Pre breakfast breakfast with Erik and Chilin

 

Erik at pre breakfast breakfast

 

It's not a secret that our two youngest members sleep in our house at night. Monkeys love routine. Monkeys who are free to take care of themselves in the wild still have a daily rhythm which they follow. They groom, they eat, they travel, they rest, they forage again, etc. Chilin and Eric have a routine. At six o'clock in the morning they follow us into the kitchen. Whilst I am making coffee for the household, I put a bowl of milk on the table and a piece of fruit. Erik and Chilin play for a while, racing around the room and generally causing chaos. Then they settle down and help themselves to the milk and fruit. Now it is time for them to go to their enclosure for the day. I give them a piggy back ride to their daytime home. They are given three meals during the day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, all of which are served in their quarters. They play together most of the day, that is except around mid day when they take siesta. At dusk they are allowed back into our house where they play until they are exhausted. But not too tired because they still have enough energy to steal from our plates at our evening meal. Monkeys that have bonded to humans don't like to be separated from their human. We adopt this routine so that they know that by evening they will be reunited with us. I work in my office during the day and it happens they this abuts to their enclosure. The window on that side is slotted frosted glass, but there is a fault in the array which leaves a small hole, through which they can see me. From time to time during the day, I see a Shadow on the other side of the glass. From this I know that one of them is checking to be sure that I am nearby. Just before it is time for them to join us in the evening, they sit in the window looking through the glass for the moment when I will collect them. They also remind me vocally if I am more them a few minutes late. Establishing routine is an important part of the care of monkeys in captivity.Chilin at pre breakfast breakfast is our final picture