Our family was excited to note and record a special on Animal Planet this week about the monkeys of Costa Rica. What we learned about our cute, little, white-faced friends, however, was a real eye-opener. …
As it turns out, the monkeys we enjoyed in the Costa Rican rainforest are “Capuchins.” The Capuchins are omnivores — they eat fruit (this we knew) as well as other small animals. These seemingly happy-go-lucky tree-dwellers are also predatory and vicious. According to the program, the Capuchins enjoy eating squirrel, when given the opportunity. But instead of dispatching of it quickly and eating the rewards, they apparently like to torture the squirrel for a while with a game of “pull the tail off the squirrel.”
Our jaws dropped as we watched the documented drama unfold on our television screen. The poor, defenseless squirrel was thrown from one monkey to the next and taunted. The monkeys proceeded to pull the tail off as a plaything, before putting the poor squirrel out of its misery — several minutes later.
“Uhhh … was this really the animal we allowed to play mere inches from our children? … The same animal we laughingly watched steal the sugar packets (not the Equal or Sweet n’ Low, thank you — just the sugar) straight from the table centerpieces?” Apparently, it was. …
The Capuchin, although small in stature, is the wolf in sheep’s clothing — too cute to believe such had it not played out on film. But don’t take my word for it … here’s what Emma had to say:
What did you think about the monkeys we saw in Costa Rica?
“They were cute and cool!”
Were they scary?
(Laughing) Noooo … They weren’t scary!
What did you learn about the Costa Rican monkeys on TV?
“They torture squirrels and eat them!”
How do you feel about the monkeys now?
“A little bit scared.”
Will you ever let them approach you again?
“Well, sure. They’re nice.”