Howler Monkey Drama in Manzanillo

The house we are staying is on 7 acres and has a troop of resident howler monkeys that seem to stay right around the area. We saw them the first day we arrived in the trees right off the pool. There was 1 old male, 8 females, 3 of which were carrying a baby, and a single male that stayed apart from the troop.

 On the second day I noticed the male had split apart from the troop and was mostly staying in the trees by the right of the house. The troop went back and forth in the canopy in front of the house and to the left.

   Late one afternoon we noticed that a female had come to visit the male. She had to be from the troop. At dusk they were both in the same tree right above the house.

The next morning, I woke to him howling away right above us. Once I was up for the day I went to see where all the howlers were. The troop was in their usual spot in the trees behind the office which was 50 yards away. I have been very surprised at how little this troop moves.

When I got back to the house the 2 howlers had full courtship going on. He was sniffing her butt but she was playing a bit hard to get. After a few more sniffs he got what he wanted. She then sat and played with his tail for a while which only started the butt sniffing again. After the second time, they both needed a nap.  

 We went off to the beach for a few hours and when we returned things around here were in full drama mode.

The single male had moved trees and was howling away. The troop had moved closer and the old male was howling right back.

 The females were all clipping away. It had to be a fight over the female, who seemed to be trying to get away but the single male had her more or less trapped. The commotion went on for a little while then all went quiet.

At that point we went in to make some lunch. She was in the tree right above the house when we saw her either jump or fall from the tree disappearing in the smaller trees.

She made her way to the tree the rest of the troop were in. Once there they all came rushing towards here at a speed I had never seen a howler go and pushed her from the tree.  She dropped hard we could hear it.  The troop had banished here.

She climbed up again only to drop out once more. We tracked her to the far end of the property where she looked stunned. Once she started to move we came back.

At this point all had quieted down once more and the single male was not napping in a tree. The old male was keeping watch with 3 females close to him. There were 4 females in another tree. Soon the old male gave up the watch and moved on to nap. Howlers nap most of the day and night.

What happened next is something I have never seen a howler do. The 4 females all quickly came down the tree and ran across the ground to the tree where the single male was.  They were only in the tree for a few minutes before they all came back down the tree and ran once more across the ground. This time the male following right behind them.

They did not go in the direction of the rest of the troop but to the far end of the property to where we had last scene the banished female.

I believe we had just witnessed the separation of the troop. I found the old male who still had 3 females with him, 1 carrying a baby. They were on the move. The rest I have not seen since.

 

This was better then reality TV. Unfortunately I did not have my camera ready for a lot of what happened.