Afi Mountain Drill Ranch – Drill Monkeys

(My Nigeria crossing starts with the story Into Nigeria. You should begin reading there)

The Drills live in huge electrified enclosures where they are fed twice a day – usually papaya, mangoes, advocates and beans wrapped in leaves (which they particularly love). The males are enormous, and the females quite small.

nigeria drill rannch male face 720x480

Their heads sometimes look out of proportion to their bodies

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Small female hiding from the big males

The food shack at the ranch is electrified because some of the males have figured out how to climb out of their enclosure and repeatedly wander into the main camp area. Walking around I often bump into them, though they are always scared of me and run away when I lift my arms or step towards them. It’s hilarious to watch at feeding time as the escapees line up to climb back into the enclosure to be fed before escaping again. The drills are not dangerous, so preventing them escaping is not a huge priority.

nigeria drill rannch male eating 320x480

Eating lunch

nigeria drill rannch big teeth 720x480

Catching food thrown to him

The whole area is extremely peaceful, and it feels great to wake up in the morning knowing I will be sleeping in the same place. Mercifully the temperature drops overnight and the humidity is not completely insane, so sleep is possible.

nigeria drill rannch big male 720x480

This guy is big. Really big

nigeria drill rannch baby 720x480

Baby hanging on tight

Still tons more photos to come.

Day seven in Nigeria.
Success.

-Dan

3 Responses

  1. Chris says:

    Hi Dan,

    Thanks as always for the educational updates. I always appreciate ending the day with more knowledge than the last. The pictures are awesome…so I can just imagine the real life version. Stay healthy..stay calm..and Jeep on! (Hmmm..now that belongs on a Jeep tee!)

    -Chris

  2. Dave says:

    “where they are fed twice a day – usually papaya, mangoes, advocates and beans”

    They feed them ADVOCATES? Who like drill monkeys THAT much?

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