Alone at Naranjo and Lost Monkeys

My internet has not been working for like a week, which explains why I have not posted in a while. Ahh! Technology – so wonderful and so incredibly annoying at the same time. So, I wrote the following on the 18th with the intention of posting it then… Hopefully I can get my computer fixed and will get back to posting regularly soon!

A lone capuchin separated from its group, either by force or accident, cannot survive long on its own. It will quickly succumb to starvation or predation or aggression from other monkeys. I felt a little bit like a lone capuchin when I went to the beach on my day off the day before yesterday. The beach is about a 3 hour walk one way from the alberque along a very rough road, and the beach is therefore pretty isolated. Its Playa Naranjo, where Witch’s Rock is, which I guess is a pretty sweet surf spot. It was featured in the movie Endless Summer 2, which I have yet to see. I went there by myself, since I was the only one here who had a day off. The walk was long, but not too bad in the beginning. There’s a look out about an hour into the walk, where I took this picture.

My first view of the Pacific in weeks! The last hour was torture, though, I had no idea how much longer I had to walk, it was midday and freakin’ hot and I just wanted to get there already. When I arrived, I walked straight through the campground, toward the sound of crashing waves, and onto the beach. The beach is huge. It went in both directions for a least a mile, probably more. And there was not a soul on it. There were a few people in the campground, which you can’t see from the beach because its blocked by vegetation. So I had the entire beach to myself.

I change into my bathing suit and head for the water. It was not Caribbean warm, but more like So. Cal. warm. It took a couple minutes to get used to it, but after that it was heaven. Since I was unfamiliar with this beach, I was a little hesitant to go too far out. I was pretty tired from the walk, and I got (maybe unnecessarily) worried that if I got caught in a rip current or something I wouldn’t be able to swim back to shore. Like Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice, but with no John Garfield to swim me back to shore. So I stayed in water that was no deeper than about waist deep, which I am a little embarrassed to admit. I was just very aware that if anything happened to me, there was no one, like no one, who was there to help me. It was a weird feeling being alone in the water on that beach. Especially for someone for likes to and needs to have a lot of alone time. Maybe I’m more dependent on the company of others than I think.

I lost the monkeys yesterday. Valerie and I were out searching for them, and she found them early in a place they’ve been frequenting. But, they went through an area with really dense underbrush, and we had trouble doing our behavioral follows. And they went to the middle of nowhere, at least by our standards and in terms of trails. They were a good 500m from the nearest trail, and they haven’t been more than 200m this whole time. So, Valerie went in early, since she was going to wake them up, and I stayed to put them to bed. Valerie was slightly concerned about leaving me so far from the trail and me having to bushwhack back in the dark. But, I felt comfortable, so I let her leave. About 15 minutes later the monkeys start heading east, towards the trail and their core area. They weren’t moving too fast. Then the alpha male starts lost calling, which I thought was weird since obviously he’s with the group, but monkeys were answering him, so I think maybe he was calling to round the group up. Then everyone starts moving quickly, and I’m staying with them, moving at a brisk pace but not quite a run. It was fairly open, so I could move easily. Then they start running. Like galloping. One of the females was carrying a juvenile and he looked like a jockey on a thoroughbred. Then I made what I think was my fatal mistake. There was a scuffle, and I turned around to see who it was, because we’re supposed to record aggressive behavior. So I figure out who it is, and by the time I turn back to Baba and the other monkeys, they’re gone. So, I turn back to Albus and Crabbe, the only monkeys I had. And they start running. I run after them, but lose them pretty quickly. When I say run, I really mean run. Saying that I chase monkeys through the forest is not hyperbole. I keep running in the direction they were heading, and caught a flash of a monkey, then ran into some bromeliads (large aloe-like plants with spines) that I had to go around, and that pretty much stopped the chase. I was pretty disappointed. I did my best to stay with them, that’s the most I could do, but I was still pretty bummed that I lost them. I searched for them along the trails until dark, then had to give up. Valerie was going to go out for a half day today, but since we didn’t know where the monkeys were sleeping, she didn’t. So, we lost out on some data.

Oh, after the monkeys rested yesterday they came across an area where a bunch of stink bugs had laid their eggs (the green things stuck to the trees). The monkeys were so happy, making their little happy foraging monkey sounds. And they were really mellow. Usually when they’re feeding down low, they are a little more vigilant, especially Baba. But with the eggs, I guess since there was more than enough for everybody, they didn’t seem to mind me getting really close. There were a lot of adult stink bugs around, too, and on some trees, when the monkeys would jump on them, a bunch of adults would fly off. Pretty cool.

One of the monkeys, Minerva I think, caught a squirrel. Then Albus, who is pictured here, stole it from her. I saw the squirrel with various monkeys throughout the afternoon, so the monkeys seemed to get a lot out of the one carcass.

Anya arrived today. She’s working with birds and will be here through August. Funny thing, I actually applied to be her assistant here. I mentioned this to her, and she said she got like 200 responses to the ad for the position. It made me appreciate a little more how lucky I am to be here and how many people would like to be in my place. Hopefully that thought will make me be a little more appreciative!

One of our study groups came through the central park area today, and it was right after I had bought an ice cream bar at the commissary. My dream of watching monkeys and eating ice cream came true.

Anya brought a new mosquito net for me with her. Its much daintier than the military one I was using, and is free from moth holes. Smells like victory.

Monkey Boot Camp

I’ve had some great days and some less than great days. The last two field days I went out, the first day was great. Following the monkeys was easy, I was doing well with the IDs, I was following a monkey in the morning that rested which meant I got to rest. It was all in all a really great day. And, I decided that I wanted to wake up the monkeys the next today, so I got to head home a little early.

I think it was mostly because I didn’t get a good night’s sleep that the second day didn’t go so well. My room is right next to the table that most people hang out at, and the windows in my room along the ceiling are mesh wire, so they’re open and essentially its like whoever is at the table talking might as well be sitting in my room talking. Which is fine. That is life in a communal space. But, I had to get up at like 3:30, so I went to bed pretty early. I tried to fall asleep, but I couldn’t help but listen to the conversation right outside my room. So, I decided to put earplugs in. But this made me a little nervous about missing my alarm in the morning, and I had a weird dream about cats turning into monkeys with their ears chewed off; so, I did not sleep well. (As a side note, I had a dream last night that I went to the library and half of it was under water and you had to scuba dive to check out your books, which is kind of a cool idea, I think. And there was this one part that had tons of great white sharks, and I saved this old man from committing suicide by diving into it.)

Anyway, I only got like 4 hours of sleep. Which, for some people is not an awful thing, but for me, I need my sleep, like 9 hours of it. 4 just does not cut it. So, I wake up the monkeys, which went fine. I was able to follow the trail in the dark better this time, and the moon was out, so I didn’t even need my headlamp when I was walking on the paved road. The monkeys were already awake and moving when I arrived at 5am. And they were moving fast. They dispersed quickly, but I managed to follow them pretty well. I did have a mini tantrum / break down over the dense underbrush that I had to crash through. The monkeys were just moving through a large area with really dense underbrush, and I was constantly having to fight with vines and low branches and the like. When the monkeys are moving fast, you are watching them while you’re moving, and are therefore not looking where you’re going, and its easy to get tangled up, which happens frequently. Normally I just crash through it or try to untangle myself, but this morning at a particularly bad patch, I got caught up, couldn’t get free, and just got irrationally frustrated (break down). I violently crashed through the vines with complete disregard for their well being and flung the dismembered pieces to the side (tantrum). Then I was fine. All in all, it lasted about 10 seconds. Not bad, but I did really lose my temper.

Quickly after that, the monkeys slowed down to eat, and I did a few practice behavioral follows. Valerie met me around 7:30, and we followed the monkeys to a rest stop, where they rested for a couple hours. Which was nice. That’s when this picture was taken. (If you look above me and to the right, you can make out Baba, the alpha male. He’s not looking at the camera, uncooperative monkey.) When the monkeys started moving again, Valerie suggested that I practice calling out behaviors while she did a follow, so she could see what I was seeing, and correct me as needed. So, I started doing that, and after a couple minutes my brain just stopped working, and I just stopped talking. I completely and utterly spaced out. Now, I freely admit to being a space cadet. I admit that quite a bit of the time my head is in the clouds, but usually not when I’m on task and on the spot. But I spaced out, and worse, I didn’t really notice that I had spaced out. Until Valerie gave me this look of confusion and annoyance, and started calling out the behaviors which I should have been calling out. So, I felt really stupid. I felt like she thought that I couldn’t tell the difference between when a monkey is traveling, grooming, or foraging. When, really, I can. I think its just because I’m not used to calling out the behaviors that made it more difficult for me. That coupled with a complete brain fart just resulted in me looking like an idiot.

A little bit about Valerie. I like Valerie. She’s high energy and talkative, very smart, and I enjoy spending time with her. She's very thoughtful; when I bought my replacement camera, I forgot to buy a memory card, and she gave me hers to borrow, without me even having to ask for it. She’s definitely type A. She likes to plan and be in control. And, really, she has little control over anything in the field. Not what the monkeys do, where they go, whether we can find them or not, how fast I learn to accurately and precisely collect behavioral data. All of which I know is hard for someone who hasn’t done field work before and likes to be in control. And she’s undertaking an extremely ambitious project and is under a lot of stress, which I recognize and understand. Valerie’s also an only child, and (and I really hope I’m not offending anyone who may be reading this, especially if they themselves are an only child :) I think when you grow up alone you just miss something. I don’t know what it is, but there is this, um, sharpness to her sometimes. The same thing that I’ve noticed in other only children. I think only children have all the anxiety and tension that got embedded into them from their parents who were going through parenthood for the first time, and were totally freaked out themselves. But, they didn’t have any younger siblings to a) take their aggression out on and b) just mellow them out. I don’t know if sharpness is the right word, but sometimes her tone is just… harsh. And I’m such a sensitive soul… but seriously, she can be a little intense. One other thing I’ve noticed, is, I think because she likes to be control, if I, or someone else, is doing something that is not necessarily the exact same way that she would do it, I think she has difficulty seeing that the end result would be the same, even if the method is different. I think she just sees “That person isn’t doing that the way I would do it, therefore the end result might be wrong.” And sometimes I have energy to explain why I’m doing something the way I’m doing it, but when it comes to mundane stuff like cutting vegetables or putting groceries on the conveyer belt, I just don’t have energy to explain myself. So, I just let it go, but I still get secretly a little annoyed that I appear less than competent and need to be ‘corrected’, just because I don’t want to have to explain my particular, perfectly good method of doing things.

So, back to the bad day. So, we follow the monkeys a little longer, and I was having a horrible day with IDs. Every monkey I looked at looked like one of 4 monkeys, when in fact there are about 20 adult monkeys in our group that we need to recognize. And I messed up a few other times. I won’t go into details, because it would take far too long for me to type out, but I didn’t really mess up in truth, so much as just not fully explain myself, so it just looked like I really didn’t know what I was talking about. I also think because it was the second field day, I was more tired and just had a long day in general.

The next day we had a data day, which means we weren’t in the field. Valerie and I went over how to enter some of the data, and at the end of our ‘training session’ she asked me how things were going, and told me that she wanted me to let her know if there’s anything she can do to make the learning process easier, or if there’s anything I need; that if I need to talk, or need a hug or anything, her door is always open. So, I feel like she recognized that I had a bad day, and was frustrated, and she was trying to make me feel better. And she did. I just keep telling myself I need to get through this first month! Its like monkey boot camp!

The next day in the field (yesterday) was great. We searched for the monkeys and I found them super early, at like 7 am. They rested really early, for almost two hours. We were just hanging out, waiting for the monkeys to start moving; I was lying down on the ground, with my legs up on a branch. My kind of field work! And a bunch of the monkeys pooped after they rested, so we got a bunch of fecal samples; we actually got all the fecal samples we needed in one day, which is almost a record. I had a ‘Wow, I’m hanging out in the forest with monkeys right now, this is soooo cool’ moment, which I haven’t had in what seems like a long time. When I took this picture, there were a bunch of juveniles playing and roughhousing to my right, which I think is what this little guy is looking at. Moments after I took the picture, this little one jumped off the branch, walked past me, put out his hand and just ever so lightly touched my leg, then ran over and joined in on the play. I love the little ones, they are just too sweet, curious, and cute!

We’ve also seen some cool wildlife. Well, mostly just snakes. Actually, the two most venomous snakes here. This moccasin I discovered while I was collecting poo, and almost stepped on. Okay, not really almost stepped on, but I was collecting a fecal samples mere feet from the snake, without having realized it was there, and was walking around a branch to collect some more, when I spotted this guy in my path. Which I am really happy that I did. Because snakes were the last thing on my mind at that moment, I was totally focused on finding the poo and getting it in the ice pack before the hormones started to denature. So I’m glad that the reptilian, or whichever part, of my brain recognized the snake as a snake and stopped me from getting closer to it. This encounter has also made me better about looking before I sit, knell, swat, or get anywhere close to the ground.

A vine snake (not sure, need to check, but it sure looked like a vine) Valerie spotted. Not venemous. It stayed like this with its mouth open for several minutes, until we left it. Wonder why...

This rattler Gavin (a researcher working on his PhD here) spotted tonight on the trail between the alberque and the lab. It was much bigger than any other ratttler I've seen, and is the most venemous snake in the park. I think fer-de-lances are the most venemous in the country, but I don't think they are here in the park. I love the photo of everyone else taking photos of the snake. It was like we were paparazzi, with all our flashing cameras. Crazy biologists.

a pretty butterfly caught in my room

So, I was able to go into town yesterday, and buy a relatively inexpensive camera to replace the one I lost. Now I have pictures! We are going out into the field tomorrow, so tomorrow I will have monkey pictures, assuming we find the monkeys. But, here are pictures of home. Hopefully I will get better at posting pictures, I know this layout is weird.

the kitchen

The alberque - home.

far shot of the alberque

view of the forest and the sunset from 'the monument'

My room.

agouti! They're rodents, and look like a cross between a rat and a jack rabbit. I love the mammals here, so similiar yet completely different from North America

Getting Better

The field days are getting much better. Two days in a row in the field, and no migraines! I’m still getting better at id-ing, although I still make mistakes and there are monkeys that I stare at for like a minute, and still can’t identify. But, patience and persistence will certainly pay off! Valerie said that when she first started working with the monkeys, she thought that people were crazy to try to id individual monkeys, because they all look exactly the same. And, after like two years, she barely needs her binos to id monkeys all the time. So, I know its possible, I just need more time. But following the monkeys is getting a lot easier, I feel very comfortable doing that, although I still do lose them sometimes.

This morning I woke up the monkeys by myself for the first time. Waking up the monkeys means that you go to the tree that you know (or at least have a pretty good idea) they slept in so you can be there when they wake up and start to move. That way, you don’t have to waste time searching for them. I left the alberque at about 4 am. I got unnecessarily paranoid that my headlamp would run out of batteries, and I’d be stuck in the dark and have to wait until the sun came up, at which point the monkeys would no longer be in their sleep tree, and I would have to go searching for them, which is a big big waste of time. But, it all worked out. I’ve been out at night and early in the morning with Valerie, but of course its different when you’re by yourself. I walked along the main park road, which is paved, for a while, then cut into the forest. The trails are somewhat well trodden, and marked with flagging tape, but there are definitely parts where it is less than clear which direction to go, especially in the dark. And of course I couldn’t help freaking myself out by thinking of the Blair Witch Project. But, really, I feel very comfortable in this forest, its not freaky at all. Its got a good vibe. (oh, on a side note, we came across an old well the other day. Most of the park used to be farmed, so there are remnants of that time in various places. It was pretty cool, it had a hand pump at the top. Of course I couldn’t resist the urge to look down into it. And I don’t think I’ve ever looked down a well before. It was not a pleasant experience. Wells are deep. And you can’t see the bottom. And it made me think of The Ring. I got freaked out enough I had to walk away. All this in broad daylight with Valerie within 20 feet of me. This is why I don’t watch horror movies!!!)

Exciting wild animal experience: The monkeys were really dispersed today. So, Valerie was doing follows and I was wondering around trying to ID monkeys. I hear her say something, but she’s really far away, and I can’t understand. She whopped (which is what we do when we’re in ear shot - someone whoops and then you whoop back, until you meet, like marco polo but without the pool). So I whooped my way to her, and she was standing in front of a bunch (maybe 10) monkeys hanging on vines and looking at the ground, and alarm calling. There was a boa constrictor that had caught a possum. It had wrapped around it, and you could see the possum still breathing a little. The boa was about 2 meters long, and maybe a little bigger than a tennis ball at its widest part. We sat and watched it for several minutes, and then it looked like the possum stopped breathing. After a few more minutes, the boa started moving, and we got excited, because we figured that the boa was positioning itself to ingest the possum. Well, the boa let go of its grip on the possum, and the possum gets up, and starts to walk away! Well, not walk, stumble is more like it. It took a few steps, then fell over, took a few more steps, fell over. It looked completely stunned, of course. I felt really bad for it. But, it was so amazing that it was able to still move! It wondered into some bromeliads, and who know what happened… it might have died, but there’s a chance that it could have lived. It didn’t look that injured, its nose was bloody (from where the boa tried to asphyxiate it?), and it probably had some broken ribs, or internal injuries. We have a monkey in our group whose missing his left arm from just below the elbow down. Who knows what happened to him and he made it! Wildlife is amazingly resilient. So, the boa just stayed where it was until we left a few minutes after. It could have easily gone after the possum again. But, I guess boas are a surprises and stun predator, not a chase predator. Maybe it used a lot of energy capturing the possum? I don’t know, I’ll need to do some research on boas.

The monkeys were interesting to watch alarm call at the boa. They make a barking noise. And there were getting really close, like within a few feet off the boa. That didn’t seem like a good idea to me. Then one of them would get freaked out, and they would all run up the vines, then slowly make their way closer. Very interesting. I’m sure this is just one of many interesting encounters I’ll have with the wildlife!

Settling In

Okay, so writing something everyday is not going to happen at this point. I still feel like there is a lot going on, and a lot to chronicle…

The field days are getting better. It is still incredibly hot, and I am literally dripping with sweat at 5am. I’m carrying a gallon of water, which just barely gets me through a 11, 12 hour day. But, recognizing the monkeys is getting easier. There is at least one monkey (Baba, alpha male, looks like a grandpa and is fluffy) that I can ID at a mere glance. Now that I am getting better with id’s, though, its time to start learning how to record the behavior of the males. We do a 10-minute follow on one monkey, and record everything that they do, who they’re close to, who comes in contact with them, etc. So, first you have to be able to ID the monkey that you’re following, all the monkeys that are within 5 meters (so much easier said than done), recognize what behavior is happening, remember what the code for that behavior is, and enter the code in a handheld computer, all while keeping your eye on the monkey you’re following. So, sometimes its easy if they’re alone and just foraging. But, if there are other monkeys around, and there’s a lot of social behavior and interaction, it can get complicated really quickly!

Unfortunately, because there is still so much to learn, I feel like I can’t really stop and enjoy the monkeys as much as I would like. If I take a moment, I need to just not be looking or thinking about the monkeys. But, yesterday, I had another close encounter with a juvenile. I think it’s the same one that said ‘hello’ to me the first day and the one that tugged on my hat, his name is Moody. I was sitting down getting my water or something out of my pack, and he walked right up to me, and he was looking very inquisitively at my handheld computer that was lying on the ground. I picked it up, and told him he couldn’t have it. Then he looked right into my eyes, he was like a foot from me, I could have reached out and picked him up. And it was different then looking into the eyes of any other animal, like a dog or a cat, there was definitely something in his eyes that was looking back. Not that there isn’t something that looks back from a dog or cat, but maybe its that this is a wild animal, and yet he was so comfortable being so close to me. And his eyes were so human. Sweetest little tiny brown eyes I’ve ever seen! Its moments like that that make the heat and mental and physical fatigue fall away…

It rained for the first time last night. It started about midnight, and I swear I have never heard rain so loud in my entire life. It woke me up (I was dreaming about monkeys, of course) and I had no idea what was going on. It took a while to realize it was raining, and that the world wasn’t ending. So, I was going to go out and wake up the monkeys this morning; Valerie was going to come out a little later and help me practice collecting the behavioral data. But, if its raining you have to have the personal computer in a Ziploc, which makes entering the data much harder, much more so if you’re just learning. So, we had a data day, even though it stopped raining at like 7 am and is sunny now. Oh well, no way to predict that kind of stuff. It smelled so good this morning after the rain.

I’ve seen a lot wildlife. I saw a tayra yesterday – a mix between a weasel, cat, and a bear (I think). I caught him mid-stride on the trail, about 40 meters from me, and he ran up a tree and was making these weird guttural noises, and kept running up and down the tree (huge claws for tree-climbing). I was a little hesitant to get closer, but I had a feeling he was more freaked out by me, than I was of him. After about a minute, he ran off. They look like this: http://www.jczinn.com/Central%20and%20South%20America/Costa%20Rica/Other%20Fauna/tayra_1196a.jpg

That same morning I saw a motmot, I think a turquoise-browed motmot: http://www.angelfire.com/bc/gonebirding/images/turquoise-browed_motmot_2_B.JPG

And tons of other wildlife. I need to make a list.

The Start of It All

First of all, good lord, I have a blog. Now I am officially a participating member of the cyber age. I have an iPod and a blog. I can no longer pretend to be old-fashioned or like I'm too good for all this new-fangled technology stuff.

Second, I'm in Costa Rica! And there are monkeys! Although the following might be a little boring, I am going to chronicle my first few days in a play-by-play fashion. I hope as I settle in, it will become more reflective.

Arrival Day
We got off the plane on the tarmac, which is always fun. So 1940s jet set. Walking to the building, I spot a beautiful, long-longed, whitish-orangish water bird standing right there on the tarmac. I thought, "Alright. Awesome. Now I'm in Costa Rica." I really wanted to take a picture, but was afraid of looking too too touristy.

Oh, on the plane in the two rows in front of me were two older couples from Wisconsin. They were chatting about good golf spots in CR and where one of them owns a house. I didn't speak to them, and they seemed very nice, very white and, um, Wisconsin-y. I thought, if these people can regularly vacation and even own property in CR, my parents absolutely have to come visit me. (Hope you're reading this, Mom and Dad! ;)

Three of my bags came off right away, but then the carousel stopped and I was missing one bag. I was a little annoyed, but the only things that were in there were my sleeping bag and some underwear; things I can live without for a short while. I started thinking of how to say I'm missing a bag in Spanish. Falta, I think falta is missing. Estoy falta una bolsa? Then someone took a bag off the carousel and my little duffel bag appeared. I was very relieved.

I walk out the building, and don't see Valerie (who is running the project). Cool, she said she might be late. There are taxi drivers and rental car people standing outside and I pass them and sit by a group of gringo waiting for something. I try to put my 'game face' on in preparation for fending off taxi drivers and anyone else who might harass me. I will tell them, Estoy esperando para mi amiga - I'm waiting for my friend. Quickly people from the plane get picked up and I'm more or less alone. Not one person came up to me, asking if I needed a taxi ride, or where I was going. Nothing. I was not bothered a bit, it was so nice! About 10 minutes later Valerie shows up with Ronnie, who is a local and frequnetly gives us taxi rides into town. We go into town, first to the bank (the first ATM didn't take my card, but the second one did) and the nice grocery store (which looked almost exactly like the nice grocery stores in the US). Then we drive to the park, which is about 45 minutes away. Valerie and I chatted like two little song birds, and the ride went quickly.

I unload my baggage and meet everyone. Adrienne and Anne-Sophie are the two other assistants on the project. Adrienne is from Denver and is probably going to grad school in Scotland after this (I think she leaves in August) and Ansofie is from France, a small town somewhere west of Paris. Nigel and Christina are also staying at the alberque (dorms) and they are working on another project with the capuchins, something to do with foraging. I unpack a little and chat with Adrienne and Anne-Sophie. While Valerie is in her room, Anne-Sophie and Adrienne talk about how if Adrienne gets done early tomorrow then she'll come and help Anne-Sophie with her group. Adrienne mentions this when Valerie returns when we are all talking about the work schedule for the next day, and Valerie says that if Adrienne finishes early, then she needs to come help us search for the group I'll be working with. After Valerie leaves, Anne-Sophie is noticeably annoyed at this, as is Adrienne. I sense some tension between Anne-Sophie and Valerie. Adrienne is clearly on Anne-Sophie’s side. (She and Anne-Sophie share a room and seem to be good friends). (Note: I am mentioning this not to be catty or gossip-y. Only if someone other than me actually reads this blog through November I think this will lay a good ground for drama I am almost certain will be to come. Ah, field drama!). We chat a little more, and then go to bed. I have my own room until the 'summer', when another assistant will arrive. I didn't sleep very well. I miss my tempurpedic pillow! And I was a little cold in the middle of the night. The park gives us a simple fitted sheet and top sheet, and I needed a little more.

First Day
I got to sleep in, until 8ish. Valerie and I spent the morning at the alberque discussing the project and what work I'll be doing and why. Basically, as I understand it, Valerie is studying reproductive strategies of the male capuchins. There is one alpha male in each group of monkeys and he sires the vast majority of the offspring. However, there is very little male-male competition for females, so the alpha male isn't securing all the females by fighting off the other males. So, they must be doing it some other way. Capuchins have concealed ovation (like humans), so there's no obvious way for us to tell where they are in their cycle, and when they're most fertile. but, apparently the males capuchins can tell this, since they know when to have sex with a female to ensure a high chance that she will get pregnant. So, we are collecting behavioral and hormonal data. Valerie hopes to correlate these two types of data to see if female behavior and/or male behavior toward fertile females changes throughout the female's cycle.

So, we do 10-min focal follows on the monkeys and collect fecal samples (for the hormone analysis). In order to do this, I must first learn to identify all the monkeys in the group I will be working with most - Guanacaste. This is an unusually large group, with 8 adult males and 12 adult females, and several subadults and immatures which we don't really focus on. So, Valerie and I go through photos of all the monkeys online, and she points out the distinguishing characteristics of each one, and I make notes on the list she gives me. Babaganouj is the alpha male and has a big scar over his left eyebrow. Crabbe is missing two fingers on his left hand. Lily has a dark spot in her left eyebrow. Minerva has big bushy eyebrows that extend into 'sideburns' and part of her left ear is missing, etc. Everyone has their unique identifier.

In the afternoon we head out into the field, to look for the Guanacaste group. It takes about 45 minutes to walk to the area where they hang out, and then we just walk the trail, stopping and looking and listening for monkeys and their sounds. After about 45 minutes of searching, Valerie hears them. They are not far off the trail. We move towards them, and there they are. Little white and black monkeys! Valerie walks right up to them, standing about 5 meters away from one of them and I follow. I couldn't believe she got so close. Almost immediately, a juvenile jumps branches over to where I'm standing, and stops on the branch right above my head. I turn up my head to look at him (her?) and he moves down the branch a little, looking straight into my eyes. Then he starts shaking the branch that he's on, which is right by my head, in a very playful way. I think he was just curious and maybe wanted to see if I would play with him, or what I would do. It was very cool! His little face was so adorable. I really had to fight the urge to shake the branch back at him!

So we hang with the monkeys, and Valerie starts pointing out individuals and how to identify them. Their unique characteristics are pretty easy to spot once she points them out, and I try to start memorizing faces and features. We 'put the monkeys to bed', so we know right where to find them the next morning. It was pretty hot this day, I think it was around 100 degrees. Needless to say, I am completely covered in sweat and feeling dehydrated and starting to get a headache. I drank lots of water in the morning, but was too distracted and overcome with meeting all the monkeys and didn't drink enough in the afternoon. When we get back to the alberque, I take some ibuprofen, a shower, and lie down for a bit. Its Adrienne's birthday, and Valerie cooks dinner. The ibuprofen was a mistake, I think. Right before we sit down to dinner, I go throw up. Thankfully, it was pretty much all water. Officially one of the three worst migraines I've ever had. I eat about 3 forkfuls of spaghetti, and sit there and try to be social and act like a human being. It is hard, and I keep my participation in the conversation to a minimum. I should have just gone and lied down, but I didn't want to seem too whimpy or anti-social. I take excedrin before I go to bed, which eases the pain of the migraine, but keeps me up all night. I peed about 5 times that night.

Day Two
Valerie and I got up not too early, and met Adrienne at the Guanacaste group. We got there at about 10, and most of the monkeys were resting. I got a lot of id-ing in, and felt good about being able to recognize faces and put names with them. In the middle of the day, the group was near an area where there were a bunch of old ant nests, just small piles of sandy soil. The infants and immatures were so cute, playing and wrestling like kids in a sand box, not 10 feet from me. I got a ‘threat face’ from Baba, the alpha male. Apparently I was a little too close to the group, and he came down on a branch (maybe 3 feet from me) and opened his mouth, baring his teeth. It was a little disconcerting but Valerie was right there and said that it happens, and its not a big deal. Nobody’s ever been bitten, or anything. Anne-Sophie did get chased, but that’s probably because she ran away. Since we’re not supposed to be affecting their behavior, the best thing to do is to not react to anything, either in a negative or positive way.

Unfortunately, I lost my camera somewhere out in the forest. I left it in my pocket, which was stupid. Once I realized I’d lost it, I went back and tried to look for it, which was pretty much impossible. Oh well, the monkeys are in that area a lot, so someone might come across it. I think I’ll just get a relatively cheap camera when I go into town next. So, you’ll have to wait for pictures!

We stayed late and ‘put the monkeys to bed’, so we know where they’ll sleep so we can find them easily in the morning. When we got back to the alberque it was kind of weird… Everyone was out at the tables, but every single person was on their computer. Like 6 people sitting around staring at their laptop. There was some conversation, but only ancillary to the laptop. So, I felt weird just sitting down and trying to start or get in on the conversation, such as it was. I took a shower, but afterward didn’t really want to get on my computer (plus, there would have been no place to plug it in). So I just went into my room, but I have to close the door to keep the mosquitoes out, so I felt like I was being really anti-social. Weird. I got a little homesick tonight. I think it will just take a little while to find where I fit in with everybody, since everyone seems to be settled, and they all know each other. It will just take time to wedge myself into all that. I sleep better tonight, only had to pee once.