Search

Issue 18, October 1

Travel Paths

Lots of travel paths this week as the family went somewhere different every day! The paths that the monkeys are using to cross to Holly Hill are somewhat diversifying. They usually still take the low black walnut, sometimes they use the ropes and sometimes they go up tree five and climb down into the top of it before running across. They also sometimes climb all the way to the top of tree five and cross over into the high black walnut. On their way back, they almost always take the low black walnut to the fence though sometimes part of the family follows Laranja down the ropes. Moe almost always takes the fence though so it is a good idea to clear it just in case. Now and then when they climb to the low black walnut on the ropes, they jump on the fence instead of crossing, running along it to the fence holly or farther to tree 15.

This week they crossed to Holly Hill at tree 15, Eduardo crossing above the path and everyone else running across of the pavement. One day they visited the Holly just past the bench holly along Elephant Walk taking a circle through the high black walnut to the white ashto the tupelo into the oak and then into the holly. They returned through the same trees. They also crossed into the trees that line the elephant yard one day, moving through the branches above Elephant Walk.

The other completely new travel path that they used this week was crossing into the Red Light District through the hemlocks and then crossing to Bird Hill over the road that runs by the bathroom. They went up Bird Hill and Eduardo even crossed the path that runs by the Bird House. They all crossed back the way they had come except for Eduardo who crossed into the Red Light District on the ground.

New Hangouts

With the family visiting a different area every day, the monkeys have quite a repertoire of hangouts. They still have their tried and true areas of bench and shed hollies and they spend a good deal of time foraging all along Holly Hill. They spent a little bit of time in the holly just past the bench holly on Elephant Walk, the trees lining the Elephant Yard, the fence holly, all along the fence, in tree 15 and the tall tree stump behind it. They made one trip to Bird Hill and all the way up to the Bird House. A typical day also now includes a trip to explore the holes in tree nine. But their favorite place to hang out is still in the hemlocks and the surrounding trees.

September 24: Whooooo Are You Yelling at?

The week started chilly with the family up and moving around high on the trunk of tree 2A at 7 a.m. They crossed to Holly Hill at 7:46 over the low black walnut. They settled into the bench holly high in the sun for half an hour. At 8:33, a deer walked by under the holly and the monkeys became very agitated, climbing low and yelling at the intruder. They followed the deer as it moved toward the shed holly, stopping to forage near tree 32.

The whole family crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut at 9:23. They ate and were back on the ropes headed toward the low black walnut at 9:45. Laranja and Eduardo crossed over to the bench holly while the kids explored tree nine. Once they realized their parents had left, the babies crossed over the low black walnut, followed shortly by Mara and Moe. They all settled into a monkey ball high in the branches of the bench holly, breaking up now and then when the kids moved off to play.

At 12:35 Laranja led everyone back over the low black walnut to the main exhibit and they foraged in the hemlocks. Shortly before two, Eduardo led them to the Red Light District (the area of trees between the main exhibit and the bathrooms) and they foraged through the trees, coming down low near the path and then moving into the trees on the far side of the area.

At 2:40, Eduardo crossed over the road that leads to the Bird House through the overhanging branches onto Bird Hill. He hesitated for a moment while the rest of the family started to cross and then headed straight up the hill like a monkey with a mission.

By the time we caught up with him on the path by the bird house, he was a foot away from the outdoor barred owl exhibit, predator calling at the owls. They watched him closely as he ran back and forth in the trees around the exhibit, calling agitatedly. The rest of the family spread out over the hill below him. Laranja was the farthest down, taking several minutes to finally follow everyone across and then sticking close to the lower road as she long called up to her mate who was out of sight. Every time she called he would look back her direction but made no move to return.

He scent marked the trees in the area and alarm called even more when he spotted the Stanley crane in its exhibit. He looked like he was trying to find a route in the trees that would take him closer to the large bird and almost jumped onto the concrete arbor that covers the path along the outdoor bird exhibits. He even crossed the path and climbed within 15 feet of the Bird House building before finally turning around and climbing back down the hill. Mara was the only one to climb up as far as he did, though Baby 1 was only a tree or two behind. They all crossed back over the path the same way they had come as he came back down the hill. Eduardo couldn’t find the right route through the trees and ended up climbing down to the ground to cross back into the Red Light District, stopping momentarily to perch on top of the stop light that is the namesake for the area.

By 3:45, the last monkey was crossing back into the main exhibit much to the relief of the many watchers who did a great job keeping track of them as they scaled the hill. They all settled into the hemlocks, resting after their latest adventure. At 4:24 a deer wandered through the exhibit, disturbing the short period of peace. At five they all moved briefly to tree zero before taking the ropes to explore tree nine. They moved in and out of the holes for half an hour before going back to the nest box and settling in for the night. At 7 they were all inside and Mara could be seen sitting with the babies above the platform.

September 25: Weights

The family was up and foraging around the exhibit at 7 and soon after crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut. They foraged in the trees near Elephant Walk before settling into the bench holly. At 8:20 they moved down toward the shed holly and into the trees past it, foraging. Shortly before nine, they turned around and moved back into the bench holly where they sat in a monkey ball high in the branches for an hour.

A few minutes before ten, Laranja led everyone back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They eat from the food tray near the nest box for a few minutes and then Laranja takes the lead yet again on the crossing back to Holly Hill. She moved off toward the shed holly right away and the others started to follow until Baby 1 got stranded in tree 34. He called for a few minutes and Eduardo came to his rescue, carrying him into the bench holly. Laranja persisted in trying to lead them all to the shed holly for a minute before giving up and joining everyone in the bench holly. The kids played and the family moved in and out of a monkey ball high in the branches.

At noon they all moved in the direction of the shed holly but stopped at to forage at the clump of magnolias near the path. At 12:45 they all moved back toward the bench holly and Laranja crossed back to the main exhibit followed by Mara and Baby 2. They ate for a few minutes and then Laranja and Mara crossed back over to Holly Hill. Baby 2 lagged behind and found himself alone, he started to call out in distress before climbing up tree five and over into the top of the low black walnut and across to join the family in the bench holly. They were once again in one big monkey ball high in the tree for another half an hour.

The ball broke up around 1:45 and Laranja and the babies moved over toward the low black walnut and foraged before crossing to the main exhibit followed by the rest of the family. They all came down to be weighed at the scale platform between trees zero and five. The weights for this week are as follows:

  • Laranja–690g
  • Eduardo–766g
  • Mara–532g
  • Moe–480g
  • Baby 1–306g
  • Baby 2–300g

After weighing, they all moved to the hemlocks, where they foraged, played, and rested for a few hours. At 5:30, they moved back to tree zero and were in and out of the box, playing and grooming each other for the next few hours. By seven, they were all asleep below the platform except for Eduardo who rested above.

September 26

The monkeys were up and moving early, climbing high in tree eight. They came down and crossed to Holly Hill at 7:37 led by the babies. They climbed from tree eight straight into the top of the low black walnut and across. They stayed in the bench holly for half an hour before moving down toward the shed holly. At 8:45 they headed back toward the bench holly climbing past it into the high black walnut then the white ash into the tupelo and then toward Elephant Walk into the oak and the small holly that sits to the left of the bench holly. They foraged and played in these two trees for half an hour before returning to the bench holly, everyone taking a different route through the trees.

Shortly after 9:30 they all crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They ate from the food tray and foraged for meal worms in the bromeliad hung by tree five. A few minutes after ten, they crossed back over to Holly Hill. Baby 2 got left behind and Eduardo had to climb back over to help him find his way across.

They spent the next two hours moving about the bench holly, foraging, grooming, and resting. At one, they all moved toward the shed holly, foraging along the way. They were resting in the trees around tree 32 when two squirrels chasing each other ran straight through the middle of the bunch. Everyone shot straight up the trees and alarm called before running the rest of the way to the shed holly.

Shortly before two, they returned to the low black walnut where they crossed back to the main exhibit. They all foraged through the hemlocks and the babies played in the box for a fee minutes. Shortly after four, the kids and Eduardo played and foraged on the ground under the hemlocks for half an hour. They moved back toward trees zero and five and ate from the food tray. At 5:45 they all went down to tree nine and explored it for half an hour before returning to the nest box. They disappeared under the platform at 6:15 and except for a few trips to the top half of the box and once or twice to the limb just outside it, they were out for the night.

September 27

The GLTs were out foraging around tree five at 7 a.m. and then played and groomed each other in the hemlocks. At 7:35, Laranja led the cross over the low black walnut to Holly Hill. Moe took his time and crossed from tree seven into the top of the low black walnut and over to Holly Hill at 7:40. They moved about the bench holly for half an hour before heading toward the shed holly and into the trees beyond it. They foraged low in the branches and near the path.

Shortly after nine, they moved back into the shed holly and half an hour later they headed back to the bench holly. At 9:56 they all crossed back to the main exhibit to eat. They only stayed at the food tray for a few minutes, crossing back to Holly Hill at 10:11. Mara lagged behind and explored tree nine for a few minutes before crossing after the others at 10:15. They all settled into the bench holly, staying mostly out of sight high in the branches. Laranja sat apart from the others for the most part, laying with her tail wrapped around herself oddly. Mara came down and tried to groom her at 10:45, rasping and Laranja rebuked her, jumping away.

They stayed in the bench holly until 1:45, moving in and out of a monkey ball and playing through the branches. Shortly before 2 p.m. they headed toward the shed holly, foraging in the magnolias near the path and then playing on the ground around tree 33. At 2:45 they headed back toward the low black walnut and crossed back to the main exhibit. They foraged and ate from the food tray hung by tree four.

At 3:20, Mara jumped onto the fence and played with the rolling graphics. At five, everyone jumped to the ground under the hemlocks, playing, foraging, and scent marking the large rocks that jut up out of the dirt. At 5:30 they all headed back toward tree zero and moved in and out of the nest box. At 6:10, two Zoo employees took a short cut down Holly Hill and Eduardo heard them moving through the leaves. He raced over to tree four and watched them until they were out of sight before returning to the nest box. At seven they were all asleep inside.

September 28: Drizzle

The monkeys were still in their nest box at 6:45 a.m., moving around but were out by 6:55. They all crossed to Holly Hill at 7:30 following Eduardo who went straight up tree five and over into the high black walnut. They moved down the bench holly and sat in the foraged in the rubber tree next to Elephant Walk.

Shortly after eight, the family moved down toward the shed holly. Moe got left behind and he long called, following once Laranja replied. They moved past the shed holly and foraged through the trees for a few minutes. They returned to the low black walnut and crossed back to the main exhibit at nine. They ate from the food trays and spent a few minutes in the nest box as it started to rain lightly. The drizzle stopped shortly after it began and the GLTs all crossed back to Holly Hill at 9:50.

For the next two and a half hours they were mostly out of sight in the top of the bench holly in a monkey ball. At 12:40 they moved down toward the shed holly where they stopped and played on top of the shed. A few minutes after 11, they moved back to the low black walnut and crossed to the main exhibit once again. They played and foraged in the hemlocks for a few hours. Moe was seen mounting and play copulating with Mara at 3:40. They all headed back to the nest box at five, disappearing below the level for most of the cool evening. At seven, both babies were visible sleeping together on the top level.

September 29: Their Feet Can’t Reach the Pedals!

The family started their day by foraging in the trees behind tree three at 7:15 a.m. They moved into the hemlocks soon after and then foraged in the bromeliad on tree five. Shortly before eight they all crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut. They moved about the bench holly for half an hour before heading down to the shed holly, foraging along the way. They moved back toward the bench holly at 9:30 and Mara and Moe found a squirrel’s nest in tree 34. They climbed into it and foraged for insects.

At 9:40 they all crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. Laranja and the babies took the ropes the rest of the way but Eduardo, Moe, and Mara took the fence as usual. They ate for a few minutes before crossing back to Holly Hill. Everyone took the low black walnut except for Mara, who climbed up tree five and over into the top of the low black walnut and across. They settled into a large monkey ball high in the branches of the bench holly for the next two hours.

At 12:15 they foraged along the path toward the shed holly, eating berries from the vine that grow through the magnolias close to Tamarin Run. At 12:50 they moved through the trees close to Elephant Walk, hanging out over the path and yelling at visitors. Shortly after one, they moved to the low black walnut and crossed to the fence.

An employee had parked his electric cart on Tamarin Run while waiting for the monkeys to finish crossing. Laranja and the babies ran by it on the fence without taking any notice but when Mara reached it, she stopped and stared. She jumped down to the pavement and the driver got out of the cart a few seconds before Mara jumped into it! Moe followed her lead and they climbed all over the frame, on the seat, and on the steering wheel. They paid no attention to the large crowd that was forming or the rather stressed intern who was watching them. They climbed under the car and looked like they might be thinking about climbing up into the engine when they apparently lost interest and moved back into the exhibit. Once they were out of the car it was discovered that not only was there an open can of grape soda but also a rolled-up bag of potato chips that we are very grateful they did not discover! Yikes!

After eating from the food tray for a few minutes, Mara jumped from the hemlocks and onto the fence, perhaps looking to see where her new toy went. She foraged behind the signs and Baby 2 followed her. They both played for a few minutes before jumping back into the exhibit. At 1:30 all the kids played on the ground under the hemlocks and then on the fence again.

Shortly before two, Eduardo went down the ropes toward the low black walnut where he jumped onto the fence. Everyone followed him and they ran down to their favorite trash can. They played and scent marked on the trash can before continuing down the fence. They moved to tree 15 and the tall tree stump behind it where they foraged. The tree stump has bark that is coming loose in large sheets and when the kids managed to break off a chunk that was several feet long, they almost went crashing down with it. Eduardo climbed up into the trees that overhang the pathway and crossed to Holly Hill followed by Mara and the babies. After a minute or two, Mara and the babies crossed back and moved back down toward the fence. Eduardo moved down low in the trees on the Holly Hill side, looking like he might cross back on the path. They spent a few minutes separated but not seeming too stressed by it.

Shortly after three, Mara jumped into the road and ran across to the stone wall by her father. She ran along it for a few feet and then sat. The babies followed her running back and forth on the pavement from one side to another. Moe and Laranja each made their way down and across the road eventually, taking their time as they crossed. Once Laranja was up the other side and into the trees, the babies followed. Once reunited, the family moved to the shed holly and the kids played on the roof of the shed, wrestling and rolling down the sloping sides. They slowly made their way back toward the low black walnut and crossed back to the main exhibit at four and made it all the way in this time without being distracted by any vehicles. They foraged and played in the hemlocks, spending several minutes on the ground inside the exhibit. At five, they moved back to tree zero and disappeared into the nest box, making only a few more appearances the rest of the evening. At seven, only Eduardo was visible sleeping above the platform.

September 30: Squirrel Attack!

           

The family was once again up and foraging around the exhibit at seven. They crossed over to Holly Hill at 7:20 over the low black walnut. They stayed mostly out of sight in the high branches of the bench holly for an hour, sitting in the sun on this chilly morning. At 8:20 they moved down toward the shed holly and into the trees beyond it to forage. They sat in a monkey ball in the shed holly for a half an hour at 9:30 before waking up and heading slowly back toward the bench holly.

At 10:20 they crossed over the low black walnut back to the main exhibit to eat. They didn’t stay long, crossing back at 10:46 and settling into the bench holly. They stayed in a monkey ball in the branches high in the sun for an hour. Shortly after noon, they climbed out of the holly and foraged in the trees along Elephant Walk. They crossed over the path through the branches above it and foraged in the trees lining the Elephant Yard for a few minutes before turning around and moving back into the bench holly.           

A few minutes after one, they crossed back over to the main exhibit once again over the low black walnut. They foraged briefly in the exhibit and then everyone followed Laranja down to tree nine. They explored the holes in the hollow tree stump, disappearing inside for a few minutes. They moved back to the main exhibit area by 2 p.m. and foraged some more. They ate from the food tray and pulled meal worms out of their mop head enrichment. The babies were so intent on their hunt for insects that they vanished into the center of the mop several times before popping out with a mealworm held triumphantly in their hands. The kids played in the hemlocks, practicing acrobatics and chasing each other. Baby 2 climbed far out on the branches of the hemlock to the left of tree four, stood up on his hind feet, and scolded any people who ventured too close. They all continued to forage, groom, and play around the hemlocks for a few hours.          

Eduardo jumped down to the large rock between trees three and four and scent marked it shortly after 4 p.m. At five, Mara chased a squirrel up one of the hemlocks and apparently she caught it because they were suddenly a ball of fur, both yelling in sharp, agitated chirps. The squirrel ran up and away and Mara ran down to a lower branch, her fur standing straight up all over her body. She sat still for a moment and then was off toward the nest box, jumping from rope to rope in huge leaps. She disappeared under the platform of the nest box and the rest of the family followed her. They stayed inside the rest of the evening, mostly out of sight below the platform after six. At seven, Eduardo could be seen sleeping above with a baby.

Share