Sound and Fury

The week started off blissful: I was experiencing the joys of the runner’s high, I followed Wrinkle Belly’s group to some interesting places in the forest, and a problem with the toughness tester appeared to be fixable by oiling the columns of the test frame. But somehow it all went downhill. The gringos who bought land in the forest have put barbed wire fences everywhere, which slows me down and increases my chances of getting impaled. Moreover, just when I thought the toughness tester was working properly, I got some weird values for some Genízaro leaves that I tested last night. According to the machine, these leaves were a whole lot tougher than some Genízaro leaves from a different tree they had eaten from just last week. So the jury is still out on the TT. It would be interesting if I had found that Genízaro leaf toughness varies depending on location in the forest, age of the tree, or exposure to sunlight, etc. Its true that toughness can vary according to all of these things, but after all of the troubles I’ve had with that machine, I’m more afraid that the damn thing just doesn’t work.

Today I went out to the forest with Jairo, who had been commissioned by Alvaro to film the monkeys. I’d been following the North Group (Wrinkle Belly) for several days, and today it was time to shift gears and find the South Group (Uno). Even when they aren’t making noise, I can generally find the South Group by walking along an old Rock Wall (it used to be some property boundary when the whole patch was a coffee plantation); they never seem to stray too far from that area. Immediately upon arriving at the Rock Wall, we found monkeys. I happily proclaimed this to be the South Group and Jairo began setting up his camera as I scouted out a juvenile of the right age to watch. As I was scanning the trees, I suddenly saw a most unexpected sight:. Wrinkle Belly. In the core of what has always been the South Group’s turf! The groups occasionally make forays into each other’s territories, but I had never, ever seen WB this far south.

Jairo stayed put while I went a little bit arriba, determined to find the real South Group. I found monkeys in some big trees up there that they like to hang out in sometimes. I scanned the trees for Uno, who could confirm for me that this was the South Group. Although I didn’t see him, I reasoned that if Wrinkle Belly’s group was along the Rock Wall, then it must be Uno’s group up here. I went back to tell Jairo that I’d found the South group, but when I got there, I saw a male monkey who had the pointy nostrils characteristic of Uno. As he shifted positions, I caught a glimpse of his posterior, and sure enough: only one. It was Uno, in the same area as Wrinkle Belly! Who in the heck had I been watching up above?!

Today was the first occasion in almost 6 months of watching monkeys that I have ever seen Uno and Wrinkle Belly in the same location. I was excited, but Jairo was so bored that he packed up the camera and left around 9:30. Immediately after Jairo left, pandemonium broke out that would have been film-worthy. There was massive howling from every direction and monkeys were flying, leaping, biting, and chasing each other through the trees. It was complete chaos, all of them were vocalizing at the top of their lungs and madly dashing all over the place. In addition to the North and South groups, I am pretty sure there was another group involved (its range borders this area as well). With about 15-20 monkeys per group, that’s a lot of sound and fury. They appeared to be negotiating who had dips on those super-tough Genízaro leaves—something that is not supposed to happen, according to all the leading theories on primate food competition (leaves are considered low-quality resources that aren’t supposed to be worth fighting over).

By the end of the day, I think that all the monkeys went to their rightful places again. I know howlers have the reputation of being the most boring of all primates, but they never cease to amaze me. After a full week of barbed wire, stinging ants, and TT stress, I am exhausted. I’ve got to make it one more day out there and then I’ll let myself sleep in. Thanks for reading.