After a long hiatus, it's back to blogging about owl monkeys. I google searched my name the other day for grant app purposes and I found this...and it reminded me of all the reasons I am so passionate about what I do. All the first accounts of the questions I had in relation to these pairs and their differences are on here.

I went into the woods Sunday morning. This comes after a long hiatus of 2 months due to grad school at FAU. However, the pairs have been doing great!

Austin and Wookie had their second infant during the Spring, and we saw really cool behaviors over the summer of the juvenile attempting to carry the infant. In true owl monkey fashion though, the male did carry most of the time. This enclosure also did a whole lot of foraging, and some social anointing! The juvenile was socially anointing with the the adult female without having touched the millipede. Scent possibly? However, he writhed next to her and on her with what seemed like only the incentive of smell. Very remarkable.

Actually, we saw A LOT of social and self anointing this summer. There was also an abundance of millipedes. Which comes back to the point that it seems the more they do it (anoint)...the more they want to do it.

Back to the pairs though, my last pairing of the summer was by far the most difficult and rewarding pairing I had in the two years of monitoring the program. It was Mochika and Vincent. We initially tried to pair them before I left to Duke for a month (unsuccessfully at that). Mochika, as is common to her, was very frightful of the sounds and thus quite spastic. Vincent responded in an active "pursuant" manner, and well...it backfired. Mochika ended up on the floor of her enclosure. Sian and I decided it was best to separate them. However, we decided we would try again. A while before I came back from Duke, Mochika went into Vincent's enclosure and Vincent went into Mochika's enclosure. We did pair them again, and it was exhausting - but alas successful. Mochika responded in the same manner as the first attempt to pair her, however, Vincent did not. This time Vincent was much more patient with her, and docile. He initiated contact often, but not aggressively. By the end of the night they had mated and groomed. Sunday I got word that Mochika is very much liking Vincent, and following him everywhere. Possibly, there may even be an infant on the way!

Talking about infants, there are 3 new infants in the woods (in addition to Austin and Wookie's)! That's 4 infants for the season, which is fantastic. One of them has a mohawk looking fro (Rhetsina's). Also, there is speculation of 1-3 more pregnancies currently in the woods. Can you imagine 3 more infants? All the cuteness! All the data!

Working on submitting the folia paper on social anointing with minor revisions (almost there), the locomotion project is working out, and the pair bond study is in great hands. I can't wait till December when I get to go back out to the woods again! Owl monkeys always open my eyes to new ways of seeing things, especially reproductive choices and success. To boost, they are so darn cute!

Betsy

We can not always understand everything, and in a way that maybe goes against science I don't think we are meant to. Betsy has proven this to me recently. There is a candle that's lit next to Peanut and Betsy's enclosure - right over his grave - and every night without fail it's like watching a religious experience take place. The match is lit in the dark of the night, it flickers ever so brightly, Betsy walks over lightly, her grey eyes glaze over and she begins to anoint, except there is nothing in her hands. She likes the light, and she's enjoying the last of her time enjoying life. It reminds us, or I should say Betsy reminds me to find joy amidst life's greatest disappointments. 

In Loving Memory of Peanut

This past week we said goodbye to a dear friend, Peanut, one of our resident owl monkeys. Peanut has been around as long as I can remember and then some. One of the first enclosures I got accustomed to watching on a regular basis when I started in 2006, was his. Over the years he and Betsy have given birth to many offspring - Crunchy, Creamy, Killer - to name a few. In fact, in the preliminary stages of my current project I used behavioral data from Betsy and Peanut, seeing trends between them to inspire my work. 

Peanut, carrying Crunchy, as many a devoted owl monkey father would do.

In his absence, he has moved many of us to tears but also to recollect many joyful stories and memories we shared with him. With an amazing personality, he lived out his last 18 years here at the Conservancy with Betsy by his side after spending years in a laboratory.

I'll always remember him as a beggar of grapes, an expect urinator for marshmallows, and most importantly a monkey who inspired not only many great studies, but people. He was living proof that in small things, great hope can be found. For two years now, I've had a picture of Peanut that sits on my bookshelf. It's a captivating image, and I am always going to hold it dear to my heart. 

A memorial service was held for Peanut the week after and in the upcoming days an edible garden will be planted in his name. So Peanut may you rest in peace, you will be missed dearly - not only by myself but by everybody at the DuMond Conservancy - past and present. 

 

~ Above is a video of Betsy, Peanut, and Crunchy grooming late at night. Captured with a Bushnell Trophy Cam in late March 2012, courtesy of a very talented student, Kiara Nydam.~

Did Jane Goodall Ever Cry?

I wondered the above, and even though I've read her books, I can't recall reading about tears. Maybe I overlooked it, or maybe someone told her it would be bad science. I wondered this today, as I sat and watched Connie, who is now alone again - "Did Jane Goodall ever cry during an observation?" I had to hold my tears back today. Sometimes, amidst your best efforts things still go wrong and they have. Re-pairing Connie and Spruce didn't go as well as we planned, to say the least, and we had to take him out again. I watched her today, and she almost seemed to be looking for him at the last place he was. I know there is no place for emotion in "science," but my heart is breaking. These aren't just my research subjects I watch every night, they are good friends - and it hurts to see them in such distress. I'm invested, and I care about their well being and happiness. If only they could speak.

Connie (left), and Spruce (right) - before the initial separation.

In brighter news, I saw Retsina play today! :) Which is something I hardly ever see them do, much less the adults. She was drinking water from her faucet and afterwards she'd watch the water drip down to the floor. She did this multiple times, and at one point just went over to the faucet and pressed down. It's like she was trying to understand..."where does the water go?" She'd watch it drip down, she'd stare at the floor, release, look back at the faucet and repeat the process. It made me laugh, and once again feel like I was discovering molten lava for the first time. I feel like that often though. I blame owl monkeys for being so remarkable.

According to Sian, Bob has a theory that they play with their water at night - and after what I saw Retsina do tonight - I'd say he may well be on to something! On that note, thank you Bob, for your spelling corrections to my blog! Sian did finally give them to me today - & I'm very appreciative of you taking the time to care! :)

Long lost urine...

I found myself watching monkeys last night, or lately I should say and when they urinate the thought that goes through my head is always along the lines of: "Nooo! Long lost urine! You could've been mine!" Yes, it's that serious. Almost heartbreaking at moments, especially when an individual urinates that you had been trying so hard to collect from.

Mrs. Fuzzy, begging: "Please?"

Mr. Fuzzy eating his marshmallows, after feverishly rubbing himself.

Alas, it's been an insanely busy week at the Conservancy. Today there was about 11 people in the woods (unhappy face insert here). WAY too many people. Thank God for Larissa who was watching Spruce be re-introduced to Connie with me, I had to hand her my clipboard half way through, because I had a migraine I felt was splitting my head in two. Spruce is on the floor. At least, that is where I left him. I think Connie smells Lilac on him and is super pissed off. I'm sure in the wild she would have rejected him. I mean, wouldn't you reject someone who left you for someone else? If only I could talk to her I'd say: "It wasn't his choice, it was ours, silly humans - and he was very unhappy." Maybe he'll speak up for himself and they can chill out again, all our cortisol levels could go down.

I had another run in with anointing yesterday. I had a photoshoot with the Fuzzies. Literally, that's what it felt like. Oh, and they asked me to anoint them. When they ran out of cinnamon coated marshmallows they looked at me, face to face, almost begging me...so I rubbed them with my cinnamon paper. They were in heaven. Obviously, they derive pleasure from this. Who can watch them and say they don't? Only someone with no common sense.

Connection and communication that occurs
without words is the most amazing kind.