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Are Monkeys Omnivores, and What Do They Eat?
Monkeys are omnivores; they eat both meat and plants. The diet of the monkeys varies depending on the species.
East African verve monkeys majorly feed on bulbs, bark, roots, eggs, and rodents. Red colobus and Langur monkeys mostly eat leaves.
Owl monkeys normally feed on leaves, fruits, and insects. Capuchin monkeys eat fruits, buds, leaves, small lizards, bird eggs, and small birds.
Trained Capuchin can catch crabs, frogs, and shellfish, and they eat small mammals and reptiles.
All monkeys use their hands and feet to hold on to the branches when feeding on various parts of the tree, while others have ridged and very flexible tails to hold on to branches when eating.
Baboons can eat meat when they catch it, such as young antelopes, rabbits, and birds. Geladas monkeys usually feed on grass.
Old-world monkeys fill their cheek pouches with food and swallow it later when they find a safe place to rest. The belly of colobus monkeys and langurs contains a bacterium that aids in the fermentation and digestion of leaves.
Are Monkeys Smart?
Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Scientists say that monkeys can understand abstract properties. According to a study by Georgia State University psychology researchers, monkeys show cognitive flexibility in solving various problems.
The researcher carried out a test to see the flexibility of monkeys when offered a specific strategy for solving a situation. It is noted that 70 percent of the monkeys opted for the shortcut when immediately provided.
The monkeys also can stock-specific routes in the forest while moving from one region of the forest to the other. Some of the monkeys can also crack the nuts using hands and objects.
In addition, owl monkeys have eyes that can see in the dark, and they can communicate with each other using scents and calls.
Where are Monkeys’ Habitat?
Monkeys live in forests, grasslands, high plains, and mountain places. A large category of monkeys is known to spend their time in trees, while others live mostly on the ground.
Monkeys are classified into Old and New World monkeys. Old World monkeys are found in Africa and Asia, and they include baboons, macaques, mangabeys, guenons, and colobus monkeys.
New World monkeys are found in Central America, South America, and Mexico. The New World monkeys include howler monkeys, spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and squirrel monkeys.
Monkeys have different features which attract them to different regions. A large category of monkeys finds their place in the tropical rainforest or the savanna of Africa.
Geladas and golden monkeys usually live in mountainous places where there is snow, such as in Japan. Other monkeys live in rocky and wooded areas, and they mostly spend their time on the ground, although they can climb trees.
These include macaques and baboons.
Can Monkeys Swim?
Despite most of the monkeys not having the capacity to swim in the water, macaque monkeys, snow monkeys, lutung monkeys, squirrel monkeys, spectacled leaf monkeys, and probosci’s monkeys have been observed swimming frequently.
Macaque monkeys are well known for eating the crabs which dominantly live in water.
These monkeys are smart and physically strong to figure out their way in the water. The swimming monkey has a better-streamlined body, good epidermal fats on its skin layers, webbed fingers, and toes which greatly assist in swimming underwater.
In addition, the streamlined body helps them counter-resistance of water waves.
The increased fat in the body increases buoyancy in the water. Hydrodynamics of the body in swimming monkeys exerts a force on the muscles to help them swim forward in the water.
Swimming monkeys can hold their breath for a few minutes while in the water. Some of these monkeys usually swim in search of shelter and food during floods, such as in the Amazon rainforest, where the floods can last for up to four months during the rainy seasons.
How Long Do Monkeys Sleep?
Monkeys have different sleeping patterns. Most monkeys have long and deep sleep at night; they have eyes that dance behind the eyelids and sometimes experience an orangutan’s dream.
Monkeys are known to sleep on average 9.5 hours. Nocturnal night monkeys from South Africa can shut their eyes for nearly 17 hours a day.
Monkeys do not construct a sleeping platform; they sleep while sitting in the trees, balancing on the branches, resting on their bottoms, and often upright. The monkeys choose their sleeping place and habits based on the safety from predators, distance to feeding grounds, insect avoidance, and competition from other primates.
The monkeys usually go to trees that are above the canopy for security reasons. Macaques can sleep in areas near human beings because they eat food leftovers.
Which Animals Are Monkeys Afraid Of?
Monkeys are scared of snakes because they tend to feed on them. They are usually afraid of birds that prey on them, such as golden eagles and mountain hawk-eagles. Macaque monkeys are also scared of flying squirrels because they tend to behave like birds that prey on them.
When young macaque monkeys are exposed to flying squirrels, they produce loud sounds while strong male monkeys try to harass the squirrels. Monkeys are scared of leopards, jaguars, and cougars because these animals feed on monkeys.
Crocodiles also eat monkeys; hence, swimming monkeys are very careful while in deep waters.
What is Special and Unique About Monkeys?
Monkeys are very caring; they are protective of their young ones. They can notify others in case of danger and communicate perfectly through their vocals.
They produce vocals like barks, grunts, squeaks, hoots, wails, and moans to communicate. Baboons have a “language” of more than 30 sounds.
They have fingers that resemble those of human beings. Monkeys are known to use tools for crushing nuts.
Some monkeys can even fetch water by using tree leaves. They can express love, anger, laughter, sadness and mourn the loss of other monkeys.
Monkeys possess a brain that is large enough for their size, hence making them more intelligent. They are considered to be more intelligent than most primates. The monkeys have unique fingerprints, just like in human beings.
Monkeys can express affection by grooming each other, intertwining tails, holding hands, cuddling, and lip-smacking. Monkeys fight by biting while showing anger by grinning.
Monkeys can remove dirt and parasites from each other’s fur. Monkeys have so many humanistic movements.
How big are monkeys?
Monkeys differ in size and weight based on the type of monkey. In most cases, they can be described as small, medium, or large. The smallest monkeys are about 6 inches long and 4 ounces.
The largest monkeys can take up to 3 feet long.
The pygmy marmoset monkey is the smallest of the species; they weigh 4.2 ounces on average. They can grow to 5.3 inches long, whereas the females are larger than the males.
They are mostly found in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.
The larger monkey is a mandrill that averages 77 pounds and 3 feet tall, although some can grow to 100 pounds. Mandrills are known for blue and red stripes on their skin around the nose.
They are majorly found in equatorial Africa.
What Smell Does the Monkey Hate?
Monkeys hate the smell of rotten eggs mixed with water. Some farmers have proved to scare away monkeys by the scent of burning sticks dipped in the phenyl.
The smell of burning dug mixed with chilies has also been used to keep the monkeys away.
Do Monkeys Live in the Jungle?
There are monkeys that survive in the jungle, such as spider monkeys and howler monkeys. Monkeys have characteristics that make them stay in the jungle. Jungle monkey has developed features that help them search for food and protect one another in that harsh environment.
They have long gangly limbs for swinging from one tree to the other. They have strong arms and legs to support themselves in the trees and avoid wasting energy while walking.
The hook-like hands and flexible feet enhance the grip of branches while swinging. In addition, they have prehensile tails to hold the branches. Jungle monkeys have limited sightlines; hence, locating one another by voice.
They travel in large groups when food is adequate and in small groups when food is scarce.
What Do Monkeys Hate?
Monkeys can keep away from an area with heavy noise, bursting of crackers, or soundtracks because they hate very loud noise.
