Two things I forgot to mention in the last post. One is that we added a ton of pictures from Peru, Machu Picchu and our volunteering so check them out. And two is that Megan is going to do one more post at some point to finish up our week in Cuzco. But since we are leaving for the Galapagos this weekend and aren't sure when we will be able to post we wanted to get caught up this week.
So onto the monkeys.
I mentioned in the last post that there are three capuchin monkeys who are in quarantine in their own homes away from the big group of capuchins. I am pleased to introduce to you:
Elvis: is an old, balding monkey who was a pet and had a leash wrapped around him for his whole life. He was new to the center and a little wary of people but was so stinking cute and just screamed every time I came in (in a good way, he liked me).
Grumpy Monkey: was also a house pet and loves to be held and cuddled like a baby, which doesn't go over so well in the wild. He had a skirmish with one of the other monkeys when they tried to put them together and so they are waiting for his hand to heal before trying again. Finally, there is Tre.
Tre: is mean, though for good reason. Another one of the capuchins who lives alone as well got into it with Tre and bit Tre's leg hard enough that the vet had to amputate it. So Tre has only three limbs. If something bit me that hard I would be ornery too. Tre was one of the capuchins who you could not get into the cage with ever.
In the bigger enclosure (this is where Matt worked every day and I worked almost every day (minus the bird fiasco) is 12 more capuchins. There is the aptly named "left-hand capuchin cage" and "right-hand capuchin cage." Then there is Naughty Monkey.
Naughty: Bit Tre's leg darn near off. They obviously don't take these names lightly or try to be too creative, becuase Naughty Monkey certainly is just that. Amazingly, you can go into Naughty's home and clean and feed him which sort of surprised me. If he can take off a monkey leg he can certainly take off my finger, but mostly he just got on my head and jumped up and down and bit my ponytail. Endearing, really. How can you not love a monkey called Naughty?
In the right-hand capuchin cage there were five monkeys in total. Stinky, Ninja, Skinny, Harry and Scrubber.
Stinky and Ninja: Were mean and no one was allowed to go in with them, so they always had to be in the trap cage for feeding and cleaning. Basically the trap cage is a smaller enclosure off to the side where you had to trap the mean monkeys before going in to clean or feed the rest.
Skinny: Liked to give me manicures through the cage by picking at my fingernails (capuchins like to pick at your fingernails and like when you play with their hands). Skinny also loved getting an orange from me and taking a bath with it so Harry would think he smelled good.
Harry: Probably my biggest disappointed was not getting to spend more time with Harry. Harry LOVES hair and will literally take everything out of your hair and rub his hands and face and feet in it for hours. To the point where you can't see and can't do anything to help clean. He even peed in Stephanie's hair once, he loves it so much. He liked doing this to Matt as well, but the effect isn't as fantastic unless you have a lot of hair. Why didn't I get to spend any time with Harry? One word: Scrubber.
Scrubber: Scrubber doesn't like women either, but especially blonds. I went into the right-hand capuchin cage the very first day (only because I am brunette) and lasted about 30 minutes until Scrubber went crazy and I had to leave. Of course, Scrubber loved Matt and wouldn't leave him alone when he was in the cage. The best part about Scrubber was his namesake. When we clean the cages we go in with shovels and spades to scoop the poop and leftover fruit peels, corn cobs, eggshells, etc. Then we use scrub brushes to scrub down all the houses, ladders, logs, tables and ponds in the enclosure. Scrubber would go to the bucket and pick out a spade which he would waltz around with while Matt picked up poop. When the bucket of water and scrub brushes came out, Scrubber picked a brush out of the water and immediately went to work scrubbing the pond or the table, or sometimes the dirt when he was being sassy. Usually he actually helped and would literally go back to the bucket and dunk the brush in to clean it off etc. It was adorable and we have a video of it we will post shortly.
In the left-hand capuchin cage there were six monkeys in total. Jack, Gentle, Scarlett, Gappy. Skinny (yes, another Skinny) and Maddie.
Scarlett, Skinny and Maddie: Stayed high up on the rafters and only came down for their eggs. They weren't as comfortable with humans and were definitely the lowest in the monkey heirarchy.
Jack: Is the dominant male of the group. He is the sweetest monkey and much to my delight wanted nothing to do with Matt. He chooses someone and wraps his body around there neck and stays there like a scarf. He chose me a few times and he was just so lovely, "protecting" you from the other monkeys and keeping you warm.
I say that Jack didn't care for Matt much to my delight, becuase like I mentioned there were plenty of monkey who hated women includng Scrubber. Gappy was another one of them.
Gappy: Named for the gap due to a missing tooth, Gappy was the meanest monkey in the bunch. No one could go in the cage with Gappy either, so we had to use the trap cage each time with him. The way you trap Gappy was by putting a woman near the trap cage (usually me) and once Gappy saw you he would literally run over, jump on the wires and hiss at you. Over the course of the week, he threw a rock at me and he ripped a huge chunk of hair out of Sarah's (on of the volunteers) head. She was bending down to put the trap bar in and he grabbed her hair and pulled. It was not a small loss of hair. But for Matt, Gappy would roll onto his back and stick his tongue out in love while Matt rubbed his belly and he even cleaned Matt's fingernails -- with his teeth. But the minute I walked by he would lunge at the wires and reach out to try and grab me and bite me. Some pictures of Matt and his new love to come.
Gentle: Gentle was my favorite monkey of the group and the feeling was mutual. He hopped on my head every time I came in, dumped the shit bucket over ever time it was full, used my bangs as a rope swing, rubbed himself all over my hair and even peed on me to show everyone he meant business and I was his forever. It worked.
So now that you have met our monkey friends I am going to post a bunch of pictures. Go to the Picasa album to see them all!
*This picture is of Gappy, when he is actually being nice for Matt.
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