Sticking with monkeys...

Without wishing to turn this into a monkey blog, but having a soft spot for primates, a transitory (twice a day) interest in dental hygiene and a passing curiosity in what was happening in the above video, my research revealed information of modest enough value to post here. 

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According to a research paper published earlier this month, Long Tailed Macaque monkeys have been observed by Japanese scientists from Kyoto University teaching their young to clean between their teeth, by flossing. The monkeys that inhabit a Buddhist shrine in Lopburi, 150 km north of Bangkok, are known to pluck hair from the heads of visitors to use as floss. Worshipers consider the monkeys to be divine servants, the researchers said, which helps explain why some people tolerate the Macaques tugging out their hair.

I've never been a big flosser myself and while I've sometimes felt the inclination, the requisite material has never been conveniently to hand. It's never occurred to me until now that (unlike the monks that also inhabit the shrine) I've had a whole head-full of floss available to me all along and have usually made do with an improvised toothpick.

   

The research team from Kyoto University headed by primatologist Nobuo Masataka, distributed a wig-load of 20 cm long hairs throughout the shrine habitat and videotaped the primates engaged in using them as tools to clean between their teeth. Around 50 of the monkeys were observed pulling strands of hair back and forth between their teeth. 

The Kyoto team focused their research on seven female adult Macaques, each with a one-year-old infant. When the mothers sat facing their young, each bout of flossing was noted to take around twice as long as usual, and the mothers paused and repeated the process about twice as often. Similarly exaggerated behaviour occurs when human mothers teach their children, noted Masataka, who went on to state: 'These findings suggest education is a very ancient trait in the primate lineage'. Without wishing to denigrate the good professor nor devalue his research, it rather sounds like a revalation of the unconcealed. How else do young animals learn stuff, except by watching someone else?

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE (for pub quiz fans)

Dental floss is an ancient invention, researchers have found dental floss and toothpick grooves in the teeth of prehistoric humans. Levi Spear Parmly (1790-1859), a New Orleans dentist is credited as being the inventor of modern dental floss (or maybe the term re-inventor would be more accurate). Parmly promoted teeth flossing with a piece of silk thread in 1815. In 1882, the Codman and Shurtleft Company of Randolph, Massachusetts started to mass-produce unwaxed silk floss for commercial home use. Johnson and Johnson Company of New Brunswick, New Jersey were the first to patent dental floss in 1898. Dr. Charles C. Bass developed nylon floss as a replacement for silk floss during WW II. Dr. Bass was responsible for making teeth flossing an important part of dental hygiene 

Thanks www.funtrivia.com

Mistreated coconut money gaines revenge... kills owner

A Samui born and trained coconut-harvesting monkey turned on its abusive master last week and killed him with a well directed coconut, kicked from the top of a 50m palm. It's reported that one of the nuts hit Luelit Janchoom who died from the resultant blow to the head, before reaching hospital.

Luelit is said to have beaten the monkey, named Brother Kwan, when he showed reluctance to climb a second high palm. Forced to climb by the thrashing and cleary bent-out-of-shape, Brother Kwan began forcefully kicking the ripe nuts from the crown of the tree instead of using the twisting motion that coconut monkeys are taught to detach the nuts from their tough stalks.

The incident took place in the mainland province of Nakhorn Si Thammarat where Luelit and Brother Kwan had been hired to harvest nuts by a coconut farmer. Each nut would earn the pair 2Bt and on average the monkey would harvest around 300 nut a day.

A monkey expert told the Samui Express, who reported the incident on 9th March, that a monkey is a special animal that respond well to kindness, but become furious if harsh treatment and words are used against them. I'm not sure that you have to be much of an expert to figure that out.

This coconut monkey makes ready to twist the stalks to remove the nuts. Angry and humiliated, Brother Kwan is reported to have kicked the nuts furiously sending them to the ground. It is tragic that Khun Luelit's head got in the way of one on its way down, but we have to hope that a lesson has been learned by others with abusive tendencies. We're optimistic that Brother Kwan is not punished for his action and goes on to work with a more humane handler.

A belated and rambling New Year update...

I've finally uploaded all the Christmas and New Year photos and have an hour to call my own, so a shortish, belated update on our recent visit.

Christmas Day and lunch was spent with Lucy and Jonny at their lovely house with guests Mark and Tan. Used to bigger facilities, cooking and keeping warm all the components of our traditional lunch in Lucy's galley style kitchen was much, much harder than cooking for the 25-30 guests and friends we've catered for at the hotel in past years. But well worth the effort and ... we all felt better after a lie down.

Lucy's goddaughter - Maisie - came over to open-up her presents, and morphed into a mischievous looking imp the instant she pulled on her new angel outfit.

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As previously posted, the weather was atrocious for the rest of our stay and I really felt sorry for our guests, but Brits and Canadians are a hardy bunch and they would shuttle in and out of their rooms several times a day to catch whatever weak rays would appear, and in spite of the

chilly onshore wind. When it was too overcast or even during rain, two stalwarts - Brit Colin and Canadian Al would invariably join me on 'beach watch', the mesmerizing and wholly pointless occupation of observing and trying to second guess what the sea would next do to the beach.

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Concerned at what the high winds might do to our coconut palms or, more properly, what our coconuts might do to our guests, we used a few hours break in the weather to have the nuts and over-abundant fronds cut back. We normally need this treatment three times a year to ensure the safety of unsuspecting visitors, and now seemed like an opportune time.

In a previous post, I described how trained monkeys are often used to twist-off ripe nuts at harvest time. One of our guests already in possession of this information and anxious to share his knowledge asked, as we watched the old boy that had just finished his romping free-climb to the crown of a 25m palm, start to hack away at the heaviest fronds, why a human was doing this work. I took some small satisfaction in reminding him of the first rule of coconut men everywhere - you don't give a machete to a monkey.

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New Year's was lovely. The wind dropped and the drizzle stopped long enough for our staff to enjoy their 'Secret Santa' gift giving to each other and a beer or two with the seldom indulged northern Thai delicacy of fried duck tongues (yummy!)

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The evening stayed calm and balmy, and so did we. I'd made pea and ham soup - tongue shrivelingly salty, but it disappeared down the necks of many of the guests who decided our bar was as good a location as any to watch the village's firework displays. And so we remained for really, quite a special night with some wonderful guests.

Viv, Jonny, Olwen, Colin, Brit/Greek artist and Paxos shopkeeper Hartley, Tik, who finally left at 03h30 and Canadian Cathy, who's husband Al, was doubtless beach watching.

Lovely people Viv and Colin - absent, son Garrulous Greg

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And finally, to update recent posts...

The palm was rescued and, since this pic was taken, relocated to replace the old stump - foreground; camouflaged with plants.

The villa next door was finished, so no more noise... from that direction.

The beach is almost back to normal, the sun has come out and today, Baan Bophut has a full house.

Congratulations to Lucy on finally getting her Thai motorbike driving licence, after 5 years on the island.