Wild Kingdom

If you ever go kayaking in a mangrove swamp in Thailand, here’s what could happen to you:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoQPlF9QTM8[/youtube]

It turns out that the monkey who joined us was rather well-behaved, all things considered. After I posted that video on YouTube, we found a few others where the monkeys were a bit more aggressive:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6nqmPnvltg[/youtube]

You’re not supposed to feed the monkeys, but I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do when they start going through your bag:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-9LsHTe4tg[/youtube]

Silly monkeys!

12 responses to “Wild Kingdom”

  1. lane says:

    having been bitten on numerous occasions by a five year old human . . . monkey, this actually scares me a little.

    i’m sure those cute little creatures could turn really nasty if they had to.

    i really wouldn’t want to feel those teeth.

  2. ScottyGee says:

    1: At least they aren’t morphed with tarantulas!

    I love how he’s riding your bow in order to get closer to the kayak in front of you — the one that has a visible bag of goodies.

  3. ScottyGee says:

    And how cute is that Barnes with her nervous little laugh?

  4. Rogan says:

    LP, your video quality is way better than the others.

    Did the guides tell you what to do in case of a close encounter of the monkey kind? I wouldn’t want to get bit by a monkey, but at the same time I would really want to knock it (gently!) into the swamp with my paddle.

  5. LP says:

    Yes, the guides gave us a little talk about the monkeys before we set off. They told us the monkeys are looking for food, they won’t bite or scratch unless provoked, and we should basically let them do their thing and they’ll hop back off when they’re ready.

    I can guarantee you, I would not have been nearly so calm if we hadn’t had that advance warning. As it was, you can hear in my voice – and RB’s cute little laugh! – that we’re nervous. It’s definitely weird sharing a small space with a wild monkey.

  6. Lovely video. I like how the macaque takes on the role of figurehead — it’s very dramatic when he stands up as you approach the other boat, makes me wish for animate figureheads to be a normal feature on boats.

  7. trixie says:

    when fawcett and i went to southeast asia during med school, there was a monkey sanctuary we visited in ubud, indonesia (yes, LP, that is where elizabeth gilbert met the love of her life in “eat, pray, love”, a book we have both sheepishly admitted to reading. and i will probably see the julia roberts film version too, on DVD, because i am a glutton for punishment. like how i will go to see the next twilight movie when it comes out. what is the matter with me??).

    anyway, this monkey came up to us and in the process of literally digging through my backpack looking for treats, stole our guidebook. farrell chased him (her?) around for about 10 minutes to retrieve it. i was too busy laughing hysterically to take and photos…
    when farrell discovered that the encounter had not been documented, he GAVE THE GUIDE BOOK BACK TO THE MONKEY so he could get some pictures. classic…

    1. jasper bites? eek. i bet his kindergarten teacher/class is not enamored of that particular behavior! much less the two of you! do you and adriana bite back??

  8. lane says:

    7. he only bites me when he’s really pissed. so far we have no reports of this at school.

    and adriana never has to get physical the way i sometimes do, to literally tear him away from something. “good cop bad cop.”

    it falls to me to occasionally be the bad cop.

    crazy little monkey!

  9. trixie says:

    ohhh, good cop, bad cop.
    i am the bad cop around here (big surprise…)
    william hits occasionally, when he’s really mad. but he’s kind of like farrell (and you, i think) in that it takes a lot to make him actually angry.

    crazy little monkeys, indeed. i will miss it, though, when they are no longer monkey-like. except that farrell at age 40 is still monkey-like. so maybe william won’t outgrow it. i guess we will see…

  10. lane says:

    boys will be boys . . .

  11. Stella says:

    who knew they were such good swimmers?

  12. LP says:

    Yes, it’s a weird sight seeing a little monkey head bobbing toward you in the water! That was the scariest moment for me, as it’s just kind of otherworldly. They swim fast!