CBG, Caller Monkey Extraordinaire


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South America » Peru
April 2nd 2010
Published: April 2nd 2010
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I stand tensely while staring at the juicy cricket before my eyes, sweat dripping down my face and mosquitoes buzzing around my ears, my body poised for a brutal ambush attack on the unsuspecting insect. I quickly swipe the butterfly net to no avail and sigh in frustration as I watch the insect fly away to another patch of tall grass. But there’s not a moment to hesitate; I instinctively sprint over to the spot where I last saw the creature, net in hand, as I struggle to keep my eyes trained on the region. After a few such embarrassing and unsuccessful attempts, I finally manage to capture the creature. The cricket put up a good fight, but as I carry him back to the lab, I’m fully aware that he will inevitably, cruelly meet his demise at the hands of Chiky Basterd Guy, the newest addition to the team, our loveable, ravenous caller monkey. I tentatively approach The Lair of CBG with the knowledge that I am about to witness a semi-traumatic event which may necessitate counseling at a later date. A natural born killer, Chiky senses the arrival of a tasty morsel and begins his frantic leaps about his playpen, shaking the very foundations of the cage. As I present the insect to Chiky by placing its head through the mesh of his cage, in a manner similar to offering a loved one a precious gift, Chiky releases what can only be described as terrifyingly souless screams, lunging at the insect and decapitating it swiftly. I am left thanklessly holding the still twitching body of the poor creature as Chiky proceeds to greedily munch the head and rip out its entrails before my eyes. He then eagerly snatches the remainder of the insect, carelessly discarding the wings as he inhales the meaty body, while I am left fascinated, watching despite the intense emotional scarring that is taking place.
This is a daily occurrence now that we have obtained Chiky, and fellow researchers around the station are often greeted by the site of us haphazardly running through the grass, desperately trying to capture insects to satiate Chiky’s insatiable appetite (seriously, he eats 25-30 bugs a day). As aforementioned, Chiky is a caller monkey, the newest addition to the Primates Peru team. After spending a considerable amount of time attempting to trap tamarins with only bananas as bait (with little success and elevated levels of frustration), the decision was made to try using a caller monkey to speed up the process. Essentially, the saddleback caller monkey serves to attract other saddlebacks to the trap with his calls, while also keeping them interested long enough for them to notice and forage on the plethora of bananas strategically placed around the trap. Once the saddlebacks have discovered the deliciousness of the bananas, they will most likely return to the trap and enter the compartments to get to the pieces of fruit placed inside. Chiky was obtained from a family in Puerto Maldonado and will spend a chunk of his childhood as our wonderful caller monkey until he is old enough to be brought to a rehabilitation center and, ultimately, reintroduced to the Amazon.
As the name implies, Chiky is quite a handful. In addition to his disturbing (yet somehow adorable) reaction to bugs, Chiky frequently jumps around his playpen, calling and chirping all the while. Funnily enough, when he is on duty in the field, he often decides to siesta for the majority of his shift. At any rate, Chiky appears to thoroughly enjoy the masterpiece of a cage we have created for him from random bits of rope, mesh and wood; he loves to jump around like a madman and enjoys playing with the makeshift gadgets (but clearly not as much as we enjoy watching him do so). When he spots a potentially willing groomer around, Chiky shamelessly presses various parts of his body against the mesh walls to be stroked. You can’t help falling in love with him a little bit while stroking his belly, as he soulfully gazes out with an extremely pensive expression.
After all the hassle of arranging for Chiky to come to CICRA, we all had pretty high hopes for his ability to help us trap some monkeys. We decided on a group to target and a trapping location from which to do so, and began to bring Chiky out to the field to attract the saddlebacks. At first, we were a little dismayed at Chiky’s tendency to nap rather than call, but he eventually came around and began to call, particularly in response to playback calls that we blasted over the speakers. We were pleased when the group that we were targeting, Jean 4, seemed to be visiting the trap on a semi-regular basis and, after three days, Emma and I were treated to a wonderfully rewarding display of tamarin behavior. For four hours, the group foraged around, on and inside the trap, an experience akin to watching an intensely dramatic movie in a theater, as we eagerly watched from the mosquito net, anxiously staring through our binoculars and munching cookies to enhance viewing pleasure. We had been told not to trap even if the monkeys entered the cage because we didn’t have enough people to process the animals that day, but as a result of my excitement at seeing the group enter, I almost had to be physically restrained from jumping up and pulling the compartment doors shut. Instead, Emma and I were treated to a four hour long binge fest in which we disgustedly watched the members of Jean 4 gluttonously stuffing their faces with every piece of banana in sight. All the while, Chiky was crying and protesting as he was painfully forced to watch mass consumption of one of his favorite foods by other monkeys! Emma and I were a bit frustrated with the group after watching them endlessly gorge for such a long period of time, rendering Chiky’s penchant for and subsequent inhalation of insects a bit more acceptable. Despite this, we were overjoyed at their entrance into the traps and at the very probable prospect of trapping the next day.
When we returned the next day, we quickly set up the mosquito net (tied up to trees in the area) and tarp that serve as our field lab, as we were planning to process the animals in the field since the trap site is not particularly close to camp. After some rain and some waiting, we noticed Jean 4 quickly approaching Trap 672 (aka Banana Paradise) from the distance. Erin and I rushed to the tarp to begin setting up the necessary materials for processing , only to discover a massive swarm of army ants headed straight for the field lab. Now, I’ve already professed my hatred of ants, but army ants are on a completely different level; they travel together in huge numbers and cannot be deterred from their chosen course, have mandibles that can cut leather and aggressively latch on to you with said mandibles when they bite. (I can personally attest to this, as I’ve been bitten by a soldier right between two fingers and it practically brought me to tears.) Of course, in this case, the timing was such that the ants arrived just as Jean 4 rushed into the trap to greedily manhandle the bananas inside, and we were forced to move the entire operation further down the trail and hastily set up. I took a moment to acknowledge the absurdity of the situation as I contemplated the fact that I was moving a field lab, in which four saddleback tamarins would shortly be processed, due to an approaching stream of army ants. In the middle of the Amazon. (Somehow that last sentence makes everything seem so much more ridiculous.)
At any rate, we hurriedly assembled the field lab and processing stations, which we had all painstakingly hiked out to the trapping site earlier in the day, and made some meager attempt to mentally prepare for the stressful four hour period of time ahead. Since four animals had been captured, we would knock out two and simultaneously process them, and then repeat the procedure for the remaining two. It was a really surreal experience, processing the monkeys with five of us cramped into a rectangular mosquito net in the middle of the jungle. About halfway through, I briefly realized that I couldn’t feel my legs anymore but didn’t see any options for alleviating that situation. After we had finished the first bout of animals, I was able to vacate the net briefly to pee, at which point I found myself unable to walk correctly due to intense leg cramping. Much to my disdain, I also noticed that the massive line of army ants had ventured further down to where we had moved the net and were fast approaching the field lab, necessitating another haphazard shuffle of all processing materials further away from the inconsiderate swarm. Five minutes later I was back in the newly shifted lab, being handed knocked out monkey number two and beginning collection of DNA swabs. We worked more quickly through the second round of animals and were all feeling pretty spent by the time the group entered their recovery cages. Exhausted, we returned to the station hungry but incredibly excited - we had finally trapped and collared another group and gotten solid DNA samples from four more saddlebacks! All we wanted to do was eat, but Chiky’s cries weighed on our hearts and we spent several minutes running around the station in desperate pursuit of bugs that would be an adequate reward for the success Chiky had brought. (And, in the process, got a taste of what parenthood must be like, putting other’s needs before your own and all that. None of us liked it.) We reveled in the success of our trapping excursion for the remainder of the day, a joy that would soon be trampled, however, as we were made aware of the excruciating impossibility of following Jean 4…



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3rd April 2010

Best Comment Yet
This is definitely my favorite update so far. I did enjoy the imaginary jaguar one, but this one has pictures, making it so much better! That army ant swarm sounds a little terrifying. Couldn't you just put the tarp on top of them and start stopping? That would teach them a lesson. As an added bonus, you could give your caller some of the dead ants as a treat. Again, great update. Keep them coming. How long are you supposed to be staying again?
5th April 2010

CBG Caller Monkey Extraordinaire
Dear Katrina, hope this note finds you well. I work with your father and enjoy your blog very much. I look forward to it every week. Although I won't bother you with emails from someone you don't know, I just wanted to say that your a very brave young women to be there as long as you have!!! Your a wonderful writer, justed wanted you to know you have your own fan club at Togus!!! Hope you have a wonderful time with your dad, he's excited about coming to see you. Stay safe. Sincerely Catherine Maddox Ps. I think he's bring chocolate !!!!!!!!!!!!!
5th April 2010

Nick! HII!! thanks so much for reading and commenting, you my boi. also the army ants are actually terrifying - even when you tear their bodies off, their mandibles still stay lodged in you. not ok. i have tried stomping them, it legitimately does not work somehow. I don't understand it. ahh i'm almost done with my time in the jungle, my dad's coming to visit on the 16th and then we head out on the 20th of april for a monthlong backpacking adventure around peru! i'll be home may 18th and hopefully employed in boston shortly thereafter. how's the job?? how is LOST? it hurts me that i'm missing it. i miss you lots, hope all is well and can't wait to see you soonish!
5th April 2010

Hi Catherine! Thank you so much for your kind words. It has been a truly amazing experience here in the Amazon, and I'll be sad to leave. But I'm very excited to see my dad and see some more of Peru! And, of course, I'm most excited about the chocolate! (Thanks for the heads up.) I hope all is well in Maine and that you are enjoying some beautiful spring weather! -Karina

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