Watch the GLTs on the web camIssue 20, October 15
Travel Paths
The monkeys only made one new venture this week, exploring Holly Hill down toward the construction area and crossing into the trees that line Elephant Walk near the bamboo screen. They moved past the bench holly and through the trees along the back of the picnic area. They crossed Elephant Walk through the paulownia near the path on that side and also moved down into the construction area about 20 feet past the fences.
New Hangouts
The family’s main new hangout this week was tree nine, the hollow stump. They spent a portion of everyday exploring and scent marking it and then finally spent the night in one of the holes on the back side of the tree on Thursday.
October 8: Grounded
The tamarins were just waking up and emerging from the lower level of the nest box at 6:55. They climbed straight up in trees zero and 2A probably seeking the sunshine but not finding much warmth on this cloudy morning. They foraged in the exhibit briefly before crossing to Holly Hill over the low black walnut. After moving about in the bench holly for 45 minutes, they all headed down toward the shed holly. They foraged in and around the holly, high in the branches. They headed back toward the low black walnut at 9:30 and after a brief rest in the bench holly, they crossed back to the main exhibit just before ten. They foraged and ate from the food tray for a few minutes before Laranja led them all back to Holly Hill.
After crossing over the low black walnut, they moved past the bench holly into the high black walnut, the white ash and the tupelo to forage. From there they continued through the trees along the back wall of the picnic area in the beech trees by the soda machines. After foraging for half an hour, they moved back toward the bench holly, but moved into the oak and then the smaller holly that lies close to Elephant Walk.
Shortly before 11, Baby 2 fell from a branch in the oak tree and hit the ground, missing the pavement walkway by about a foot. He was ok and immediately ran back up to join the family as they foraged through the branches. They settled into the Holly, sitting in a monkey ball and grooming each other on and off for two hours.
At 1:35, Laranja moved out of the holly, into the oak and moved into the tupelo and off toward the bench holly. The rest of the family followed soon after, all taking slightly different routes through the trees. They sat in the bench holly for a few minutes before moving into the small trees across from the low black walnut. Just before 2, Mara was playing with a nut in a tree and dropped it. Laranja watched it intently as it fell and then followed it down, hopping onto the ground to forage. After a minute, all four kids followed her and they all foraged and played on the ground. Mara discovered an open Coke bottle and played with it, thankfully losing interest before she found a way to get at the drink left inside.
They were all back up in the trees by 2:40 and Laranja jumped onto the low black walnut to cross a few minutes later. They all ran down and along the fence into their exhibit area. They foraged in the exhibit. Mara played in the Have a Heart trap for ten minutes by herself, reassuringly comfortable in the live trap should we ever need to catch them that way. At 4:30, they foraged in the hemlocks. Mara and Eduardo jumped to the ground to forage and Mara followed a squirrel around. At five, they moved back to tree zero and moved in and out of the nest box for a few minutes. By seven, they were all in and out of sight below the platform.
October 9: A Visit to the Neighbors
The monkeys were up and moving about their exhibit at 7 a.m. They crossed to Holly Hill shortly after 7:30, settling into the bench holly amidst the fog of the dreary morning. At 8:45, the GLTs moved into the white ash to forage. After a few minutes, a large flock of crows flew through, swooping low over the monkeys in the high branches. Most of the monkeys moved down lower in the canopy but Mara seemed torn between that and chasing them. They left after a minute or two and the GLTs resumed foraging.
At 9:30, they all moved through the white ash, into the tupelo and then into the trees along the back of the Picnic Area. Instead of moving into the holly like yesterday, they continued moving through the beech trees by the soda machines. At 9:50 Eduardo seemed intent on chasing a squirrel and followed it up and over the bamboo screen on Elephant Walk, crossing through the paulownia into the trees that line the Elephant Yard. The rest of the family followed and Laranja brought up the rear.
They foraged in the dense branches and bamboo until they discovered the elephants in the yard beyond them. Laranja let loose the alarm and they all moved as far out onto the branches toward their giant neighbors as they could manage, scolding them for invading their territory. The elephants paid them no attention and after a few minutes, the monkeys moved back into the trees to forage.
At 10:18, Mara made the cross back to Holly Hill and everyone quickly followed her. They moved back down into the beech trees by the pop machines. Instead of turning around and heading home, Laranja went the opposite direction into the trees in the construction area. The rest of the family followed and they foraged for about 20 minutes. Eduardo appeared to be looking for an easy route into the trees further into the construction area but gave up as the kids moved back toward Elephant Walk. At 10:52, everyone except Eduardo crossed back into the trees lining the Elephant Yard and they once again yelled at the elephants. Mara played in the bamboo, jumping onto a shaft of bamboo and hanging on as it bent under her weight, then running along it and climbing back up to jump on another one and ride it down.
Just after 11, they all crossed back to Holly Hill and then headed back toward the bench holly. They kept moving straight up and over the low black walnut into the main exhibit and down the fence. They foraged about the main exhibit for half an hour. At 11:30, Laranja led them all back to Holly Hill and again and they settled into the bench holly. They were mostly out of sight in a monkey ball high in the branches for three hours.
At 2:30, they moved down Holly Hill toward the shed holly, stopping to forage in the magnolia near Tamarin Run. Everyone except Eduardo jumped to the ground to forage and play for a few minutes before going back to the low black walnut. They crossed back to the main exhibit at 2:54. The GLTs foraged through the hemlocks and the trees by tree three.
At 4:30, they all jumped to the ground and played. They jumped on and off the ground from tree to tree and even onto the small black fence! Just before five, they all moved back into the trees and headed back to tree zero. They began to move in and out of the nest box at six and by seven, everyone was inside and settled under the platform for the evening.
October 10
The family foraged in the trees behind tree zero at 7 a.m. At 7:30 they moved to the low black walnut and crossed to Holly Hill. They all moved about the bench holly for half an hour before heading down toward the shed holly. They moved past the second holly and foraged in the trees by Olmsted Walk near Tamarin Run.
Shortly after nine, they turned around and headed for the low black walnut which they crossed over to the main exhibit at 9:30. They foraged briefly from the food tray and then moved through the hemlocks and up tree three. At ten, Mara crossed into the Red Light District, (the area of trees between the bathrooms and the main exhibit), through the branches over the path. While she foraged, Laranja took off down the ropes toward the low black walnut crossing and the rest of the family followed her back over to Holly Hill.
It took Mara a few minutes to realize that she was alone and when she did, she traded long calls back and forth with Laranja. After a minute or two, she crossed back into the hemlocks and went up tree four. She crossed from the top of tree four into the top of tree five and then went over the path into the high black walnut and joined her family in the bench holly. They settled into their favorite holly, moving in and out of a monkey ball for two hours.
Shortly after noon, they moved down toward the shed holly, stopping briefly to forage in the magnolias near Tamarin Run before continuing on. They foraged high in the branches of the shed holly for about 45 minutes before heading back to their typical crossing place and returning to the main exhibit at 1.
The kids played in the box for a few minutes, wrestling and pulling each other down below the platform. At 1:45 they all foraged in the trees behind tree three coming very close to the path along Valley Trail. At about two they moved in the hemlocks and rested and groomed one another in between bouts of foraging.
Shortly after 4:30, they moved back to tree zero and started their late afternoon movement in and out of the box. By 5:45, they were all in and settled under the platform for the rest of the evening.
October 11: Overnight in the Vacation Home
The monkeys were up and moving about their exhibit at 7 a.m. as usual. They crossed to Holly Hill at 7:45 over the low black walnut. They moved about restlessly but were unable to find the sun on this chilly, overcast morning. They foraged through the trees all along the hill, finding a squirrel’s nest here and there and moving halfway down toward the shed holly before turning around and coming back to the low black walnut.
They crossed back to the main exhibit at 9:15. At 9:25, a horticulture employee entered the exhibit to cut some ivy and the monkeys reacted typically, yelling until he left. They foraged about their exhibit and then moved down the ropes to tree nine. They explored the hollow tree stump, moving in and out of the holes on the back side for half an hour. At 10:45 they headed back to the main exhibit and foraged. Shortly after 11, the GLTs moved into the nest box and spent some time together out of sight under the platform. At 11:45 they moved back out into the cool air and head back to tree nine again. They disappeared into the holes or their vacation home for 45 minutes.
At 12:45 they moved back to their main exhibit area once again, foraging through the trees. At 1:45 they were in the nest box, snuggled together under the platform for warmth until 2:20. Then they emerged into the windy afternoon for another hour of foraging. At 4:15 they were back in the box and appeared to be settled in for the evening. At five, there was a mass exodus from the nest box as a deer entered the exhibit. They yelled at the deer until it was out of sight and then Laranja led them all down the ropes toward tree nine. They disappeared into the holes of the hollow tree stump and were out of sight for the rest of the evening.
October 12: Sleeping In
The family slept late in the vacation home, not emerging from the holes on tree nine until 7:40 a.m. Laranja was the first one out and the others followed her back toward the nest box and the food trays to eat. They crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut at 8:15 and settled into the bench holly. They stayed mostly out of sight in the high branches in a monkey ball in the sun for an hour and a half.
At ten they moved down toward the shed holly, foraging high in the branches of the trees along the way. They made it as far as tree 32 before turning around and moving back toward the low black walnut. At 10:48 they crossed back to the main exhibit, everyone taking the ropes except for Mara and Eduardo who ran along the fence line. They moved about the hemlocks, foraging and then settling into a monkey ball for most of the afternoon.
At 4:30, they moved down the ropes to tree nine and disappeared into the tree holes. It appeared that they might spend a second night in their new nest but shortly before five, they emerged and headed back to the nest box. By 5:15, they were all below the platform inside their box on tree zero and were out of sight for the rest of the evening.
October 13: Tug of Worm
The GLTs were out of their nest box before 7 a.m. and moving around their exhibit area. At eight they moved down the ropes and briefly explored tree nine before heading past it into Tree 13 and the fence holly. They foraged among the china berry vines for almost an hour before heading back to tree nine. Eduardo scent marked the openings to the holes on the back side of the tree and then followed the rest of the family back to the main exhibit.
Moe did not follow and was nowhere to be seen as the rest of the family foraged near tree five. After a few minutes, he long called a few times and Laranja replied. He did not join the family until a new food tray was hung up and he emerged from the tops of the trees to join in the feasting. Just before ten, they all crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut and settled into the bench holly. They were mostly out of sight very high in the sunny branches for two hours. At 12:15 they moved out of the holly and foraged along the hill, going as far as tree 33 before turning around and crossing over the low black walnut back to the main exhibit. They foraged about the exhibit area for the next few hours.
At 2:40, Mara was climbing high up in tree four when a blue jay flew over close to her. She ran and dropped from the branch, perhaps thinking it was a hawk and fell six meters before catching herself in the hemlock. The GLTs entertained themselves for a while foraging for mealworms and earthworms from the PVC feeder. Everyone gave up after a few minutes except for Moe, who continued to pull determinedly at the PVC rings covering the holes. Twice he succeeded at pulling out an earthworm but twice a baby swooped out of nowhere and stole it, running off to eat the prize himself.
Finally, Moe caught a third and sat eating it slowly. A baby came by to investigate and Moe chattered loudly, running up in the holly to the left of tree four. Eduardo came over and solicited a food share but Moe chattered a warning at him too and continued to eat it. Eduardo grabbed one end of the worm and the tug of war resulted in both of them having half a worm. Moe continued to savor his prize until Laranja came over and took it from him despite his frantic efforts at avoiding her.
At 4:30 they headed to tree nine, moving in and out of the tree holes and foraging along the trunk. At 4:45, Eduardo led them all back down the ropes toward the main exhibit and they settled into the nest box. Aside from a monkey coming to the top level now and then to groom or look briefly outside, they were out of sight below the platform for the rest of the night.
October 14: Sun Soaked
The family slept in again, not leaving the nest box until 7:12. The monkeys foraged about the main exhibit and moved high up into tree five. At 8:25, the babies initiated a crossing by moving through the branches high over the path into the high black walnut. Mara followed them and they moved into the bench holly. Laranja and Eduardo moved toward the high crossing but changed their minds, perhaps due to the visual gap created now that the leaves have fallen from the small branches to which they usually jump. Moe hung back for about ten minutes but finally crossed into the top of the low black walnut and over to join them. They settled into the high branches of the bench holly for three hours, again seeking the sun on this cool fall morning.
At 11:40, they all crossed back over the low black walnut, Laranja and the babies taking the ropes and the rest running along the fence. They foraged briefly near the nest box and then congregated on the extra nest box holder on tree 2A, making it brilliant with the golden color of monkeys in the sun. They headed straight up the trunk into the very top of the tree and moved about foraging for half an hour. When they moved back down, they headed into the trees behind tree zero and foraged there as well, moving very close to Tamarin Run and for a brief time it appeared they might cross to Bird Hill.
At one, they turned around and settled near the nest box instead, then moving down into the hemlocks to forage and form a monkey ball. Shortly after four, Moe went down the ropes toward tree nine. Everyone but Eduardo followed him but they only made it as far as tree six before turning around. At 4:20, they all settled into the nest box, moving between the levels. Shortly after five, it appeared that the babies were attempting to nurse on Laranja. After that, they all settled below the platform and were mostly out of sight for the rest of the evening.
