Watch the GLTs on the web camIssue 11, August 13
Travel Paths
On the morning cross to Holly Hill, the whole family takes the ropes toward tree eight and over the low black walnut in the trees on the opposite side. Laranja and sometimes Moe and Mara usually cross back to the main exhibit once in the morning using the low black walnut and then run down the fence line into the hemlocks. When they cross back to Holly Hill again, they use a combination of three ways. Sometimes they go down the ropes to the low black walnut and over. Moe and Mara usually take the fence from the hemlocks to the low black walnut. Laranja sometimes goes straight up tree five and crosses into the high black walnut and sometimes the kids follow her. When the whole family crosses back, the babies sometimes follow Laranja over the low black walnut and other times one or both is carried by Eduardo down the tupelo and across the path.
New Hangouts
No new hangouts this week, although one morning they spent about an hour in the tops of tree eight, which seems to be about a once-a-week occurrence.
August 6: Rainy Morning Excursion
On this lightly raining morning, the monkeys revisited the tops of tree eight and the surrounding trees early after seven. They foraged and played high up in the top of the canopy until 8:45, jumping and cavorting on the slippery branches. They then moved back to the hemlocks in the corner of their exhibit to forage and eat from the food pans.
At 10:20, Laranja led the family down the ropes and over the low black walnut to Holly Hill. They stayed quiet in the bench holly, resting in a monkey ball high in the branches for an hour. At 12:30, they moved into the trees to the left of the bench holly and foraged in the tupelo tree. At 1:30, Laranja crossed to the main exhibit to eat, followed by Moe and Mara over the low black walnut and down the fence line.
They ate for about 20 minutes and then Moe and Mara crossed back over the low black walnut. Three minutes later, Laranja crossed using the high branches of tree five that reach over the path into the high black walnut. They all continued to move about the high branches of the holly tree until three, when Laranja crossed back to the main exhibit again. Mara and then Moe followed shortly behind her over the low black walnut. Shortly after, Eduardo carried both babies down the tupelo tree and across the path to join the family in the hemlocks. They foraged in the hemlocks for some time before settling down and grooming one another.
At 4:10, Moe jumped from one of the hemlocks onto the fence and stayed there foraging and exploring for about ten minutes. At 4:15, Mara jumped down to the ground for a few minutes before climbing onto the fence as well. These teenagers are getting to be quite a handful! The family continued to move about the hemlocks and neighboring trees foraging until they moved back to tree zero shortly after six. They all piled into the box briefly before moving in and out for the next hour. At seven Laranja and Eduardo were the only two left out, keeping watch on the branch that sticks straight forward next to their nest box.
August 7: Weights
The family was up in the hemlocks at 7 a.m., moving around and foraging until 7:45, when they moved to cross to Holly Hill. They all went over the low black walnut and into the bench holly. Shortly after nine, they moved down to the shed holly, where they foraged, moving briefly past it along the edge of the garden. At 10:15 they moved back to the bench holly and Laranja crossed back to the main exhibit to eat several minutes later. She quickly returned to her family in the bench holly and stayed put until 11:30, when she crossed back to the main exhibit once more followed by Moe and Mara. They ate, and Laranja and Moe crossed back to Holly Hill again at 11:50. Mara was in the hemlock to the left of tree four at noon, having been left behind by the others. A cart drove by and the sunlight reflected off the windshield and flashed strangely across Mara in the hemlock. She screamed like she was being caught by something and plastered herself to the trunk, then began predator calling. It took her several minutes to calm down before she ran along the fence and over the low black walnut to join her family in the bench holly.
At 1:50, Laranja, Moe, and Mara crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut followed by Baby 1 on his own. Eduardo looked like he might follow but instead grabbed Baby 2 and moved to the left into the tupelo tree, where he climbed down and across the path. They all foraged in the hemlocks in the corner of their exhibit. At 3:26, Moe and Mara jumped down to the ground to play where they were soon joined by both babies.
Shortly before three, the family moved over to the scale that was set up in the exhibit to eat the food hung there. This was actually the third time they have been weighed since they were released in June. Here are their weights from each day:
| July 24 | July 30 | August 7 |
| Laranja – 668g | Laranja – 668g | Laranja – 674g |
| Eduardo – 759g | Eduardo – 765g | Eduardo – 736g |
| Mara – 496g | Mara – 496g | Mara – 508g |
| Moe – 474g | Moe – 460g | Moe – 470g |
| Baby 1 – 200g | Baby 1 – 198g | |
| Baby 2 – 184g |
As you can see, the babies are now almost a third of Eduardo’s weight and together they are more then half his size! It is no wonder he hesitates to pick them both up for crossings. Hopefully they will both get the hang of crossing on their own soon and give their poor Dad’s back a rest.
After being weighed, the GLTs moved back into the hemlocks where they foraged and the kids played. At four, Moe jumped to the ground, where he chased a chipmunk. Half an hour later, all the kids were down on the ground again playing until shortly after five. At six they all moved back toward tree zero. It was still over 90 degrees and their box must have been quite warm because they didn’t go to sleep until well after seven.
August 8: Hot!
The GLTs moved from tree zero shortly after 7:15 and crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut at 7:25. They stayed in the bench holly for several hours, moving forward briefly into the tree on the Elephant Walk side of the hill. At 9:30 they moved down to the shed holly. They were mostly out of sight, except for some occasional foraging until 10:30, when they moved back to the bench holly. They were relatively quiet, perhaps resting in the sweltering heat and oppressive humidity of the day.
Just before noon, Laranja and Mara crossed back to the main exhibit to eat and returned after a few minutes on the food tray. At 1:45, the entire family crossed back with Baby 1 following Laranja, Mara, and Moe over the low black walnut and Eduardo carrying Baby 2 down the tupelo.
Shortly after two, the kids moved to their favorite play spot as of late, the ground. Despite the temperature reaching 100 degrees, all four kids played rough and tumble in the dirt. Mara and Moe stopped now and then to roll onto their backs for a moment before resuming their game of tag. Meanwhile, Eduardo fidgeted in the hemlock to the right of tree four, switching from branch to branch and stretching his belly along the cool bark. Laranja sprawled on a rock between trees four and three and watched the kids play. They stayed low until about 4:15, when they started moving up to the food pans to forage. Shortly after six, they began to drift toward tree zero but in the stifling air, they didn’t show any interest in moving into the box and were all still out at seven. They finally settled in for bed around 7:40.
August 9: New Tricks and Old Habits
At 7 a.m., the family must have had a late start and was still in the nest box. By 7:15 they were moving out and toward the hemlocks, where they foraged briefly then headed off to Holly Hill. They moved to the shed holly, taking their time along the way to rest and play. They moved about the holly, staying out of sight for long periods of time in the dense branches.
At 12:30 they moved back to the bench holly and Laranja, Mara, and Moe promptly crossed to the main exhibit to eat. They rejoined the family in the bench holly after a few minutes, moving about the surrounding trees on both sides to forage. At 1:50 Laranja, Mara, and Moe crossed to the main exhibit to eat once again. Ten minutes later, Laranja climbed straight up tree five and used the high cross into the high black walnut and then moved into the bench holly. Moe and Mara both went over the low black walnut. At 3:20, Laranja, Mara, and Moe crossed to the main exhibit once again. This time, however, both babies followed them on their own across the low black walnut! Unencumbered by the weight of the kids, Eduardo still seemed hesitant to use the low black walnut crossing and made his way to the tupelo and across the ground. Old habits die hard.
Once back in the main exhibit, the entire family foraged in the hemlocks. They all went to tree zero to eat at 5:45 before returning briefly to the hemlocks again. At 6:45, they were all in the box but at seven, Eduardo and Laranja were outside once again.
August 10
Laranja led the family toward Holly Hill at 7:20 but Eduardo, Mara, and Baby 1 continued on to tree nine, which they foraged on top of. Laranja crossed over the low black walnut followed by Moe who picked up Baby 2 halfway across. Soon after, Eduardo crossed over the same way as well followed by Mara and Baby 1 bringing up the rear. They moved down to the shed holly and past, foraging in the trees along the garden.
By 9:15, they were back in the shed holly and the kids played a lot, tearing around the tree. They moved back to the bench holly after an hour. At 10:46, Laranja crossed back to the main exhibit to eat. Moe followed shortly behind her. After a few minutes at the food tray, Moe moved from the hemlock on the left of tree four onto the fence and ran to the low black walnut where he crossed back to the bench holly. Laranja finished eating before taking the ropes to the low black walnut and rejoining the rest of the group.
The entire family crossed back at 12:30. Laranja, Mara, Moe, and Baby 2 crossed over the low black walnut and ran down the fence line. Eduardo carried Baby 1 down the tupelo tree and across the path. They ate in the hemlocks and played in the neighboring trees. At four, they all played on the ground for about a half an hour before they moved up tree thee and the white ash behind it to forage. At six they all moved back to tree zero and Laranja took up her favorite late-afternoon spot in the small tree between trees zero and 2A. They moved in and out of the box from 6:30 on but did not settle in until half past seven.
August 11: The Heat Breaks
Ten minutes after seven, Laranja again led the rest of the GLTs to he low black walnut crossing over to Holly Hill. They moved to the right of the bench holly, foraging in trees 33 and 32. They moved quietly along the top of the trees, probably seeking the sunlight on such a cool morning. It took them an hour and a half in this manner to reach the shed holly. They were mostly out of sight for an hour, showing themselves in brief flashes of play and foraging high in the shed holly and surrounding trees.
Shortly after ten, the family moved back to the bench holly and Laranja crossed to the main exhibit. She took the same route as usual, crossing back after a few minutes of eating. The whole family crossed back at 12:15. Laranja, Moe, and Mara took the low black walnut crossing and Eduardo carried both babies down the tupelo tree and across the path. They all foraged and played around tree zero until 1 p.m., when they headed toward the hemlocks in the corner of their exhibit. At about three they moved up tree three and the white ash behind it and continued foraging. They made a long, slow loop moving to tree 2A and then into the small trees to the right of tree zero, finally ending up at the nest box. They were all in the box by 6:45 and at seven, only Moe and Baby 1 could be seen playing lightly on the top platform of the box.
August 12: Siren
As usual, the monkeys were in the hemlocks near tree four at seven. At 7:20, they took the ropes to the low black walnut and crossed to Holly Hill. They foraged in the trees to the right of the bench holly, discovering a squirrel nest in tree 34. They made their way back to the bench holly at 8:30 where they stayed until 9:45, when they headed to the shed holly. They foraged for a while before moving high into the branches and resting in a monkey ball. The ball broke up and they moved back to the bench holly at 11:30. Laranja and Mara crossed back to the main exhibit briefly to eat at 11:45.
Shortly before one, the whole family crossed back and foraged in the hemlocks and neighboring trees. At four, the monkeys all retreated to the box as Zoo police and an ambulance with sirens moved down Tamarin Run to help a woman who had fallen and injured herself in Beaver Valley. After half an hour they moved back to the hemlocks to forage as things settled down. They stayed in this area foraging, playing, and grooming until 6:30 when they moved toward the nest box. At seven they were all in the box and out of sight on the lower level.
