This must be the week for monkeys. My good friend Norma, who pretty much runs Gallon Jug (don't tell Zander), snapped this photo the other night of a young howler monkey (
Alouatta pigra) near her office, hanging out in a flamboyant tree. Right in the
heart of Gallon Jug not far from the airstrip. Those of you that are familiar with the tiny Gallon Jug community and airstrip will recall that this area is very much in the open, about 500 m from the forest edge.
Not so very far really, for a howler monkey to come, and nice of this guy to prove my point. Unlike the spider monkey discussed in the previous post, howler monkeys are perfectly capable of traveling through open areas as this little guy convincingly proves. Of course we don't know what happened, or how he came to visit the heart of Gallon Jug, but a guess anyway, is that he's reached the age where he needs to strike out on his own and perhaps establish or join a new troop. The howlers just inside the forest margin had been vocal all day, perhaps encouraging him to leave. He could have crossed the Ring Road, traveled through the mango orchard and dashed through the citrus orchard coming to rest for the night in that friendly flamboyant.
He spent the night, was there the following morning before striking out again, on his own.
Generally speaking, my photos of howler monkeys stink. They always look like dark lumps away up high in the shady branches of a tree. Alan's image, on the other hand, is really superb. He's got this male howler monkey, taken at Chan Chich Lodge, in full-blown howl, in lovely light. It's so vivid, you can almost hear the call.
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