A Week with the Monkeys

Today is Monday, and I’ve been at the Vervet Monkey Foundation for just over a week. Seems like much longer. This may be a very long month, but I think it’s still too soon to make any pronouncements.

Why don’t I start by giving you a short lowdown on the place: The foundation was started in the mid-90s by an eccentric man named Arthur who now lives full-time in a 10’x10’ hut amidst the monkeys. He’s an interesting guy (interesting in both senses of the word). He and a few others started the foundation in order to provide a safe place for vervet monkeys, who are largely considered to be pests and were being killed in large numbers. In fact, until about 10 years ago, vervets were legally classified as vermin and were allowed to be shot on sight. The foundation has worked to change that law and now vervet monkeys are legally protected. Today, there are over 800 vervet monkeys here on-site, all brought here because they were orphaned (ie…their mother was shot by a farmer), or they were kept as pets and got too big for their owners, or they were used in laboratory experiments, or they were just bugging someone (usually a farmer) and he/she wanted the monkey gone.

When monkeys first arrive, they receive a general health check, then most get put in small Introductory Cages which line the main enclosures (see picture below). This allows them some time to get to know other troop members while still separated by the cage walls. Then, when ready, they are integrated into one of the troops of 30-50 monkeys, kept within the large enclosures. The foundation’s big goal is to get a large parcel of land and eventually release them into the wild (while still protected on the perimeters).


The volunteer work here mostly consists of hanging out with the baby monkeys, carrying out the various mundane tasks of a sanctuary this size, and helping to integrate troops in the enclosures. Since I am new, I’ve done mostly the mundane stuff. Although…

Yesterday I spent some time with a monkey named Skunky, an adult male that was delivered to the sanctuary after being kept as a pet for most of his life. He’s really mellow and virtually never aggressive, so he’s a good one for newbies like me. Monkeys love being ‘groomed’, so that’s what we did during our visit together. He’d hold up an arm, and I would ruffle through his fur looking for bugs or bits of dirt to be removed until he felt duly satisfied that I had canvassed the arm sufficiently, and then he’d indicate a new body part ready for grooming. (I had to tactfully draw the line when he stuck his rump in my face. “Skunky, I’m not that kind of girl, at least not on the first date.” HeHe.)






















It’s clearly a very pleasurable activity for him, and after a full hour, I’d say I gave him the full spa treatment. Skunky’s not much of a giver though, so I left the cage only partly-groomed myself. It was a fun, odd experience though…first time I’ve been groomed by a monkey. And it was actually quite relaxing. Skunky would simply indicate his desire to groom me by smacking his lips and reaching for my hair. I would then dutifully drop my head down and allow him to root through my hair for bugs and bits of dirt to be removed. Luckily, he didn’t seem to find much (but the whole exercise did make me question whether a dandruff shampoo might be in order. :)

I also spend a good deal of time in the sanctuary’s Sick Bay where I feed recuperating monkeys water with an old Fanta bottle, prepare their meal bowls (corn flakes and milk with lots of fruit on top [just like Dad!]), wash out skanky feed bowls, and prepare formula bottles for the baby monkeys. I have participated in other, more mundane tasks (too boring to write about) and will soon spend some time in “Disneyland”, where the baby monkeys are kept. Should be fun.

However, having been here at the sanctuary for a week now, I’m fairly certain that a month here will be more than sufficient for me. The monkeys are cute, but I am not absolutely crazy about them like many of the other volunteers. And I am thinking you need to be crazy about any animal to want to clean up after their sh*t and scrub their dirty feed bowls and such. (Comments about human babies not necessary. I get the similarities.) It only took two days of being on the normal volunteer task rotation to realize that the fundraising committee was the best fit for me. So now, I spend most of my time with humans, not monkeys, helping plan two small local fundraisers that are coming up.

But, I still will interact with them a bit.

And, I am still incredibly glad to have made the switch to the lodge--for the comfort of it all and for the solace. I spent a lot of time alone after Warren died, and I have come to need my quiet time at night. I have included a photo of my room (right), since I’ve gotten lots of questions about the lodge.

That’s probably enough for now. Hope you are all doing well!