- Howler Monkeys
June, 1999
The figure eight looking island in Lago de Nicaragua (see map above) was originally two separate volcanic islands, Volcan Conception and Volcan Madera, but a later eruption of the larger Volcan Concepción joined the two. It is now known as Isla Ometepe. It is quite a nice, relaxing place to pass some time. During my time there, I hiked up the slightly smaller jungle-covered Volcan Madera with some friends. On the way up we heard, and soon after saw, a family of Howler Monkeys. These are reasonably small animals, growing to maybe 2 feet in height. But be assured, what they lack in height, they more than make up for with their bellowing howl - actually more like a roar. Sorry if it's hard to see them. It's because the background's so bright.
Here's a group of three (bottom left/right, top middle). I first saw them about 20-30m away. I wanted to see if they would come any closer, so I waited, and sometimes tried to imitate the grunting call of the leader of the group. A few came, slowly. I threw a few pieces of a biscuit on the ground nearby (though I knew that's not really the right thing to do), but didn't have much success. They were all watching me while laying on their branches. I wondered what would happen if they couldn't see me very well (thought I'd show them what it felt like), so I ducked behind a tree, and now and then half stuck my head out. And to my surprise, they craned their necks to see me. Then they started to move to better positions, always coming toward me. Within about 5-10 minutes, I had a number of them right near me.
The male came the closest, laying, sitting, or standing on the branches of a nearby tree.
These little monkeys can't weigh much. See how his tail and right leg are holding onto thin twigs? The zoom lens I used doesn't really show how small they are.