Monkey Escapes From Wildlife Park in Scotland and Helps Itself to Backyard Bird Feeder
Imagine looking out the window into your yard and seeing a large monkey helping himself to the food in your bird feeder! That's what happened to a family in Scotland after a Japanese macaque escaped from a wildlife park there, and ABC News shared a video on Monday, February 5th that the couple had been recorded from inside their home.
The monkey, whose name is Honshu, must have been hungry after his big escape and stopped for a snack in the family's yard. After successfully (or unsuccessfully) getting a treat for himself, he moved on to explore some more. I'm sure the family was very surprised to find him!
Can you even imagine?! I love that @ABC News said he was "stealing" the nuts - it makes him sound so devious! Luckily after being on the run for a week, they wildlife park was able to catch him and get him back to the safety of his enclosure. I'm sure he enjoyed his short-lived freedom!
Related: Florida City on High Alert After Multiple Reports of Monkeys Wandering the Town
Facts About Japanese Macaque Monkeys
I didn't realize it when I was watching it, but macaques are the famous snow monkeys of Japan! I didn't recognize Honshu as being that kind of monkey because I only see them in snowy settings, I guess!
These monkeys are very social and live in groups, or "troops", of 20-30 that are led by a dominate male. Females born into the troop will stay with it forever, but males leave once they reach maturity and are ready to mate, so there are far more females in a troop than males. The females also help each other with their baby monkeys, which are called infants. These monkeys can be highly aggressive and are definitely not pet material, even though many people do have monkeys as pets (definitely considered exotic pets).
According to FactAnimal.com, "They are highly intelligent animals and have been observed washing dirt off food in rivers and even playing with snowballs and rocks." So I guess it makes sense that Honshu was trying to figure out how to get the nuts out of the bird feeder.
They're great swimmers, and love being in the water. Females spend more time up in the trees and males spend more time on the ground. However, if these monkeys live where there is snow, they will sleep in the trees to protect themselves from snowfall.
Another cool thing about these monkeys, they are extremely communicative and vocal, and make a range of facial and visual cues to express emotion, much like humans!
But my favorite fact is this one: "Macaques wash their food before eating it. Only humans and raccoons do the same." I had no idea that raccoons did this, too! I thought it was a really interesting fact and shows just how intelligent monkeys really are.
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