More Spider Monkeys

Here are some more pictures of the spider monkeys. The black one in the pictures is Udi; he is a bit of a womanizer but he gets away with it because he is so cute! As soon as you get close to Udi's enclosure he starts to grunt to you and stares lovingly into your eyes until you come close enough so he can give you a hug. It's really cute. Unfortunately, he and Goldie (the orange monkey in the picture

below) can get into some mischief: they work as a team to steal things, which is how I lost my sunglasses. Udi gazed lovingly into my eyes while Goldie snatched the glasses off my head!

Introducing Katie Scarlet

This is Katie Scarlet. She is blind, likely caused by her diabetes. It is amazing to watch her manouevre around her enclosure: she will move toward you when you speak to her and knows every inch of her enclosure! There are several diabetic monkeys at JF; the diabetes is caused by people feeding them a diet that is too high in sugars and refined food. All but one have their blood sugar controlled by their diet alone. This means they miss out on getting fresh fruit and anything else high in sugar in their food bowls. On the plus side, they do get a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon in their morning grits as this has been shown to decrease blood sugar!

Chuckie

This is Chuckie, he is a brown capuchin at JF and he is sooooo cute. Here he is scoping out his food bowl and posing for the camera! Chuckie lives with Tito, they are very cute mischievous boys who are always wrestling and chasing each other around their enclosure.

Anyone Else Interested in Climbing Kili for a Cause?

AAF is hosting an 'Epic Climb for 2009' and is still looking for additional climbers! It’s an interesting opportunity for people to fundraise to cover their travel/climb costs and raise money for a brilliant organization at the same time. Although Ryann and I covered our own trip, we raised 12K in less than 2 months. With Artumas’ support in coordinating events and fundraising in groups, this will be a piece of cake! Are you up for it??? If you have any questions feel free to email me at kerri@3women.org or check out: http://www.artumasfoundation.org/epic_climb_2009.html

Spider Monkeys!

Here are 2 pics of the spider monkeys at Jungle Friends - I think there are 5 but don't quote me on that. One of the 5 is Travis, I've blogged about him before as he is the one who has no teeth and was neutered. I don't get to work with them very much now that I'm taking care of the munchkins and they are susceptible to diseases spread by the spiders and squirrels. Enjoy! More blogging and stories after I get some sleep ...

Working for the Monkeys

Squirrel monkey













Mario in his blanket!










Scott's fan club!










I've been working with the "munchkins" the last few days - the marmosets and tamarins at Jungle Friends. Kinda like looking after big hamsters in big cages!!! Every morning I prepare their fresh food (veggies, rice, fruit, etc., etc.) and feed them, then in the afternoons I clean up around their enclosures, check water, etc.

Monkey Pictures

Hello, here are more monkey pics. They are really cute, although some are a bit demonic!!! We are TIRED here, this is hard work. 12 hour days, we start at 6:00 am to prepare the monkey breakfast (cooked veggies, raw veggies, fruits, yoghurt, cottage cheese, pasta for the non-diabetics, etc., etc. - these monkeys eat better than most people). At 8:30ish, we get a breakfast break and then from 10-2, it's cleaning cages, chopping veggies or anything else that needs to be done. Then, hopefully (!!) it's lunch time and after that it's time to rake runways and prepare for the next morning's breakfast.
Tomorrow I work with the munchkins (the marmosets and tamarins) - they are cute but the marmosets are really stinky so say a prayer for me. Also, apparently some of the marmosets are kind of mean, so I need to keep my distance while feeding and cleaning. I'm sure I'll have some (more ) scratches by the end of the day!
I'll post again soon - wifi access is a bit of an issue at the monkey farm.

Me - demonstrating my fantastic poop-scooping skills!

This is Jimmy - his favourite game is to throw a handful of leaves and dirt at a person. You have to fall to the ground when he does that, because then he does his happy dance and he and his partner ChiChi hoot - they think it is hilarious!

One of the brown capuchins - they are so flirtatious. If you walk by their cage they smile at you, start screaming, hug themselves and raise their eyebrows up and down. I think this is Jack?? But I can't tell a lot of them apart yet.

Lilly and Tabby having a morning groom session.

More brown capuchins - they are very photogenic!

Cassie - she looks innocent but she will yank your hair if you walk under her runway ...