If one has a penchant for reading science magazines, one can absorb a tremendous amount of useless knowledge. But, sometimes that knowledge comes in handy and helps one better understand the world.
Another reading, and I cannot remember where, is about the intelligence and trainability of capuchin monkeys. They are trained as service animals for both the handicapped and law enforcement. More research revealed that an organization entitled, Helping Hands, trains and uses capuchins to assist handicapped/disabled individuals. Since the little monkeys only weigh from 3 to 9 pounds and have opposable thumbs, they are able to accomplish more than service dogs. Although some dogs can jump high, the capuchins have them beat. They can jump up to nine feet! The capuchins use tools in the wild, such as sticks and stones, to access food. Therefore, teaching them to use the tools made by humans has been successful. As one example, the monkeys can be taught to wash a person’s face. As with all Earth’s animals, the capuchin’s survival rate in the wild is diminishing rapidly. Their territories in Brazil, Argentina and Columbia are being deforested. They are captured for the pet trade and medicinal research. Yet because of their intelligence, they adapt more readily to environmental change than other animals. Wild capuchins live in groups called “troops”. There is a strong social bond between its members with an especially intense bond between a mother and its newborn. I wonder what results from the trauma of being separated from their mothers? Their life expectancy in the wild is 10 to 25 years. In captivity, 50 years.
There is a facility in the eastern U.S. that breeds capuchin monkeys. These animals are not bred as pets but are trained for other uses. One will probably never see a handicapped person in public with an “organ grinder monkey” (the name by which they came to be called in the last century.) Capuchins can bite and there is the possibility of disease transfer. Early in the beginning of “Helping Hands” the capuchins teeth were pulled. That is not so now with this organization. Capuchin training involves “praise, affection, and small rewards (food).” The nature of their training is directed towards how they will be utilized. Maybe it is top secret, but there is little said about the capuchin’s use in law enforcement, but one can surmise. What amazing surveillance a capuchin with an invisibility suit could achieve if secreted into a home while the person or persons are away. They could be equipped with small cameras, microphones, etc. The monkey is small enough to hide in the kitchen cabinets or any number of places where a small 3 pound animal could hide. . If you have wondered if you have gremlins in your house, it might be an invisibility cloaked, cute little furry guy who is only 13 to 22 inches long, tail not included. The tail is usually about the length of the body. A security camera will pick up their movement even if your eyes cannot. It would be good to find that article in which I read about this particular kind of service. I remember a joke: A policeman shouted, “Put your hands up! My monkey has a gun on you!” It is remarkable and sad how humans can feel no remorse about putting their desires first over animals. I am positive that the humans who interact with “domesticated” capuchins treat them with affection. We humans do love our animals. But unlike dogs with which humans have been interacting for thousands of years, the use of monkeys is new. What about the monkeys themselves? Is it fair for humans to deprive these social creatures, who live a richly needed life of “movement, exploration and interaction” with its own kind in the canopies of the jungle, to ever be free? Undoubtedly, the monkeys being bred in captivity could never survive if placed back in the jungles. Their dependency on humans is complete. Barbara J. King, an emerita professor of anthropology at the College of William and Mary said, “With these primate cousins of ours, we alter their lives with a firm eye on human benefits and a reluctance to consider the cost to the capuchins themselves. The greater kindness is to allow monkeys to live their lives as monkeys.” I agree. Now, how else might an invisibility cloak or suit be used? [email protected] ©Ann Rains January, 2021
7 Comments
Carolyn Kreighbaum
1/22/2021 06:39:11 pm
Interesting information!
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D. Barton
1/25/2021 05:09:46 pm
I'll bet one of these little fellas could learn how to use my computer to type and send my Gazette articles to the print guy. And, I'm sure with a little coaching could be writing them as well, or better, than I can. Something to look into. Thanks, Ann.
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d.barton
1/26/2021 03:49:40 pm
I'm afraid, it'll just have to wait, Ann.
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K Beltran
1/29/2021 09:45:55 am
Just popped by :)
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