Advertisement
Published: March 8th 2010
Edit Blog Post
A couple of days ago, I was finally introduced to the hecticness that is tamarin trapping. Earlier in the day, we had decided to take down some of the traps, move them into the lab to be cleaned, and then relocate them to other places in the forest where they might be more frequently visited by groups we want to trap. However, around 2pm in the afternoon, it looked as if the already-tagged FC group was heading right towards the area where the trap had been taken down several hours earlier. Although the group has already been marked, we wanted to trap them again to get more DNA samples as well as samples from the twins. I was a little dismayed to see them heading for the area where I had just taken down the trap, as I had to hit an aggressive number of bullet ants off of the contraption with my trustworthy hiking stick in order to complete the task (further fueling my resentment of them). At any rate, we frantically grabbed the unwieldy trap from the lab and sprinted to the trapping site in the hopes of setting it up before the saddlebacks made the short jump over to the area.
After the trap had been quickly assembled (a task not entirely different from the assembly of The Golden Monkey in Legends of the Hidden Temple, just saying), we eagerly waited behind the strings linked to the compartment doors. At this point, some saddleback calls were played, a technique we have found useful in attracting monkeys to the trap, after which we hope the bananas are incentive enough for them to enter the compartments! Sure enough, the group moved over to the area above the trap and, finally, on to it! This is an exciting and stressful situation, as you are tensely watching the monkeys move about the trap, just waiting for them to find their way into the compartments, while imagining how disappointed you’ll be if they decide to move along. After a few excruciating minutes, RC finally entered a compartment, the string of which Mini promptly pulled shut. The other members of the group followed shortly thereafter until four of the five were shut in the trap.
Can anyone guess who the holdout was? None other than…Twin 1. Now, I know I have proclaimed my love for the little ewok look-a-like in the previous post, but after this whole situation, I’m afraid to say my feelings towards the little guy may have shifted a little bit. We watched in frustration as Twin 1 cluelessly pranced about the top of the cage, sticking his paws down through the mesh to make contact with his family, but never entering! After a few minutes, we began to get frustrated, as it was so late in the day that we would have to keep the trapped monkeys overnight and you can’t split the group up in such a way that the twins are left alone. As we were all silently willing Twin 1 to just get in the damn trap, we heard the unmistakable sounds of emperor tamarins approaching. As might be predicted by the size of their ridiculous white handlebar moustaches, these guys are not discrete. The sound of their jumps would suggest a much bigger monkey, and are accompanied by whiny, sad calls. They also have no qualms about whizzing by absurdly close to your head. (And to answer a question I’m sure you all have: yes, I just saw my first baby emp the other day and yes, they too have the characteristic awesome moustache. But that’s beside the point.) At any rate, twin 1 promptly vacated the top of the trap in an attempt to escape the emperors, who quickly moved on to the cage and began to greedily consume the bananas on top, bits of banana getting tangled in their moustaches. (Can you tell I’m obsessed with their moustaches?) As if this weren’t enough of a blow to the saddlebacks locked into their respective mesh compartments, the emps started taunted the trapped saddlebacks, poking them in their compartments as they continued to gluttonously inhale the bananas so desired by FC.
When the emps had finally finished their feast, they thanklessly moved away from the trap, prompting the speedy return of Twin 1. By this point, GPG had been tearing at the mesh lining the top of her compartment, an escape attempt that turned out to be successful, as we watched her squirm out of the trap. Mini quickly made the call to release the dominant male (aka thug) GBR from the trap to stay with GPG and Twin 1 for the night, and to take RC and Twin 2 back to the lab for processing.
Extreme elevation of stress levels ensued in the laboratory since a huge amount of data had to be gathered from the captured animals in a short amount of time, all the while monitoring their health and making sure they were given the necessary injections to keep them sufficiently knocked out to process. Even recording data on the trapping sheets is an intense experience, especially when morphometrics are taken, as numbers are consistently being shouted out in rapid sequence. It was really surreal to finally hold RC after so many hours of observing her behavior and collecting her poo. Similar to a major celebrity sighting (ie Ben Affleck), only ten times better! We were all pretty starstruck as we ran through data collection. At one point, RC woke up a bit and clutched at my arms/trays/lab materials/anything she could get her hands on. I had to enlist Erin and Emma’s help to pry the plastic tray away from RC while trying to move her. Having felt the strength of her grasp, I have even more respect for her amazing abilities. One of the benefits of being trapped: RC got a free beauty touch-up, as her tail was re-bleached to a brilliant white. And we discovered the sex of Twin 2! It’s a girl!
After the processing, it was time for RC and Twin 2 to go to bed, which they promptly did, with Twin 2 curled up on top of RC’s back. The intensity of the whole experience required a recovery session involving consumption of dangerous amounts of chocolate. We were all so exhausted that we climbed into our beds without showering, a layer of dirt, sweat and chiggers coating our skin. The next morning, we rose early to locate the rest of the FC group using the saddleback calls and released the captured tamarins to be reunited with their family.
Later that day, we went back to check on the group and to make sure they were OK with us following them. The group was fine and, much to my disbelief, didn’t seem perturbed at all by our presence. RC was looking good after her recent tail touch-up, with a brilliant white bleach pattern prominently displayed. Additionally, she also received a bling upgrade, as her radiocollar was replaced and accompanied by a green bead this time, further solidifying her awesomeness. We decided to follow the group to their sleeping site to gather as much behavioral data as possible. Unfortunately, they decided to really put us through the wringer and proceeded to lead us through very tall, untrampled bamboo and numerous, disgustingly twisted vines covered in supersize thorns before looping back around and settling in their tree for the night. Oh well…payback’s a bitch!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0578s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kat Fountain
non-member comment
Yea!!
I love your Legends of the Hidden Temple reference! Sounds epic..though I really think you need to get over your obsession with bullet ants...mis amigos!!!