Monkey Quest

 

During my latest photographic trip, I was hoping to capture squirrel monkeys. True to their name, these furtive little animals are the size of a gray squirrel, darting through the branches and vines on a constant search for food.

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Finding these tiny primates would be a challenge. In Costa Rica, they live only along the southern Pacific coast. And they're in sharp decline in places like Manuel Antonio National Park, where I hiked in the rain for eight hours my first day to no avail. I asked everyone I met if they had seen any. My goal seemed tantalizingly close when some hikers directed me up a high-elevation trail. But when I reached the top, my heart pounding in my chest, I found only capuchins and more heavy rain.

On day 2, I followed another lead. A hiker said she had seen them gathered in fruit trees along the beach. But after searching the coast for hours, I found nothing. Playing a hunch, I returned to that high-elevation trail, dreading the steep climb, when suddenly I heard a crash in the branches above me. Monkey!

A small troop of squirrel monkeys foraged in the trees, chattering in squeaks and crashing through the canopy.

Photographing them as they darted through the tangle of leaves would be another matter. Manuel Antonio's torrential rains and humidity fragged my camera display on my first day in the park, so I was left guessing about the right shutter speed and exposure compensation. More than 98% of my pics were unusable, which even for me is a high percentage of failure!

Most of the time, the little hunters were fast-moving blurs, dark shadows or blown-out ghosts. I put too much faith in a long lens for the low-light conditions on the gloomy rainforest floor.

And the monkeys themselves didn't cooperate. If they weren't looking the wrong way or hiding behind the foliage, they were eating something repulsive. Mmm, gooey caterpillar guts!

The tiny monkeys shared the rainforest with a troop of capuchins. The bigger capuchins seemed to bully the tiny squirrel monkeys, driving them off preferred trees as both troops searched for food. The squirrel monkeys wouldn't let the capuchins get too close. After an all-too-short encounter, the monkeys disappeared down the other side of the steep mountainside where I couldn't follow.

On the third day, I returned to the high-elevation trail and immediately found the monkeys. This time, the troop lingered near the trail for most of the day, letting me get glimpses as they wound between the branches, leaves and vines in the high canopy. I bided my time and eventually, some of the monkeys offered better views. 

Squirrel monkeys have a long tail they use for balance. It's not prehensile, so they can't use it to grip the branches like spider monkeys do. But the long tail makes them agile in the treetops. At night, they wrap their tails around themselves like a scarf to stay warm.

One keeps a wary eye overhead while foraging. In the treetops, danger comes from above in the form of hawks and eagles. Indeed, the troop began to shriek when a small hawk dove through the branches and flushed a dove. On another day, it easily could have gone after one of them.

The hawk missed its quarry this time, landing on a branch in front of me as the monkeys scattered.

One of the bolder monkeys picked through the leaf litter on the forest floor looking for fruit and insects, but it's a risky move. These little monkeys are most vulnerable when they are on the ground. He spooked easily and returned to the safety of the treetops.

In the end, I was totally charmed by these little bundles of energy. If you ever visit Manuel Antonio, check out el Sendero Mirador (Lookout Trail) and listen for these little guys!