Bananas are a popular commodity around the property these days. There are several species that go to great efforts to consume the sweet, creamy flesh (hmm, those last three word strung together sound rather lascivious.) Not meaning to be lascivious but our bananas are really delicious. I just read that a banana is botanically labeled a berry that fruits from a herbaceous plant. Lately our banana plants are fruiting like crazy. M is hauling up long racks of bananas and plantains almost every week. Our potassium levels are through the roof.
He harvests them while they are still green. Sometimes the weight of the rack pulls the plant over and he finds it lying on the ground. We've devised a method of hanging the racks under the first landing of the stairs that lead up to our kitchen. The fruit ripen over several days and often we cover the rack with a large garbage bag to encourage the process. The plastic covering also helps to deter the various creatures, measuring from the micro to the macro, from enjoying the bananas before we can. The smallest is a type of insect: tiny, black and non-biting to humans. They will swarm a ripe banana, burrow through the peel and devour the flesh. Often, I find several deflated banana peels still hanging from the rack.
The next feasters are fruit bats. They are able to insinuate themselves through the tight folds of the plastic. In the morning, I will hear the plastic crinkling from the flapping of wings and know that a bat is inside the bag. Recently, a bat had its wing entangled in a small hole in the plastic and could not extricate itself. I gently peeled the plastic off the rack and lay it down on the ground. The bat still could not release itself. Donning a pair of gardening gloves and armed with scissors, I gently cut the plastic away from the bat's wing. I never thought that I would be "up close and personal" with a fruit bat. At such close range, I could see that the bat had a short protrusion on its nose that makes it look like rhinoceros. I know that this is probably my imagination but it seemed to know that I was trying to free it. It struggled a little at first and then lay quietly as I snipped at the plastic. Once it was free, it flew away. I have no problem with bats as they can eat up to 1,000 mosquitos in an hour.
Going up the food chain, we have Pinta and Soozie, our dogs, as eager eaters of bananas and plantains. If given the chance, they would snag bananas from the rack. The bananas are hung in a way that makes it a dangerous challenge. If they miscalculated, it is a steep drop onto the pebbles below. They know better than to try such an antic. Instead, they sit nearby with their tails curled neatly around their feet and stare at me with big, brown, imploring eyes. A tactic that usually succeeds in their goal of receiving treats of over-ripe bananas.
The boldest of the burglars are the Capuchins, known locally as white-faced monkeys. Unlike the timid mono-titis and the reticent howler monkeys, Capuchins are highly intelligent, adaptable and aggressive. Recently, there is a troop that is spending a lot more time swooping through the trees next to our garage. They don't like green bananas and won't procure them while they hang on the plant. They do very much enjoy ripe bananas. Several mornings in a row, I came down the stairs to find neatly peeled banana skins lying on the steps leading up to the landing. They are coming up onto the terrace, up the stairs, hanging over the edge of the landing and pulling bananas off the rack hanging below. Obviously, they are so confident in their safety that they sit and eat them on the spot. This all happens, probably just before dawn while the dogs are sleeping inside. When the dogs and I come down in the morning, Pinta and Soozi spend time sniffing around the crime scene. With that scent, they are scoping out the troops' movement in the surrounding forest and "chasing" them past the property.
During the last week, the bananas have been securing covered with no monkey incursions, though, they are keeping an eye on potential accessibility. There are certainly more than enough bananas to share. I am freezing, dehydrating, baking, smoothie-ing bananas on a daily basis. The issue is that Capuchins are aggressive and if we establish a pattern of "free food." they will become a problem. Well, it's just about time for a banana smoothie!
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