Tools of the Trade

The contents of a monero's fishing vest and backpack. Photo: K. Perry

In this photo you see the contents of a monero’s fishing vest and backpack.

1.    Poop collection kit! Never be caught without it, as you just never know when a valuable poop collection opportunity might occur. This Ziploc bag contains the equipment for collecting monkey poop for genetic analyses and hormonal analysis. The plastic tube contains 30 ml of 96% ethanol for killing the bacteria in the poop for DNA analysis. After soaking in ethanol for 1-2 days, we will drain off the fluid and store it in silica gel to dry it out. When collecting poop for hormone analysis, we put on a latex glove and pick up the poop right in the glove. The gloves are so thin that it feels disturbingly like picking up poop without a glove, but you get used to it. Once the poop has been squished and studied, so that we can make notes on what the monkey has been eating, we invert the glove, spin it around so the poop settles into the fingers, knot it, and put it in a poop thermos (not depicted in this photo). It is VERY important to label the poop thermos as “POOP” so that your housemates do not put their coffee in it.

2.    Rain poncho. Rain feels nice when you’re in a steamy, hot forest. However, it is very bad for electronic equipment, so it’s important to put on a poncho right away when it starts to rain.

3.    Box of aluminum tree tags and wire. This is for marking the phenology trees so we know that we’re always collecting data on the same individual trees each month. We do this to monitor the food supply for the monkeys.

4.    Flagging tape. This is used to mark trees, sleep sites, and trails. Sometimes we leave messages for moneros on the tape too, using a sharpie pen.

5.    First aid supplies: Band-aids, Benadryl (for bee and wasp attacks), antiseptic spray or ointments for cuts (from barbwire and thorny plants), eye drops, for when Sloanea fruit hairs and other painful objects fall from the trees into your eyes, pain killers and cranberry tablets for urinary tract infections, which are common when moneros are dehydrated.

6.    Pocket knife. The most important part is the tweezers, which you can use to remove splinters and thorns, as well as the terrible Sloanea hairs that monkeys drop into our faces as they scrub them off their dinner.

7.    Garmin GPS unit. This helps us find the monkeys’ sleep site in the morning and find our way out of the forest at night. We also use it to record where the monkeys sleep, where their favorite trees are, and where they have battles with other monkey groups. We use it to record their movements throughout the day.

8.    Epipen. This is useful when massive numbers of bees or wasps attack us and we have an allergic reaction that makes breathing difficult. The monkeys love to bother bees and wasps, and unfortunately these insects often take out their frustrations on us rather than on the monkeys.

9.    Camera. Every day the monkeys do amazing, silly things. We always wish we had a camera on days when we forget to take one. This and all other electronic equipment is stored in Ziploc bags with home-made packets of silica gel to keep it dry in the forest.

10. Water bottles. It is so important to drink plenty of water! Most people drink 5-6 liters of water a day while trying to stay hydrated, because we sweat constantly.

11. Binoculars. Although the monkeys come down close sometimes, they also have lots of things they like to do in the very top of the canopy.

12. Hat with brim to keep the sun out of your eyes.

13. Map of the trail system and rivers, with sleep sites marked. This is covered in plastic contact paper so it won’t dissolve in sweat.

14. Compass. The GPS units are great as long as the batteries don’t die…a compass is an essential backup plan.

15. Pepper spray. So far we haven’t needed to use this. But we carry this as self-defense against potential attackers such as hunting dogs and pumas.

16. Digital recorder. When the monkey action gets fast and we need two pairs of eyes on the monkeys at all times, e.g. during coalitionary fights and play, we narrate into this recorder and transcribe it later.

17. Phone. Our phones are used both for emergency calls and for storing information. But their main purpose is to collect data. While one monero narrates the action, the other monero types it all in code form into a special program that time-date stamps each entry for us. When we get home, we dump it to the computer and upload it to an online database.

18. Monkey ID book. Each page of this hefty booklet contains drawings and descriptions of two monkeys, including notes on all their freckles, scars, and quirks.

19. Rite-in-the-rain pen and field notebook (covered in plastic). Here is where we make notes on what data we collected each day (who we followed, whose poop we collected), and also notes about new wounds, new plants eaten, sightings of poachers, and observations of rare animals that the park service would like to hear about. We also write poems and songs about the monkeys in these books. And we make notes about training progress, as new moneros learn how to recognize plants, sounds, and individual monkeys.

20. Two-way radio. These don’t carry very far, but they are useful for coordinating focal follows when monkeys insist in zipping back and forth across rivers or up and down cliffs, so we can keep one observer on each side of the obstacle.

21. Headlamp – this is essential for finding our way in and out of the forest at night.

22. Snacks! I think that “bird food” (granola and gorp) is the perfect field food. Other people eat leftovers from dinner. It is important never to eat fruit (or bugs!) in front of the monkeys, so that they do not start viewing us as feeding competitors and start attacking or robbing us, or - worse yet - getting too close to people who would be dangerous to them.

23. Passport copy. In case you have to explain your identity to a policeman who is scouring the woods looking for criminals. We do look awfully suspicious with the binoculars and recording devices!

24. At least two bandanas, for swatting clouds of biting insects and wiping sweat off your face.

25. Bag of salt to lick in moments of dehydration.