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Vervet monkeys travel in extended family groups too. They do most of their foraging on the ground, but race into the scrub brush or up into a tree when danger threatens. Field research has proven that they have distinctively different alarm calls for predatory birds, snakes and leopards. Behaviorally, these guys are very adaptable. Normally they eat soft fruits, seeds and flowers, but they're also known to raid agricultural fields. This cheeky fellow ran out to meet our vehicle, so he had obviously received food from tourists in the past. No other monkeys joined him, and his raised eyebrows and nervous, sidelong glances said that he was a bit leery about being out in the open and away from his fellows. Primates often have boldly colored genitalia. I was surprised to see that vervets had powder-blue testicles. |