There is some SERIOUS monkey madness going on around my house these days and it is FREAKING ME OUT!
Unfortunately (because people do not understand the consequences) when tourists come to the park they feed the monkeys and think it’s fun and exciting.
It is neither of these things! It is DANGEROUS and STUPID.
Monkeys are not fools, they can find their own food and it’s better for EVERYONE when they find it in the forest. But they know it’s easier to sit around for a while and then take food from people and garbage bins, rather than go looking for it in the forest.
This makes monkeys VERY AGGRESSIVE with people.
People who just come and go, they don’t care, it’s all fun and games and part of the adventure of camping to them…but for the people who live here it REALLY SUCKS!
At the campsite where I live there are three permanent houses (one is mine), there is a small parking lot, there are two big fields for tents, a small restaurant and a small store attached to the campsite office. Monkeys hang out here all the time, so what happens when there are no tourists to feed them? They harass the people who live here.
One day I was walking from the store to my house with an ice cream cone when an adult male macaque came right up to me and tried to take it from me. I yelled at him and kept walking but he pursued me. I walked around a car and he walked away.
Not cool!!
Last week, I was coming back from the market with Tanya and we were both carrying some small bags of fruit and market treats when the same male came right over to us. Tanya freaked out and moved, so the male got between us and he came right up behind me, right onto the porch. I turned around and yelled at him and he jumped at me trying to take the bags, I ducked and he went over my shoulder and onto another part of the porch. NOT COOL!!
I put the food in the house and stomped on the porch to scare him away. It’s important to show him that I am not afraid and he can’t intimidate us so he will leave us alone… at which point he growled and lunged at me, but I blocked him with a nearby clothes rack. Freaking monkey! Good grief! This kinda stuff never happens with the gibbons.
I know macaques can be aggressive when people feed them, and already we are taking steps to stop this… but now it’s become an even bigger problem for me because I live here and so does he. Male macaques are big monkeys with HUGE canines – that are built for fighting other males...meaning they can rip right through defenseless Canadian girls.
Yesterday I was running along the road doing a long distance slow run. Nothing was in sight, no animals, no cars, just me on the road running… when all of a sudden I heard GRAAAWAALL beside me. I turned in an instant to see that male bounding out of the forest towards me on the road.
Let me tell you, when a monkey is being a jerk on your porch it’s easy to remain calm. When a monkey is springing out of the darkness of the forest at you, it’s not so easy to not be intimidated!! So naturally I squealed and started to run a wee bit faster :)
We are now sworn enemies.
Unfortunately (because people do not understand the consequences) when tourists come to the park they feed the monkeys and think it’s fun and exciting.
It is neither of these things! It is DANGEROUS and STUPID.
Monkeys are not fools, they can find their own food and it’s better for EVERYONE when they find it in the forest. But they know it’s easier to sit around for a while and then take food from people and garbage bins, rather than go looking for it in the forest.
This makes monkeys VERY AGGRESSIVE with people.
People who just come and go, they don’t care, it’s all fun and games and part of the adventure of camping to them…but for the people who live here it REALLY SUCKS!
At the campsite where I live there are three permanent houses (one is mine), there is a small parking lot, there are two big fields for tents, a small restaurant and a small store attached to the campsite office. Monkeys hang out here all the time, so what happens when there are no tourists to feed them? They harass the people who live here.
One day I was walking from the store to my house with an ice cream cone when an adult male macaque came right up to me and tried to take it from me. I yelled at him and kept walking but he pursued me. I walked around a car and he walked away.
Not cool!!
Last week, I was coming back from the market with Tanya and we were both carrying some small bags of fruit and market treats when the same male came right over to us. Tanya freaked out and moved, so the male got between us and he came right up behind me, right onto the porch. I turned around and yelled at him and he jumped at me trying to take the bags, I ducked and he went over my shoulder and onto another part of the porch. NOT COOL!!
I put the food in the house and stomped on the porch to scare him away. It’s important to show him that I am not afraid and he can’t intimidate us so he will leave us alone… at which point he growled and lunged at me, but I blocked him with a nearby clothes rack. Freaking monkey! Good grief! This kinda stuff never happens with the gibbons.
I know macaques can be aggressive when people feed them, and already we are taking steps to stop this… but now it’s become an even bigger problem for me because I live here and so does he. Male macaques are big monkeys with HUGE canines – that are built for fighting other males...meaning they can rip right through defenseless Canadian girls.
Yesterday I was running along the road doing a long distance slow run. Nothing was in sight, no animals, no cars, just me on the road running… when all of a sudden I heard GRAAAWAALL beside me. I turned in an instant to see that male bounding out of the forest towards me on the road.
Let me tell you, when a monkey is being a jerk on your porch it’s easy to remain calm. When a monkey is springing out of the darkness of the forest at you, it’s not so easy to not be intimidated!! So naturally I squealed and started to run a wee bit faster :)
I wasn’t even carrying food! I had nothing for him to steal from me.
He was just lunging at me because it was me. Just great!!
He was just lunging at me because it was me. Just great!!
We are now sworn enemies.
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