Watch the GLTs on the web camIssue 14, September 3
Travel Paths
The monkeys are still using the low black walnut to cross to and from Holly Hill. They have developed a few other new routes this past week, the foremost being that they take the ropes all the way to trees 12 and 13 and into the fence holly. From there, they often jump onto the fence or the small trees to the left of the holly and move toward Olmsted Walk or onto the empty bobcat enclosure. They have also crossed the path in a few new places including; on the long branch of tree 13 that overhangs the path, in the branches where they overlap near tree 15, and in the branches where they overlap by tree 17.
New Hangouts
The family is spending a lot less time in the bench holly lately. The monkeys often cross there early and spend an hour or two between there and the shed holly before crossing back for the day. The new favorite spot seems to be the Fence Holly, the small holly tree directly in front of tree 13. They like to forage there before moving down to the fence and the bobcat cage to explore and forage. When the monkeys are at the shed holly, they quite often move down very close to Tamarin Run and forage in the magnolia trees there right by the path. The other often frequented area for the afternoon is the small trees in the main exhibit behind tree three, where the vines have been coming into fruit.
August 27: Another Fall
The family was out and hanging around the nest box at 6:40 a.m. They all crossed to Holly Hill at 7:18 over the low black walnut with Moe carrying one of the babies. They moved down to the shed holly climbing slowly through the high branches in the sun. They foraged and played there until 9:30 when they headed back toward the bench holly. They were mostly out of sight in the high branches of their favorite holly tree for another hour before Laranja, Mara, and Moe crossed back to the main exhibit to eat. They crossed back to the bench holly over the low black walnut after a few minutes. They continued to move about the holly, foraging, playing, and then settling into a monkey ball for a short time.
At 1:15, the entire family crossed back over the low black walnut tree, moving into the main exhibit to eat and forage in the hemlocks. They moved into the small trees behind tree three to forage on the vines that are starting to grow berries, often using the ground to travel from tree to tree. The kids played on the ground, chasing each other for about 15 minutes.
At five, they all moved back to tree zero and climbed up the branches to the back side of the exhibit, playing and foraging. At 5:43, Baby 1 fell from a branch about 14 or 15 meters above the ground from the trees behind tree zero. He hit and laid still. Eduardo reached him on the ground very quickly but could not get the baby to grab onto him. Laranja came down and tried as well, but he was not grabbing on. At one point Laranja crossed the stream bed to yell at the lookers-on, as if she was warning them not to try to steal her baby. Finally, Baby 1 sat upright at 5:46 and by 5:47 Eduardo had him on his back and took him straight to the nest box. The monkeys moved in and out of the box for the next hour, while Baby 1 sat in the box. He came out for a drink of water and shortly before 7, he climbed out of the box again to eat from the food tray. The family was back in the box soon after and at 7:40 both babies could be seen nursing from Laranja on the nest box camera.
August 28: Fence Holly
A check of the web cam at 6:30 a.m revealed Baby 1 up and apparently feeling fine, play fighting with Baby 2. The family crossed to Holly Hill at 7:10. Everyone, including Baby 1, climbed by him- or herself over the low black walnut and down toward the shed holly. They foraged all along the way and after about two hours reached the far end of the garden near Olmsted Walk. They turned around and spent a few minutes nestled into the shed holly before moving back toward the bench holly.
At 9:31, they all crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut taking the fence to the hemlocks, though they all stopped for a minute or two to forage under the bench. After half an hour in the exhibit, they were off again, taking the ropes down to tree 13. They moved forward into a small holly tree that hangs down to the fence directly in front of tree 13. They foraged here for a few minutes before Eduardo and Laranja turned around and crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut.
Eduardo crossed back to the babies, who were crying from the area of tree 12. When no one came back to join her, Laranja moved to the area of Holly Hill directly parallel to where the rest of the family was. She climbed out close to the path, looking like she might jump to the ground and run across, calling unhappily the whole time. After about 30 minutes of separation, she moved back to the low black walnut and crossed, running down the fence to rejoin her family. They all climbed up into tree 13 and ran around on the long branch that hangs over the path. Eduardo looked like he might be trying to cross at this junction but seemed to think better of it whenever one of the babies ran up behind him. Mara was not so cautious and did make the leap, landing in the magnolias on the other side, where her mother had been earlier. Like her mother, she soon realized that no one was following her and after a few long calls, she ran to the low black walnut crossing and then took the fence back to the rest of the GLTs.
Around 12:45, the family climbed down to the ropes, which everyone but Moe took all the way back to the main exhibit. When he reached tree eight, instead of taking the ropes the rest of the way like everyone else, he ran toward the low black walnut and then onto the fence taking his time to climb back into the Hemlocks. They foraged in the hemlocks and in the bromeliad on tree five before moving up tree three and into the small trees to the right of the nest box to forage more and play.
Shortly after six, they were all back in their nest box with Laranja, Eduardo, and Baby 1 asleep on the top level from about 6:45 on.
August 29
The monkeys were foraging in the hemlocks at 7:15. They moved past tree five, stopping to forage in the bromeliad before crossing to Holly Hill at 7:40. They sat in the bench holly for about 15 minutes before heading down toward the shed holly. They took their time, foraging along the way and not reaching the other holly tree until 10:15. They moved into the trees slightly past it before turning around and returning to the low black walnut where they all crossed to the main exhibit to eat.
At 10:57, Laranja and Eduardo were back up the low black walnut and over to Holly Hill followed closely by the rest of the bunch. They spent almost three hours in the bench holly before crossing back to the main exhibit again shortly before two. They moved into the Hemlocks to forage and all four kids wasted no time in getting down to some serious play, spending a few minutes on the ground as well. They moved to the area behind tree 3 at four, foraging and playing more on the ground.
At 6 p.m., they all moved back to tree zero, moving in and out of the nest box for the next half hour. At 6:45 they were all below the platform and at seven, Baby 2 was the only one visible, sleeping on the upper level.
August 30: On the Fence Again
The monkeys were still in the box at 7 a.m. They emerged after a few minutes, moving to eat from the food trays before crossing to Holly Hill at 7:13. Two hawks could be heard calling over Beaver Valley, so no one minded when the monkeys settled into the thick branches of the bench holly. They stayed high and mostly out of sight until they all crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut at ten. They did not linger long though, and were soon moving down the fence line toward Olmsted Walk. By 10:45 they had reached tree 19, the small holly tree on the far end of the fence, where they began to forage. At 11:15, they moved back to tree 17, where they spent a little over an hour foraging and just generally hanging out.
At 12:30, the kids started playing on the ground until Eduardo took the ground up to the fence by tree 15 at 12:58. They all ran down the fence, with Moe trailing behind, and jumped into the Hemlocks in the corner of their exhibit at 1:06. They foraged for a while in the hemlocks, settling down to groom one another. At two, they moved into tree three and then back into the Hemlocks where Mara jumped onto the fence for a short time. They were back on the ground again at 3:30, foraging and playing amongst the small trees behind tree three. Eduardo and Laranja scent marked all over the tree stump that used to be tree two, leaving no doubt that it belongs to them. They were off the ground by four as they again moved back into the hemlocks.
They moved back to tree zero at five, coming out for one more short excursion to the hemlocks to forage before settling into and around the box at 6:15. At seven, Baby 1 could be seen nursing from Laranja on the webcam while she was being groomed by Eduardo. Baby 2 slept above and the older twins were not visible below the platform.
August 31
At seven, the monkeys were out of the box and climbing in the branches off the back of tree zero. They moved down at 7:30 and Eduardo led the crossing to Holly Hill. They sat in the bench holly briefly before heading down to the shed holly which they reached at 8:30. They moved around in the branches foraging until 9:20, when they moved back toward the bench holly and everyone crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They foraged in the food tray near tree zero and in the bromeliad plant on tree five.
Shortly after 9:45 they crossed back to Holly Hill once again over the low black walnut. They stayed mostly out of sight high in the branches of the bench holly for almost two hours, settled into a monkey ball. At 11:45 they headed back toward the shed holly, taking time to play on the ground along the way near tree 32.
They reached their holly destination at 12:45 but kept moving into the trees past it, foraging. They moved down close to the Tamarin Run path and crossed overhead to the side of the main exhibit. They crossed back after a few minutes, heading back toward the bench holly and then crossing once again to the main exhibit over the low black walnut at 1:15 led by Mara. They foraged in the hemlocks in the corner of their exhibit and the neighboring trees for the next few hours, stopping to play, groom, and rest. They moved back toward tree zero at 5:30, lounging in the small trees between trees zero and 2A. They moved into the nest box at 6:15 and were all asleep in a monkey ball on the upper level at seven.
September 1: The Start of a Crowded Holiday Weekend
The family started off the morning in the hemlocks before crossing to Holly Hill at 7:30. They moved into the bench holly, foraging in the neighboring trees to both sides. At ten, they settled into two monkey balls, resting on the branch of the high black walnut that reaches into the holly.
Shortly after 11, Laranja crossed back to the main exhibit to eat, rejoining her family after a few minutes and again resting in monkey balls. They began to move around the holly tree, foraging, at noon. They all crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut at 1:40, foraging and moving into the nest box for a few minutes. Then they foraged in the hemlocks and stopped to groom one another and once again settle into two monkey balls.
At three, the GLTs moved down the ropes toward tree 13 and into the holly tree directly in front of it. On the way, they all stopped and explored tree nine, their old vacation home from last year. This is the first time I have seen them actively spend any time inside the holes on the tree this year. Laranja and Eduardo scent marked it quite a bit before heading to their holly destination. The porcelain-berry vine that grows up through the top of the little fence holly has grown fruit that are just starting to ripen and the monkeys foraged through it.
Shortly after four, Eduardo jumped onto the fence in front of the holly and moved to the trash can that was partially draped in caution tape to keep the crowd back. He scent marked it profusely. Moe, Mara, and the babies joined him there before long and the older twins mimicked their father’s scent marking. The babies wrestled with the caution tape, tangling themselves in it and chewing on it. They moved along the fence in the direction of Olmsted Walk for about 20 feet before turning around and heading back to the main exhibit. After their fun adventure, they foraged in the hemlocks.
They moved back to tree zero shortly before six, climbing in and out of the nest box. The kids played inside the box for about ten minutes. By seven, Eduardo, Mara, and Baby 2 had settled below the platform while Baby 1 slept above and Moe groomed his sleeping mother.
September 2: More Fence Fun on a Crowded Day
The monkeys were already out of their box at 6:45, moving about the hemlocks in the corner of their exhibit. They crossed to Holly Hill at 7:20, moving down toward the shed holly. They took their time, foraging along the way. They reached the holly around 8:35 where they scolded a fawn sleeping below before they moved through the high branches into the trees beyond it. They moved about a trees by the far end of the garden for half an hour, mostly out of sight in the high branches.
At 9:45, they headed back toward the low black walnut where they all crossed back to the main exhibit. They ate for about a half an hour before crossing back to Holly Hill once again. They stayed in the bench holly for two hours, until they crossed back to the main exhibit again shortly before one. They ate quickly before taking the fence to the fence holly. Laranja, missing the memo about their trip again, crossed to Holly Hill at two, coming back over the low black walnut ten minutes later. They all foraged through the porcelain berries once again, settling into a monkey ball near the trunk that gave us a sneak peak at what they probably look like when they disappear into an orange clump in the big hollies.
Around three, they all moved into the small trees to the left of the holly and foraged through the extensive vines there. Laranja seemed to have trouble navigating her way through the thin branches and ended up taking the ground to reach everyone else. After a few minutes, Eduardo jumped to the fence, running along it to find the trash can and reapply the scent marks. Baby 1 jumped onto the fence as well, unsure whether to follow his dad or stay with the others. He stood up on his hind legs, stared down the holiday crowd that we were busy attempting to keep ten feet away on the narrow pathway, and scolded them loudly. He rejoined the rest of the kids, who were on top of tree 23, the tall stump, as they pushed and pulled at the bark to get at the bugs underneath. Mara used her forehead as a wedge to push back a huge sheet of bark, almost knocking off her siblings with it. Laranja foraged on top of the empty enclosure. Before long she was joined by Moe and Baby 1. They climbed toward the far end of it, almost moving onto the rocks that line the lower path by the otters before turning around. At four, they all moved back into the fence holly again before then taking the ropes back to the main exhibit, reaching the hemlocks shortly after four.
hey foraged and played for a few hours before moving back to tree zero at 5:45 and into the nest box shortly after. At 7, Eduardo and Baby 1 could be seen sleeping on the upper level together while everyone else had disappeared below.
