ROARS IN THE DARKNESS
Night Life in the Jungle
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Heard more often than it is seen, the Yucatan White Scrotum Howler Monkey (Scientific name Alouatta Pigra) makes a fearsome sound and its howls can carry for several miles. It is slow moving and spends most of its day resting, often slumped over a tree limb.
Howlers usually appear depressed as they customarily sit hunched back with a gloomy expression on their face. Although the species is arboreal, they seldom make crashing leaps from tree to tree like Spider Monkeys.
They are large and stocky, up to 17 pounds, with glossy sheen fur. Males are larger than females with a longer black beard and a white scrotum, which is taken by females to be a sign of the male’s sexual maturity and breeding proclivity.
Often seen hanging from its tail when feeding, they consume large quantities of leaves, but also eat available fruits, nuts and flowers in season. Calls include barks, grunts and howls at dawn and dusk, culminating in a loud continuous rumbling roar by the male, which can be unsettling to say the least.
So, if you are traveling solo in the Yucatan Peninsula and are feeling romantically inclined, you may want to give some thought to emulating the Yucatan White Scrotum Howler Monkey. He seems to have no trouble finding a date. If you would like to hear a Howler for yourself, contact your Beaches-R-US sales representative.