An exciting Sunday .

We had an exciting Sunday in more ways than one. We expected Moñito’s family to arrive because they called the night before. Carlos and Patricia have just returned from their honeymoon and their first duty was to inform Moñeto that they had a great time. But a few moments after they had settled down in the enclosure with Moñito, Schatov and Lucio, Lucio’s family arrived. The enclosure was very busy with both monkeys and humans. Lucio’s family brought swings sufficient for all the enclosures, but being Sunday we only managed to put up a couple of them. I can tell you that they were a resounding success with the children. They always like new toys and this was no exception. All three of them demonstrated their innate gymnastic skill. All of them kept good balance whilst jumping from swing to swing. Soon after the families arrived, the rain started in earnest. This didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. They just carried on playing. The roof area above the Casa Lucio is covered with a sheet of clear plastic. This made it possible to stay with the monkeys even though the rain was very heavy. Lucio has been watching Maniña. Maniña is a Casanova he loves to kiss the ladies. Today was Lucio’s turn to woo the ladies. He repeatedly put a big wet smacker on his human mother’s lips and anyone else he could grab hold of. It is difficult to avoid his lips, whilst he is pulling your hair tightly, me Tarzan you Jane fashion. The highlight of the morning was undoubtedly the action with the little white poodle. He is now a regular visitor with Lucio’s family. He provides a lot of entertainment by allowing the monkeys to ride on his back. We have some video footage of this rodeo, and I hope one day I can put this material up on the blog. At times this is rodeo style with him trying to dislodge his rider and the monkeys trying to hang on. The visit lasted for about 4 hours and finally everyone was exhausted with the games and the rain. The humans got ready to leave for home and the monkeys played on.
Top and middle photographs show Schatov on the two new swings. Bottom picture shows Moñito and Lucio resting between games.