can be deceptive. She walks on her front arms and her back is highly curved which is reminiscent of Rickets. Her small size is a puzzle. She behaves like an adult but her appearance is deceptive.
Fortunately, she immediately recognized me as a friend and jumped on my shoulder. When we first heard about her we had a plan that she would make a husband for MonaLisa. We made plans for a suitable honeymoon enclosure. The discovery that he is a she will mean a rethink about her accommodation. First on the agenda has got to be a shower. She has the very strong odor of an adult female howler. I will prepare some photographs and more information shortly, as she settles in. Tonight she will stay with me and Rosita. I do hope they get along. Other wise it will be a long night.

Eslabon and his pal Tutti

Eslabon and Tutti are great pals. They share an enclosure which ajoins my quarters. But like most kids, not everything runs completely smoothly. Tutti is very demanding and vocal when he does not get his own way. He is first at the food tray and selects the largest piece. Naturally, Eslabon being very macho does not take this behavior lightly and often an argument ensues. This consists of a shouting match between the two of them. Both positioned near something to wrap their tails around then a roar and a move forward followed by a rapid retreat aided by the tail. After a while they forget what the row was about and get back to the important business of eating. There is no violence involved but the noise is deafening. For the most part they get on well. They share the best spots in the garden to get a good suntan and they sleep togther at night with Eslabon's arm around little Tutti. Just like a big brother.

Tutti manipulates me

Tutti is a clever little monkey. He knows how to manipulate me. He spends his day in the enclosure with Eslabon. This also means that he has access to the garden and its walkways. He loves the sun and can frequently be found sun bathing in the garden. I have encouraged him to stay overnight with Eslabon but with only limited success. He knows that if a hear him crying, that I will be soon be in the enclosure to discover the cause. In the evening he starts crying just after dark, and of course I then allow him to stay in our house with Rosita through supper time and then overnight. I know he is manipulating me but I don’t have the heart to ignore him. Otherwise he is a happy healthy monkey and has a great appetite. When he arrived here he was suffering from a severe insect infestation which resulted in the loss of all the hair on his head and tale. He looked like a medieval monk. He has completely recovered from that condition and now has a strong head of very healthy hair.

Totto loves fish.

Whenever I prepare something special for myself and if it is suitable, I make a few extra portions for the children.
In my picture you see Totto tucking into a piece of fish. Now there are not many fish shops in the forest and certainly none in the canopy.So how is it that it is his favourite dish?

*Fish and chips is the national dish of England

Sorry about the break.

Sorry about the break. My computer has been away for upgrade for a few days. But the work goes on. Lots of new pictures and stories ready for you starting tomorrow.
Pictures of Totto and Sophie
Tutti
Eslabon
Rosita
Loba (who is Loba? watch this space)

See you tomorrow.

Schatov is getting bigger too.

Whilst I was preparing that last post, I got a jab in the ribs from Schatov. Not to be outdone, he reminded me that he is also getting bigger.

Maniña is a growin'

Monkeys are like human children, you just don’t notice how much they have grown, when you are with them every day. These two photographs of Maniña were taken today. I compared them with photographs that I took a year ago and I was amazed at the difference. I had a good idea that he was getting bigger because as you know he spends the night in our house with Schatov and I return him to his house in the morning on my shoulder. He is definitely bigger and heavier.

Eslabon and Rosita

In an earlier post I told you about Rosita's probems. Apart from the abnormality in her eating habits, we also found that one of her front teeth is bad. We are waiting until she gains a little more weight before we address that problem. During the weeks that she has been with me,she has gone from strength to strength. She is gaining weight rapidly and some tone is returning to her limbs. Our picture shows her using a spoon on a small helping of ice cream. She has improved to the point where I felt that she should be allowed to mix a little with the other children. Over a period of a few days I have been introducing her to Eslabon. On the first few days he appeared to be agressive at mealtimes, perhaps resenting having to share his meals. But for the last two days she has been welcome and Eslabon has spent quite a lot of time in her company. Our second picture shows them sitting togther in his enclosure.