i guess planet earth was right.

in the bbc show series planet earth, david attenborough states that "capuchins are the bully boys of the forest." i never gave that statement much thought until the other day. in a single morning LV ate bird eggs, chased howler monkeys, tried to eat a baby coati, and lunged at a tamandua. the coati episode was particularly disturbing. LV reminded me of chimpanzees, seemingly cooperating, screaming as they encircled, jabbed, and yanked the poor baby's tail. in one moment, the coati looked at me with panicked eyes, almost urging me to help. i had to fight every impulse in my body pushing me to scream like a bag lady, flap my arms about, and scare them away.

i have also seen LV eat birds, pounce on iguanas, throw sticks at boas, and break branches on my head (cayenne did that on purpose, that jerk). mark wainright, author of the natural history of costa rican mammals, proves planet earth right writing that one captive capuchin used a squirrel monkey as a projectile, hurling it at a human observer. yep. bullies through and through.

finger suckin' fool.

cayenne often enjoys sucking mostaza's finger. sometimes he even sucks it and then puts it in his nose for an intimate hand sniff.



here's what the data looks like. note the comments.
8/20/2008 10:29:33 MZ:DL3OTH5:CY4OTH5
8/20/2008 10:29:34 SSG
8/20/2008 10:29:52 PSGDL
8/20/2008 10:29:55 RPRDL
8/20/2008 10:30:00 SSG
8/20/2008 10:30:04 RLEDL
8/20/2008 10:30:19 PSGCY
8/20/2008 10:30:20 RPRCY
8/20/2008 10:30:28 CRECY
8/20/2008 10:30:30 RCTCY
8/20/2008 10:30:49 RGRCY
8/20/2008 10:32:01 RFSCY
8/20/2008 10:32:31 RGRCY BL IN 2
8/20/2008 10:32:48 RFSCY
8/20/2008 10:33:04 CRECY
8/20/2008 10:33:22 RSHCY CY PUT MZ FINGER IT CY NOSE:FINGER IN NOSE; CY SNEEZE; FINGER BACK IN NOSE AFTER SNEEZE
8/20/2008 10:37:40 CRECY
8/20/2008 10:38:27 RHHCY
8/20/2008 10:38:39 RSHCY FINGER IN CY NOSE
8/20/2008 10:39:45 END
8/20/2008 10:40:32 MZ:CH3KL3OTH5:CY1OTH5

RGRCY= receive groom cayenne
RFSCY= receive finger suck cayenne
RSHCY= receive sniff hand cayenne
RHHCY= receive hand hold cayenne

el bueno con el malo y el feo.

the good.-- nutella groomed a spider monkey. he's an interspecific ambassador.



with.


the bad.-- my roommate dave left. cue muted trumpet debbie downer music... wuahh wuahhhh.


and.

the ugly.-- mostaza's tail got trashed by some fool. check it out.. he's practically begging you to.

es muuucha galleta!

so there's something disconcerting about eating your lunch while waiting for a monkey to defecate. what's even more unsettling is interrupting your lunch because a monkey has defecated. you see, we need to collect female fecal samples every three days and male fecal samples every week for our hormonal research (checking periovulatory cycles of females and the cortisol levels of males.) ahh, what glamorous lives field assistants live!

nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh bat girls!

mirjam, martina (two bat researchers from germany that i have taken a liking to), mike, tamara, and i went on a bat catching date the other night. bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow FIVESOME!. we caught a lot of bats and told stories in the dark while watching the sky illuminate with lightning. que romantico!

mirjam and an insectivorous bat.



mike, mirjam and martina with an insectivorous bat.


gleeful bat.


martina and i-- bat researchers or polish cleaning ladies?


martina checking the nets.


mike overcoming his fears and kissing a bat.


she's got that nose that you can deal with.


huge tarantula we saw on the way back.. i would say it was the size of my hand. maybe larger?

'cause these streets is where my folks at.

i often enjoy using the public transportation system in costa rica. it makes me feel adventurous and independent. it also gives me the chance to see how most people in costa rica live. every time i am waiting hours upon hours for a bus, i try to remind myself that this is how the people do it. this is how they have to do it. which brings me to chagas disease. i got stung by an assassin bug the other week (an insect vector of chagas- it feels kind of like a wasp or scorpion sting.) Apparently people who get chagas disease don't realize they have it because the assassin bug bites them at night (defecating in the wound spurring the victim to unknowingly scratch the irritated skin, further rubbing the fecal matter into the wound.) so my point is that the cdc estimates that 8-11 million latin americans have chagas disease (most of whom do not know they are infected; if untreated, infection is lifelong and can be life threatening.) so in 30 years, if i realize i have chagas disease, i'll know that the outkast lyrics "i stay down with these streets 'cause these streets is where my folks at" ring true... chagas affects the people. and i could be one of those people.

assassin bug that mirjam and martina found around the albergue. apparently assassin bugs hang around filth... which means that the mosquito net at night is necessary.


EXTREME CLOSE-UP!! be afraid. they come in the thick of the night.