Monkey Mind Games in Costa Rica
I’m always reluctant to give the monkeys objects or expose them to experiences they wouldn’t have in the wild.
Which doesn’t make much sense since they nurse from baby bottles, cover themselves with blankets, and swing from tires among other “unnatural” things.
Not to mention that they’ve been raised listening to human language… Chiquito is undoubtedly more bilingual than I am.
So after visiting The Jungle Place in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and seeing how fascinated the spider monkeys there were with stainless steel mirrors and big plastic balls, I ordered some primate toys that neighbors are hauling down from the States for us in a couple of weeks.
And today, when Chiquito grabbed an empty bleach bottle after Paul finished cleaning his cage I thought, “Hey, I’ll make an enrichment toy out of that.”
We drilled a couple of holes in the bottom, but trying to get raisins through them would have been more frustrating than fun on the first attempt. So I took the cap off and loaded a dozen raisins and a handful of peanuts-in-the-shell.
For one worrisome moment I was afraid Chiquito would get his hand stuck in the bottle, but he’s a smart monkey. Tomorrow I’ll leave the cap on and let him figure out how to unscrew it…
Please visit our website at www.spidermonkeyrehab.com and check out The Ten Monkey Rules, the Spider Monkey Trivia, and our blog…The Monkey Diaries. And be sure to visit our Capital Projects page which has “thank-you’s” for the donations made through WeLoveCostaRica.com!
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Written by Michele Gawenka. Michele explains that: “Jane Goodall has always been my hero, and primates have always been my passion. But Africa wasn’t in the cards when my parents offered to send me to volunteer the summer I turned 16, and there was only one class (in physical anthropology) when I wanted to study primatology in college. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place decades later when my husband and I retired early in Costa Rica, and this is our journey with spider monkeys.”
You can visit Michele’s website at www.SpiderMonkeyRehab.com and check out The Ten Monkey Rules and the Spider Monkey Trivia.
Please Help Michele Rescue Monkeys Like Lolita and Angel!
It’s clear that Monkey Mom Michele and Monkey Dad Paul Gawenka are doing this for the love these incredible monkeys – it certainly is not for the money which they have been spending to try and provide an environment where they can rest and recover before they are released…
After we published our first article in this series, I and a few other VIP Members paid some money into Paul Gawenka’s PayPal account (pgawenka@yahoo.com) to help with the costs for a new enclosure…
Michele and Paul don’t have some fancy ‘charity’ that you can contribute to but they’ve given us their personal guarantee that every penny that you may give goes towards helping the animals – they don’t want a dime for themselves – so please log into your PayPal account and follow my lead and send them a US$100 to pgawenka@yahoo.com
Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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