Today, I’m going to tell you about things, more specifically, animals, more specifically – dun dun dun dun- monkeys! Today I’m going to tell you about the three different types of monkeys in the Costa Rican/Nicaraguan area.         First up, the most common monkey, the very loud howler monkeys. Howler monkeys howl to see where the nearest competitors are. Howler monkeys live on a diet of leaves, which are not particularly nutritious. The monkeys do want nutritional food, like fruits and flowers, for their young. That’s what the monkeys compete for. Only males answer to the calls from another group. Did you know that unlike other new world monkeys, both male and female monkeys can see in color. The howler monkeys in Costa Rica are black howler monkeys. We saw two little baby howler monkeys attached to their mothers back when we went on a hike.

Moving on to the white-faced capuchin, the second most common monkey in the Costa Rica/ Nicaragua area. White-faced capuchins eat fruits, flowers, invertebrates, and occasionally bird eggs, bird hatchlings, nesting squirrels, and small lizards. Their main predators are large raptors, boa constrictors, and big cats like jaguars and pumas. White-faced capuchins are highly social creatures, and normally have troops of 10-30 monkeys. Unlike howler monkeys, they are shy around humans, and will normally be further away from trail, not easily seen.

Now, last- but not least-spider monkeys!!! Spider monkeys are just starting to come back to Central American primary forests. The species left due to deforestation and being hunted. These monkeys pretty much only eat fruit, occasionally substituting young leaves for extra protein. Of all the monkeys, the spider monkey’s the most mobile. It spends its time swinging through trees with is arms legs and tails. Though spider monkeys are quite quick, they still need to watch out for predators. Spider monkey’s predators are occasionally jaguars, raptors, ocelots, and large snakes. A spider monkey’s real threat, are humans. Again, deforestation is a huge problem. Lots of monkeys lose their homes and possibly their lives. They always stay away from humans. Spider monkeys have a few different types of calls. A barking rally is meant to scare of predators or territory invaders. Two long calls are used to coordinate the group movement.

Those are some of the facts about the monkeys in the Costa Rica/ Nicaragua area. We have only seen howler monkeys. My favorite monkey is a spider monkey, because it’s so active, a little like me! Please tell me what your favorite monkey is, and please ask questions!!!         Bye for now! Ori[polldaddy poll=8740516]