An evening at home with Lucio, Moñito and Schatov.

Top left is of course Schatov and this is now my favorite picture of him. Top left is Lucio, hansom as ever and always embarrassingly full of kisses. Then bottom is Moñito, a very sweet and loving person.
Yes there have been some trist this week. Schatov was very much in love with Chippy, he really did care for her. But time heals everything, both for them and for us. He has now reconciled himself to the fact that she will not return and is now his old playfully self.

Our appeal for help with construction of the concrete floor has yielded some help and we are very grateful for that. Keep thinking about how you can assist the children of Canaote. Someone suggested that we should allow adoption and support that way. What do you think? Tell me.

Cement 2.

I have carefully measured the area of land that we need to cover and included a factor for the sensible depth of cement. I have miscalculated. This is going to be a big job. We will need 180 sacks of cement to complete the task. At the official rate for the dollar and at todays price per sack, this amounts to US$ 1500. I have not included any factor for the labor needed to do this job.If we call it US$2000 for the complete task.
That is more than I can contribute. If you can help, you will be doing something significant for the comfort and health of our children.

Cement.

This year the rains have been exceptionally heavy. All our enclosures have earth floors. When the rains are heavy, these floors become very muddy. This has become unpleasant both for the monkeys and the staff serving them, although of course the monkeys can use the bamboo walkways. Plastic sheeting has been erected at strategic areas, for example over feeding, and sleeping areas. But this is only a temporary solution. The real answer is to cement over these floors. From the photograph you can see that we have applied cement under 'Casa Lucio'. This has been experimental. First a bed of tar and then the cement on top. This has other benefits. Nematodes, parasites that live in the soil, are repressed. The possibility of the monkeys becoming infected with these natural forest parasite is considerably reduced if not eliminated. There remains only one obstacle, we will need 100 sacks of cement. You are all aware that our enclosures are large. If we are to carry out this task we will need some help. If you are able to make a contribution to the cementing either use the PayPal 'Donate' button, or tell me and I will give you a bank account for deposit,or just bring the cement. We don't often ask you for help but this one is beyond my meager pension from Her Majesty's Government.

What was to be…isn’t

At the middle of the week, the human family of Chippy came for a first visit after her arrival here. In the intervening month, she had settled down to the routine of life with other monkeys and she had gained weight. In fact she had gone a stage further and had formed a special relationship with Schatov. He was her constant and solicitous companion. On several occasions we saw them making love. Our photograph was taken at that time and was to represent the success of her integration with people of her own kind. (The photograph has been deliberately clipped).
Early in the morning of Friday July 25th, 2008 and without any warning her human family arrived and collected her. Taking her back to the human home in San Carlos, Cojedes. The reason given, among the tears was that her absence was causing the ill health of members of her human family. I am not going to dwell on the cruelty this represents. For the first time this adult female monkey had friends and a relationship with people of her own kind. She was able to feel the wind and rain on her face and breathe the forest air. We have known Chippy for many years because she has been brought here for visits on a couple of occasions. We regard it as a tragedy that she has now been denied her life with her own kind, for the worst of all selfish reasons. Schatov has spent two days searching for her.

Who is this?

We are deeply into our mango season and that means visitors from the forest. There are some 600 mature mango trees on this property. The wild monkeys come to our compound seeking mature mango fruit. But also get involved with our residents. Early in the season we had unwelcome Capuchin visitors that attacked and injured Pancho. I reported that in an earlier post.
Yesterday was a different story. We had a visit from a young adult Howler. He has been good mannered, centering his interest above the enclosure of MonaLisa, Emma and Nancy. He obviously has an eye for the girls. He is young and very hansom. Unfortunately our photograph does not really do him justice. The telephoto ability of small digital cameras is not good. He remained in a tree above their enclosure overnight, joining in the evening and early morning chorus. This is a recurring phenomenon. Often we get a male and alongside him a small female visitor. I have the impression that it has been the same monkey for a few years now although I do not recognize our recent visitor. He is a new comer.
I would like to welcome him but my fears about transmitted disease from the forest prevent me from feeding him or encouraging him.

Now the meal is finished lets get the washing up out of the way.

Yes it is Chilin and Eric. You saw pictures of them just after they had arrived, a few months ago. In this time they have both grown considerably. Both have great appetites and both of them play vigorously all day. They have their own enclosure adjoining the girls, MonaLisa, Emma and Nancy. There is a lot of interaction. That is Chilin on the left and Erik in the solo picture.

.......and then the rains came down.

During the last 24 hours we have had exceptionally high rainfall. This has caused minor flooding in various areas occupied by our monkeys. Our pictures tell the story. Capuchin monkeys love water and the whole situation, for them has been great fun. Our pictures show in the foreground, Chicatin with a lot of water behind him. Our second picture shows Pancho in the background, having a great time playing with the water.


D

Surprised by Joy.

This blog is about monkeys, not about me. Nevertheless, it is relevant to describe the effect that caring for the children has on me. On the downside the work severely limits my movements. I cannot travel more than a day away from Canaote. It demands a disciplined organization of my day. This discipline is shaped by the timetable of the monkey's day.
At 7.30. Clean and disinfect the eating areas and collect the dishes of yesterday's food, milk and water. Scrub the plates, Prepare breakfast and milk and distribute it. Then provide fresh water. Examine each of the sleeping areas to ensure that the bedding is clean and also insect free. Setup each of the enclosures so that all toys are available. (At the moment that means replace all the small colored balls in the hammocks). Walk around all the bamboo walkways with a disinfectant spray and cloth. Clean up and disinfect the ground areas where the monkeys have defecated. Prepare the evening meal. At 3.30PM distribute the meal.

After the morning chores, we spend quality time with all the monkeys. We play with them but at the same time we watch them closely, never forgetting that we are on the edge of deep forest and are possibly subject to all the dangers of the forest. We look for any change in behavior, for instance if a monkey is usually boisterous and playful but today is quiet. We look at their gums for any sign of anaemia. We take note of the quality of their coats, and whether it has its normal health sheen. Monkeys are subject to parasitic infections. We routinely examine the faeces with our own microscope as a preliminary safeguard against the infections of the forest. This awareness and the incumbent care are the price we pay for providing the children with as near natural environment as we possibly can.

At the time of writing we have fourteen monkeys in our care. I would love to invite qualified helpers to aid our work, but at the moment we do not have the funds for building two appropriate dwellings for them. Even so, in time the Lord will provide.

This is my day, every day. I willingly accept the burden and the challenge that this gives me. This is my mission and my joy, to care for these wonderful creatures created by our Maker.

An evening with Maniña.

Photographic opportunities in the wet season are difficult to find. But this evening we had a dry spell just before the heavy rain started. I particularly liked these pictures of Maniña because they show his beautiful coat and his typical expression. By the way he is eating dog biscuits, he loves the crunchy ones. I have no need to tell you how much we love him. He is a great character, a little bit mischievous but all in fun. He returns all the love that is given to him with loads of kisses. The other person you can see in the background is Maniña's little friend Tutti. We also have a solo picture of Tutti. Maniña and Tutti are rarely apart.

MonaLisa Moves in.

Since Schatov, Lucio and Moñito have moved house, they are now permanently resident with Chippy in Garden Lucio, Schatov's former night dwelling has become free. You may know that this enclosure directly abuts the enclosure of MonaLisa. There is a small doorway that connects the two. The original idea was that this whole area would be a contiguous house and garden. Now we are able to go back to that scheme and MonaLisa, Emma and Nancy have moved into this space. You can see in our photograph, MonaLisa (left)and Nancy sitting in front of their small house. In this rainy weather it is more comfortable to be inside. The three girls love this change of venue and are using all the play things, ropes, hammock etc that are available.

Chippy settles in.

Just as a human child, starting a new school, a monkey must learn to accept and be accepted by new friends. Chippy has spent all her life among humans so it is not surprising that she experiences a little difficulty in adapting. She is used to sleeping in a bed with humans, now she sleeps in a warm monkey house with three other monkeys. She is used to being hand fed, now we want her to share the communal table of food with the others. These are seemingly trivial things but to a little lady they are big. Naturally we give her special support during this time. We continue to hand feed her and we spend a lot of quality time with her. She is intelligent and adaptable. She has already made a special monkey friend. Schatov, makes no secret of his admiration for her. Whilst Lucio and Moñito were at first anti, now they just keep out out of her way. She is winning them over.

All three of our pictures are of Chippy this morning. They are expressive and we were undecided which was best so we show all three.