Day Four

Monkeys in the Mist

	A howler monkey hangs upside down while eating a leaf.

My quest at Lamanai was to find and study howler monkeys, the second loudest mammal on the planet. John told us they appear frequently in ancient Maya art and an image of a monkey appears on one of the Mayan writing characters.

Brenda Salgado, Lamanai's resident howler monkey researcher, led our search. She told us that howler monkeys have the loudest voice of any land animal. It can be heard a mile away. The more Brenda told me, the more I wanted to meet and hear these loud-mouthed tree-swingers.

Brenda started making noises she said would attract her favorite monkey named Michlet. Soon Brenda had the entire team grunting like good monkeys. We heard no howls in response.

The team tries their hand at calling howler monkeys.

As the day wore on, we saw black blobs in the trees. It was exciting to catch a glimpse, but I wanted to hear their howl. After a few more hours, we gave up and went back to camp. Sitting on the dock, I heard a noise that sounded like a speedboat sputtering to a start. Then it turned into a roar!

Then I saw him: Up in a tree overhead, Michlet was letting out a roar that would make the fiercest Maya warrior shudder. His roar sparked the roars of dozens of other monkeys. They howled until the sun set. I felt like I was hearing the king of beasts instead of a twenty-pound primate.

Going Questal,

- Stephanie Gregory

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