Are these capuchins?

The third one from the bottom looks like my mother when I used to fall asleep in church.

the first image. that's a squirrel monkey with her baby.

A co-worker of mine at Lucent way back when (mid-1990's) left IT to buy a bed and breakfast on Lake Arenal. We kept in touch for a couple years, but I didn't keep up. I periodically muse on places I might figure out ways to retire to -- Costa Rica is high on the list.

I've been living here since 2005. it's a great place to live but it's gotten really expensive.

I'm guessing that as expensive as it is, costs for rent and other living expenses probably don't approach my current home (Seattle).

Long story, but the death of my partner and sinking too much money into real estate before the collapse in 2007 wiped out our life's savings. I won't start collecting SS until I turn 70 in 2030. My musings take me to thoughts of preparing myself to stretch the meager "nest egg" I've pulled together + SS as far as possible.

...in fact, we are looking at a big property next to mine (half pasture and half forest) to get 5 or 6 like-minded (environmentally, socially, politically, etc) parties to buy it, cut it into equal parts and start a small community. i can give you more details.

re:lucent, and telecom, in general:

do you still have contacts there and are you still working in the telecom biz? i'd like to talk to you offline about it.

After Lucent I spent a a few years doing documentation for enterprise platforms, mainly consulting on projects related to BEA's Weblogic Integration J2EE suite of products. BEA was acquired by Oracle in the late 2000's. I kept in touch with a couple folks there, but it's been awhile. Last I heard one of my friends from there is now at Google. After working as an instructional designer for online trainings a few years I quit consulting and started a dog walking biz. Details on LinkedIn.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-keeshan-6a4273aa

If you think I can be of help, drop me a du message. And I would definitely like to stay in touch on retirement / CR community thoughts!

I retired from Alcatel-Lucent in 2011, NPDO, Network Planning, Design, and Optimization.

in sales. after i retired there were big layoffs and a lot folks just kind of disappeared. i'm considered a Nokia retiree as that is where the entire company went

Some of them definitely have a "not my idea" expression.

...showing me their teeth.

really displays how *I* feel under Trump.2

Love how they eye you as they lurk. Terrific collection!

....you got to see them before they went public

My husband took him to the airport, and while they were waiting in line to get checked in they met a church group going on a mission to Costa Rica. My husband said to two girls standing by them that they were also going to be doing charity work in Costa Rica. "My wife knits tiny sweaters and we're going to give the sweaters to the capuchin monkeys so they don't get cold at night." One girl's eyes got really big and she said, "Really?" My husband replied deadpan, "No." She and her friends laughed and laughed. It became a running joke in our family. When my son went off to college and I sent care packages I would include funny cards that I made. I included one that had a capuchin monkey in a sweater! I still have the picture on the computer and the monkey in the sweater shows up every once in a while in a note or card. I love all the photos you post! Thanks.

My stomach hurts from laughing so hard! You are awesome! My favorite was the last one, but they were all great!

And the composition of this one:

they're usually moving around and even in a seemingly still moment like that, the palm frond is swaying up and down from the monkey's weight and momentum and it's tough to nail a solid composition on a moving target, especially with a prime (fixed focal length) lens. i can probably work some photoshop bullshittery to make it look like his hand disappears behind the palm foliage above the edge of the frame.

Like I have deer and squirrels in my forest home. Absolutely beautiful photos, Gato.

...we have deer here also, but they are still recovering from being over-hunted and poached.....we have the same virginia white tail deer that you probably have and another deer called red brocket deer:



the bird diversity here is amazing as well. also,

i have ocelots, jaguarundis, pumas, coatis, kinkajous, squirrels, several species of raccoons and several species of opossums, all kinds of bats, sloths, agoutis, pacas, tayras, grisons and more.....and you don't have to go far to see tapirs and, possibly, jaguars.

if you like butterflies and other insects, this place is off the hook.

reptiles? all kinds of snakes and lizards....i see iguanas (green iguanas and spiny-tailed iguanas) all the time, and i have a resident male brown basilisk who lives around my ponds just outside my house.

i forgot where you are located.

skunks, otters, turtles, frogs, toads, snakes, lizards, mink, ermines, rats, mice, voles, wolverines, badgers, wolves, coyotes, pine martens, flying squirrels, bats, owls, geese, ducks, trumpeter swans, lots of other birds, and tons of bugs. But I'd freak out if most of those critters lived in my back yard. A puma turned up in a schoolyard in Duluth the other day, though.

you might have gray and/or red foxes too.

and remember all the migratory birds.

I have Armadillos, Racoons, Rats, mice, snakes(primarily black racers and rat snakes). Are the monkeys much of a pest like my racoon friends? I have peach, grapes, papaya, loquat, carambola, sugar apple, and mango and the racoons take their share every year.

...the monkeys eat fruit and insects....but they aren't really pests. i imagine if you have a banana farm or cacao farm (the capuchins eat cacao), they might be. they don't touch papaya, but the toucans and aracaris get them as soon as they start to ripen.

i have bananas too but nothing seems to go after them, surprisingly. I guess the squirrels are my biggest problem with peaches, destroy them while still green

Lots of smiles.