Accepted into the monkey family
One of the most extraordinary things happened today.
In the camp here, we have about 2 dozen monkey’s (bonnet macaques) which pretty much hang around here, as they get continuous food from our leftovers and they feel pretty safe here in the camp as the predators usually stay away from here. They usually wait outside the place where we eat and at every opportunity they get, they jump in, grab the food and rush out. Infact they are quite a problem for the staff here. Since the time I have come, I have started feeding them, so they don’t mess with the guests coming in and give the restaurant a break.
Over the past month, they have gotten more and more comfortable with me. The first week, I had to throw food at them, two weeks later they started to grab it from my hand and in the last two weeks, they don’t even bother that, and let me feed them directly to their mouths.
There monkey’s have a complex social lives. The Alpha male eats first, followed by the other males, then the females and the young ones at the end. If the order is screwed up, the alpha male attacks the human or the other young ones, who are eating without the alpha male. So I start off with the males and feed them well. They go back to the trees and sit down with their belly’s full. Then the young ones come out and I tell you, they are the best. Since they are still pretty young, they do not see humans as a threat (unlike the older ones who are always scared of the humans) and get pretty close to you and start to hold your hand etc. Infact the monkey feeding session is one of my fav part of the day.
Yesterday I was feeding the monkey’s near the hammock and usually few of them sit on the it, few on the trees and few on the ground. I was feeding the ones on the ground and I suddenly feel a hand in my hair. Then I realised, it was one of the monkey’s grooming my hair while sitting on the hammock. The monkey played with my hair for about two min and then went away. In the primate world, grooming is a social ritual. They do this not to remove ticks, but to build social bonds within the pack and it is the human equivalent of a warm hug.
This was one of the most touching moments in my entire trip here. The monkey actually accepted me in its pack and acknowledged that by doing this. You might find the whole thing funny, but you have to be there to feel what I felt yesterday.
i knew it .. i knew it.. monkeys would one day acknowledge their own!!:p anyway it was a nice read.. i like monkeys a lot they are fun to watch..
Congratulations, Jayan Goodall!
You had a Jane Goodall moment!
Next time, teach someone in the camp to snap a few frames when moments like these occur. Looks like you’re having fun. Guess this experience beats shooting models in Miami on a ship, eh?
Wow. Awesome. You have made a big step of an important transition. From the sick and un-sustainable human world into the sustainable, peaceful and happy animal world. Hope these milestone events are only markers of all the things you are learning from the animal world.
Nice, very nice.
after reading this i hav to make one statement
never ever take that miami offer
Come over sometime … The ones here are really cute
hehe.. I have loads of monkey shots.. will post them when i reach bangalore again. And as for shooting at times like this, I think its best just to sit back and enjoy then worry about taking a shot.
And yeah, I love this pic by nick
or an Ace Ventura moment!
Heh. Now you know why I did not take it 🙂
Darwin was right after all !!
I envy your life (NOT the part of getting accepted into your newfound friend circle), but your current project seems much more exciting than mine 🙂
Reminds me of a similar scene from a Anthony Hopkins movie… although that had a different story line.
Well, you’re getting back to Nature in more ways than one 🙂
wonderful!!
Its great reading about your experiences … and i am sure i am not alone … Start penning them down properly .. a book .. sometime in the future ..
wow .. god save the editor with those typos. With lines like these ..
Infact the monkey feeling session is one of my fav part of the day.
The book could sell a million copies. Kallu could very well be the next “Paparazzi” favorite beating Michael Jackson and co ..
p.s: I wanted to paste anon but live journal thinks the proxy i am using is some spam engine 🙁
I was grooming‘s hair in 2001-02.
makes it all the more real 😉
Oh My God.
Really, sounds like a oh my god moment, does it not?
(was smiling through your post. a lovely read!)
Where were you when I needed you?
Read My Life with the Chimpanzees and In the Shadow of Man if you get the chance.
I’m happy you had such a lovely moment.
He does have a feeling session also ya know !
WOW
heh heh. ROTFLAMO !!! 😛
good stuff man ! really envy ur job ! 😀
Super!!
Dude, please try to cut off the feeding habit before you leave from there. It’s ok as long as you are there to take care of them, but they are wild and they need to be on their own. The small amounts of food you give is not totally spoiling them from their natural feeding habits, but still they may expect some part of their ration from people there and that could put the monkeys lives in great danger as most people are not so generous.
I smoked a bit. Well a bit too much.. and my cartooneburum – thats the side of my brain where everything is in Toondom, went in overdrive.
Kallu had a wiki-spiritual experience
He got to the soul of the ximian-evolution project.
He saw the alpha monkeys and how badly off they were. he worked on them first.
He then went after the betas (read Beta in hindi) and worked best with them…
Hell someone even fingered him for bugs!
>hic<
>koff<>koff<
well, i asked that long back! Writing a book based on the experiences is an amazing attempt to reiterate the timeline on & on .. forever.
Hope you find the time to outline the ‘chapters’ soon …
Have a nice time. I grew up in a village in Andhra Pradesh. I used to watch a old man. He is a shop keeper. During the after noons, when business was dull, a monkey used to come to his shop and groom him the way you have explained. Many people used to comment derisively about the old man. But I always watched both of them fascinatedly. I so wished that I could be that old man one day.
One word… awesome!
LOL…
Good point.
What I feed them is very little. I usually take 4 slices of bread for about 20 monkeys, so that is hardly anything for them. They still live on the natural forest diet. They just come here to grab anything they can during breakfast and lunch.
Where is this?
Sorry I came to this blog late. Where exactly are you working as a temp naturalist? One of the JLR resorts in Karnataka?
Re: Where is this?
Yes, BR Hills.
Though i find your experience touching, I was shocked to read that u are actually feeding wildlife… its very very enticing but cut out on this habit.. i think you understand what i am trying to put forth…
Others have said it and I will as well…
DONT FEED THE MONKEYS BY HAND!!
It is one thing to put food out and let them find it and an entirely different matter when you feed them by hand, try hand feeding birds less harmful 🙂
Re: Where is this?
K gudi camp
http://www.junglelodges.com/resort_overview.asp?resort=K+Gudi
Squirrels
I used to feed peanuts to squirrel.
I got bitten several times as I tried to be extra playful. 😀
It was great fun though…
I love your wild life adventures. I have your site on my rss reader…
Do post pics if you can…
best,
nirjhar
Re: Where is this?
I’m looking at this:
http://www.junglelodges.com/resort_tariffs.asp?resort=K%20Gudi#K+Gudi
How many day(s)/night(s) does that price include? I might be interested in visiting this summer. How long are you there, btw?
Ofcourse, you cannot expect your photo “subjects” in Miami to check your hair for lice 😉
gud job kalyan…..:-)
so mingled with nature … huh!..
i had a strange feeling too when my nephew’s cute dog sprang on me….
when it saw me 4 the second time..
It’s humans that always encourage the monkeys first and then the monkeys suffer when they are considered pests for expecting/demanding their share of food.
I do envy you but I’m trying to be realistic here coz I know what goes on.
Re: Where is this?
The price is for 12 noon check-in to 12 noon check out the next day. Price includes safari, 3 meals , rooms etc. I don’t know how long I will be there, but will come with you when you come
so sweet……..
K
soooooo sweet to read that one.
specially that young abt monkeys & monkey grooming ur hair 🙂
this also remainds me of my childhood (i stayed in diff places
bcz of my father’s transfer ) days in many places specially
theerthahalli ( near shivamogga );)
cheers
It’s great to read of someone else who’s happy with his work-life too!!
Dude, you’re not the only one to get close to monkeys and apes :p
who’s that kid on the right ? :O
Well, the photo was taken in 1999, so I was quite a bit younger then. 🙂