Hello hello
I realize how strange the excitement is that I feel when my focal monkey poops. The more samples I collect before 10am during the week, the more concrete Maria's dissertation will be, and the more likely I am to have Saturday off. It is a bit like gambling, because I've started to understand the odds that the monkey may poo. Some of the odds I make up to keep myself entertained, others are definitely real. I'll spare you the details of the turgid-ity and personality of their butt holes, though. First of all, its good if I find the right monkeys early right when I get there, which is getting easier because I'm better able to distinguish their individual struts and tail position while walking. If they sit with their butts hanging far off the edge of the rock, my odds are good, if they pee while sitting off a rock, my odds are VERY good, and my heart starts beating, its just like a slot machine with the first two aligned on the cherry! The odds I convince myself are good are when they begin to walk after napping for a while, after mating with a female, or after a fight with other males and then walk off to find a place to rest by themselves. The last its a bit of over anthropomorphizing since I tell myself they will poo because they are just so relaxed now that the fight is over. So these thoughts are how I entertain myself through the day.
The monkeys on the other hand, seem like they are playing capture the flag alllll day. When I first arrive on the island my group is often laying around somewhere, all the females calmly grooming their offspring. Its a nice sight in the mornings. When we get to the island, though, so does their food. When the hear the guys going up the hill in the truck with the food, they make their "food call," one right after the other. Its a pretty cute, high pitched whine. Its hard to describe, but then the whole group moves up hill to the corral. Usually the high ranking males get in the corral first and the rude ones sit in front of the feeder holes and scare off everyone else who tries to get food until they are done. The lower ranking males and females sit outside the corral, just waiting. The low ranking males often take this opportunity to mate with females in the bushes, at a time when the higher ranking males won't bother them. Good strategy. Others rush in, very quickly, grab some chow and stick it in their pouches, and run out to find a quiet secluded place to sit and eat. After feeding the monkeys will consecutively head to the water hole a little down the hill. The water hole is a whole separate scary place for lower ranking males. Females and offspring will "play a game' where they see how many heads can fit into the hole and drink, its pretty adorable. But if a higher ranking male comes, they must get out of the way, fast. Also, lower ranking individuals in general are very weary when drinking. They take breaks every few milliseconds to look around. I have definitely seen individuals get attacked, bitten and scratched, while their head was down in the hole.
This is only the first hour or so of the day, and probably the times when lower ranking individuals must be the most careful, since there are tangible resources at stake if they make the wrong move. The rest of the day, though, males are walking around, checking out who's in their vicinity. The entire island is forested, so I can always see them lean side to side in order to get a good view between the trees. They get up in trees to get better views, hide behind trees so they can't bee seen. The resource at stake here is staying safe, and maintaining dominance. Its known that the best way to stay high ranking is to inflict random acts of aggression, rather like a bully. That way, your subordinates are just always afraid of you, makin sure their in the right place at the right time, or else they may get chunks bitten outta their bodies, bloody, deep scratches, or something of the sort.
So life on the island is intense, but my life on the island of Puerto Rico is pretty simple. I'm still researching my butt off. Besides that, I started Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabrial Garcia Marquez. I love him, he is the one of the best authors I have ever read and definitely recommend him to everyone. There has never been an author so incredible with words, to describe even the most mundane situations so that they become profound. MM mm mm.
Love from the Caribbean!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Now I live in Puerto Rico
Loren and Sarah actually got to explore many places that I hadn't been to yet, which was awesome for me because they tested some waters for me. They found a woooonderful beach near me called Palmas del Mar. It supposedly has some of the best gold courses in the world, whatever. It has some amazing beaches, with a line of hotels whose pools you can just hop into. Before that though, we cruised around some beaches between San Juan and my town, Punta Santiago, along the east coast. We found my new spot, Luquillo beach, specifically La Pared (the "wall") because of a big
cement wall that lines the beach. We also accidentally found (the best way to find) a great restaurante right on the beach in Luquillo that whoever visits me will definitely get a trip to. I'm starting to get my surf on in Luquillo, since its an easy beach for beginners (I've been a beginner surfer now for 10 years! will I ever get better?. . . )Loren, Sarah and I had some great adventures. One of the best was when Sarah and I couldn't find our hotel in old San Juan, so after looking for 30 minutes we asked a security guard. We soon found out that the book (Lets Go! Puerto Rico) had the hotel in the wro
ng spot on the map. The security guard took our book to 2 other security guards, they discussed for about 3 minutes, completely halting their security watching, then one security guard asked a taxi driver, while another asked a bum. The bum spoke great English, and directed us. It was a funny sight.Other adventures include getting lost and getting found. Between our only having maps of the whole island and no local maps, and the TERRIIIIIBBBBLLLEEEE Puerto Rico street Signage, we got lost quite a bit. Between many "U" turns and stopping at gas stations for questions, we usually made it, but in longer than we expected. It seems to me like people twist the street signs around for fun, so that you can't tell which direction your supposed to go. The highways and roads constantly merge into each other, but it will only tell you one of the two, so you are constantly unsure if you are in the right place. It was seriously Maddening.
Oh yea and the Bio Bay! I'm not sure if I've mentioned yet, but there is a wonderful American (Bostonian) couple named Bob and Keisha who have a have a hang gliding
company and they take friends out in Kayaks to the biolumencent bay in Fajardo, the eastern most tip of the island. The bay has dinoflaggulates, organisms that glow when the water is moved. It's a magical experience to kayak in the water with them. Usually its best to go on a night with no moon, but my guests were here during a full moon. It ended up being fine, be cause there was cloud covering the moon. We kayaked in the dark through a small mangrove canal, which lets out into a larger bay. Once in the bay, every time you dip the kayak in the water the water glows around you. Every time you splash the water, wherever the splash lands it glows, mezmorizing ! Bob also showed us that if you are quiet then hit the kayak, you will scare the fish in the water below you, and they will scurry away leaving glowing trails behind them.In terms of monkeys, I have still not figured out a research question that I find suitable. Researching has been going well because through the process I've gained some insight to rhesus macaque behaviors. Now that Sarah and Loren are gone things will go back to normal. Next weekend, though, there is a hang-gliding event that Keisha and Bob are putting on, where we will volunteer and make change boxes for "For Paws" at a time, the program that Keisha has started to save street dogs. She gets them vetted and then finds them adoption agencies in the Contintnal US.
Whew, things going well in the Carribbean, enjoy!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Purple Poo and The Bad Boys
I've been working hard to get to know all 20 of Maria's focals, and feel rather successful. Until now I've been following the 11 or so that I feel confident in IDing, which are mostly the old guys. The older rhesus monkeys, namely N60 and K85 are easy to see because of their distinctive walks. N60 has a bump on his nose, walks with his back up, and has been attached at the him to a young female since I've been here. K85 has a very straight mouth, and has tons of loose skin where he used to have fat that hangs when he walks.
The purple poo? The purple poo has finally ended. The last few weeks the monkeys were eating primarily purple berries, instead of their monkey chow, which gives them terrible bright purple diharreah. I can't collect diharreah because it disrupts testosterone levels, making my week soo difficult! This week they are finally eating chow again, thank goodnes.
There are 4 women working in my group of monkeys, group R. We get to gossip and discuss them all day, but I guess I have a major difference of opinion about which adult males are likable. I tend to like the high rankin ones, who walk around with their tails sooooo high in the air, and terrorize everyone. I think I like them the best because they are the easiest to find because high ranking males are usually in the center of the group, whereas lower ranking males are on the "less safe" outskirts of the group. One of them, 83L, looks like a teddy bear to me. Its true though, he is rather rude which his terrorizing techniques as he bullies others around. He'll push males, females, and babies off their sitting spots if they don't move out of his way. At least he poos a lot.
Loren and Sarah are visiting me!!!! I'll get to all these adventures soon!
The purple poo? The purple poo has finally ended. The last few weeks the monkeys were eating primarily purple berries, instead of their monkey chow, which gives them terrible bright purple diharreah. I can't collect diharreah because it disrupts testosterone levels, making my week soo difficult! This week they are finally eating chow again, thank goodnes.
There are 4 women working in my group of monkeys, group R. We get to gossip and discuss them all day, but I guess I have a major difference of opinion about which adult males are likable. I tend to like the high rankin ones, who walk around with their tails sooooo high in the air, and terrorize everyone. I think I like them the best because they are the easiest to find because high ranking males are usually in the center of the group, whereas lower ranking males are on the "less safe" outskirts of the group. One of them, 83L, looks like a teddy bear to me. Its true though, he is rather rude which his terrorizing techniques as he bullies others around. He'll push males, females, and babies off their sitting spots if they don't move out of his way. At least he poos a lot.
Loren and Sarah are visiting me!!!! I'll get to all these adventures soon!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Los Puertorequenos and 7 hours of buttholes
The few things I've noticed about Puerto Ricans I've gained from my 4 trips to Walmart, 4 super market trips, and many walks on the beach. All the boys pluck their eyebrows! They have such pretty eyebrows because of it, and look clean and . . . .sturdy maybe describes it. And they're on their cel phones MORE than people in LA and the OC. Maybe not in quantity, but walmart workers are walking around the store talking and checker outers at the grocery store. Crazy.
Its true, I have to watch the monkeys butt holes for 7 hours a day, 7am-2pm. Yesterday I was crowned with my own cooler to pick up my own poop! Quite a right of passage, since it means I've learned to ID the monkeys, some of them, pretty well. Of the 20 individual males that are Maria's focals, I can easily discern about 6 of them, the rest I still need to look at my notes to figure out, or cannot tell them apart at all. There are some tricky things I am learning about collecting poo. Some walk and poo and some sit and poo, and learning the poo-ing personalities is pretty important. And there's no point to skewing the scientific data if I'm not sure exaaactly who pooped, like if I didn't quickly look to see if there was any poop in the place where the individual I'm watching sat down. In other words, I have to keep my eyes on the butt hole.
This afternoon Maria is taking me and my housemates to San Juan, where there is supposed to be an art gallery night = My first adventure in PR besides Walmart and mofongo (mashed plantains with chicken or seafood).
Paz y amor y monos.
Its true, I have to watch the monkeys butt holes for 7 hours a day, 7am-2pm. Yesterday I was crowned with my own cooler to pick up my own poop! Quite a right of passage, since it means I've learned to ID the monkeys, some of them, pretty well. Of the 20 individual males that are Maria's focals, I can easily discern about 6 of them, the rest I still need to look at my notes to figure out, or cannot tell them apart at all. There are some tricky things I am learning about collecting poo. Some walk and poo and some sit and poo, and learning the poo-ing personalities is pretty important. And there's no point to skewing the scientific data if I'm not sure exaaactly who pooped, like if I didn't quickly look to see if there was any poop in the place where the individual I'm watching sat down. In other words, I have to keep my eyes on the butt hole.
This afternoon Maria is taking me and my housemates to San Juan, where there is supposed to be an art gallery night = My first adventure in PR besides Walmart and mofongo (mashed plantains with chicken or seafood).
Paz y amor y monos.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Even dirtier
First of all, I enabled comments, so anyone can comment now. I'm sorry if virtual space sent you rude messages saying "Don't contact me again." That shouldn't happen again.
I found my first two poops! For the first few days I was just wandering around and IDing different males. Now Maria gives me males to follow until they poop. From this point of view, following a male and his daily roamings, I learn a lot more about the island and the way things work. I am also reading a book written my a Cayo researcher called Macachavellian Intelligence that describes the monkeys activities. For instance, monkeys threaten each other and get in fights in order to maintain and climb their place in the rank hierarchy. Female rank is largely based on their mothers rank, while male's is based on his fighting and social abilities. So when a male threatens another, usually a lower ranking one, both the threater and the threatee will look behind them for support. Sometimes the threatee will look around for a scapegoat, an even lower ranking male, and go after him. Because of this, when threats break out, lower ranking males will run away VERY fast, so that they don't become scapegoats. All these things happen so fast that its hard to keep track, though.
On the subject of poo, I started learning about how different individuals poop. Some poop while walking, meaning I have to pay attention where it lands. Some poop sitting down, so I have to look at whatever they're going to sit on very quickly before they sit to make sure there is not any poop already. Dirty science, man. And if you don't believe that primatology is science, please let me know and I'll describe thangs to you, thoroughly!
But yesterday the rain got us good. There are two boats we take to the island depending on the day: A small speed boat and a slightly larger speed boat. The small one seats 7, the large one 15. Yesterday we took the small one, with 9 people. We went slowly. It rained on and off, very hard each time, for the entire time we were on the island. We cannot leave the island though, when its raining. We waited under a shelter by the dock until it stopped, headed out to the dock, and then it started raining again, so we returned to the shelter. This happened a few times, until we finally got in the boat and set off. Then it started raining, and the seas got a little rough. Having 9 people in a 7 person boat made it a little more scary. But we made it!
One more anecdote. The male that I was to follow yesterday was badly injured in a fight. He had a deep scratch on his arm, some scratches on his back, a hole in his scrotum, and a bad wound in his butt. Poor guy. He moved very slowly all day, and he is in a consortship right now with a much younger female, who brought him food. I'm anxious to see how his is when I go to the island tomorrow. He is N60, and has a bump on his face. I hope he is alright. One monkey died since I've been here. His intestines were sticking out for 2 days, it was pretty unpretty. The day he died the vet did come to the island, but none of us really understood why. Besides that we feed them, we want a naturalistic setting to learn the most about the macaques in a natural environment. I think they were going to put him under if the vet decided he would not survive.
I still don't have a hammock because they sell them mostly on weekends and it rained all day yesterday!
I eat mangoes with my eyes closed,
Jenna
I found my first two poops! For the first few days I was just wandering around and IDing different males. Now Maria gives me males to follow until they poop. From this point of view, following a male and his daily roamings, I learn a lot more about the island and the way things work. I am also reading a book written my a Cayo researcher called Macachavellian Intelligence that describes the monkeys activities. For instance, monkeys threaten each other and get in fights in order to maintain and climb their place in the rank hierarchy. Female rank is largely based on their mothers rank, while male's is based on his fighting and social abilities. So when a male threatens another, usually a lower ranking one, both the threater and the threatee will look behind them for support. Sometimes the threatee will look around for a scapegoat, an even lower ranking male, and go after him. Because of this, when threats break out, lower ranking males will run away VERY fast, so that they don't become scapegoats. All these things happen so fast that its hard to keep track, though.
On the subject of poo, I started learning about how different individuals poop. Some poop while walking, meaning I have to pay attention where it lands. Some poop sitting down, so I have to look at whatever they're going to sit on very quickly before they sit to make sure there is not any poop already. Dirty science, man. And if you don't believe that primatology is science, please let me know and I'll describe thangs to you, thoroughly!
But yesterday the rain got us good. There are two boats we take to the island depending on the day: A small speed boat and a slightly larger speed boat. The small one seats 7, the large one 15. Yesterday we took the small one, with 9 people. We went slowly. It rained on and off, very hard each time, for the entire time we were on the island. We cannot leave the island though, when its raining. We waited under a shelter by the dock until it stopped, headed out to the dock, and then it started raining again, so we returned to the shelter. This happened a few times, until we finally got in the boat and set off. Then it started raining, and the seas got a little rough. Having 9 people in a 7 person boat made it a little more scary. But we made it!
One more anecdote. The male that I was to follow yesterday was badly injured in a fight. He had a deep scratch on his arm, some scratches on his back, a hole in his scrotum, and a bad wound in his butt. Poor guy. He moved very slowly all day, and he is in a consortship right now with a much younger female, who brought him food. I'm anxious to see how his is when I go to the island tomorrow. He is N60, and has a bump on his face. I hope he is alright. One monkey died since I've been here. His intestines were sticking out for 2 days, it was pretty unpretty. The day he died the vet did come to the island, but none of us really understood why. Besides that we feed them, we want a naturalistic setting to learn the most about the macaques in a natural environment. I think they were going to put him under if the vet decided he would not survive.
I still don't have a hammock because they sell them mostly on weekends and it rained all day yesterday!
I eat mangoes with my eyes closed,
Jenna
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