¡Monos en los Årboles!

That's Monkeys in the Trees!! Talk about excitement! And just the day after seeing the troops go by in Bajo del Tigre. We feel so lucky. These are just the cutest monkeys! Even with their sharp pointy teeth. Francisco has told us not to show them our teeth as it is taken as a sign of aggression. And it could also scare them off and then you won't get a good picture.

Francisco also told us that it is illegal to keep these wild animals as pets. I've read about this on some of the Costa Rican sites I've visited. Sounds like the saddest animal in the world is a little pet monkey tied to a tree while all its relatives scamper through the canopy. Probably even sadder than the caged parrots that we see.

We see parrots flying overhead every day. You can hear their loud squawking as they flap by reminding me of the dog from the Chevy Chase movie Funny Farm.

After this one minute scene you never see the dog again except for those random moments when it runs through the farmyard barking. That's like the parrots going through our yard. They never stop! And they sound so happy. Not like these caged parrots we saw down a back alley in Santa Elena. They might look fine in this picture, but trust me, they are crying on the inside.

So back to the monkeys. How cute is this?

 Glad somebody is enjoying the bird feeder because the birds sure aren't showing up like I'd planned!

Okay, I'm tricking you on that last picture. Did you even notice it's a coati? While we are on the side yard looking up into the trees, the coati is in the front yard stealing the bird feeder bananas. Poor Hector is locked in the house through the whole monkey episode wanting out so badly! You can hear him barking throughout the video. No way was he getting out!

BigJohn shot almost all the video. It reminds me of when I would be at the Anchorage Hilton staying on an upper floor during an earthquake. You could feel the whole building sway. I'm thinking that it's BigJohn's height that is making him sway during the filming of the monkeys. Or maybe he is over-caffeinated? Either way, thanks for some great footage BigJohn! Keep in mind folks that we are not professionals here.

My favorite part of the whole monkey episode was the little guy who came up and took a banana and then waited politely for another banana. He seemed to be saying "Come on lady, give it up! I've got two hands here!"

But it was also cute to see the monkey hanging over the edge of the roof checking to see what BigJohn was up to on the patio. Also had one of them at the hummingbird feeder with it tilted sideways sucking up the juice!

I had planned on lots of Banana Cream Pies the next few weeks but plans can change suddenly!