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June 02, 2004
A Howler Monkey Climbs into the Boat
Suddenly, Tita and Tasso
started barking more aggressively than they had ever
barked before. Abelardo was paddling over, telling us that he wanted to
introduce as to a new friend... While paddling home that afternoon,
he had seen something black moving in the water. He paddled over, and a
hand
reached over the side of his boat. As he braced his little dugout
canoe, a juvenile Howler Monkey climbed into his boat. This is rather
unusual; the howlers here are very shy, probably because the are
occasionally hunted by humans for food.
Choni also came over, and we handed the monkey some Papaya.
Unfortunately,
this was the only fruit we had, and it was cold from being in the
fridge. Little monkey was rather puzzled by the cold fruit, and he was
cold to begin with from his long swim.
We think that the whole group swam across the bay to move to the island, and this little guy couldn't make it. Abelardo probably saved his life.
The whole time, the dogs were barking; and definitely scaring our little friend. I love the wary look on his face in this picture. Very human...
It
got dark quickly, and little monkey tried to jump in the water, then
remembered that water is wet, and held onto both the boat with
his hands and the dock with his tail. He did not look quite as human,
wet and in the dark. We eventually unwrapped his strong tail, and Abe
paddled home with him, setting him free at his destination.Ever since, he occasionally here a happy reunited group of howler monkeys on the island -- not just on the mainland any more.
Posted by rick at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)