Baboons move into S. African beach homes
Unruly gangs are raiding the expensive homes that line the spectacular coast of South Africa’s Cape Peninsula, clearing out pantries, emptying fridges, and defecating over the designer furnishings.
It’s baboon versus human in a string of wealthy ocean-front communities 30 minutes from the trendy center of Cape Town, a top tourist destination.
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George is one of the biggest baboons in a troop of about 20, an adult male weighing some 110 pounds. He yawns languidly, displaying wickedly curved canine teeth.
“If you think how easily a baboon could rip a person apart, the fact that they don’t is quite remarkable,” Trethowan said.
Um… Gee. How lucky we are not to be torn assunder by the beasts we allow to live in our luxury neighborhoods.
Yeah, I get that.
Shouting monkeys show surprising eloquence
Putty-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans) live in family groups, usually led by a dominant male who keeps a wary eye out for their two main enemies — leopards and eagles. A circling eagle will cause a male to warn his troop by making a series of calls called ‘hacks’, whereas a lurking leopard will prompt him to shout out a string of ‘pyow’ sounds.
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But now zoologists have realized that at least one combination of these sounds has its own distinct meaning: up to three pyows followed by up to four hacks seems to mean ‘let’s move on’. This call sequence is given both in response to the presence of predators or simply as a sign to head for new terrain.
And I wonder which sequence of hacks and pyows means, “Here come the humans, the time to overtake is NOW!!!”
(Props to new coworker, John.)
Congrats to my darling Mother on the occasion of her adoption of a pony super-cool Great Dane named Bently (scroll to the bottom). He’s just a puppy at 11 months old, which is actually kind of scary considering his size… He’s a sweety though, and he puts a goofy grin on Ma’s face.
Police Hunt Pack of Killer Chimps
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (April 24) - Armed Sierra Leonean police are hunting up to 20 chimpanzees which killed a local taxi driver and injured three American visitors after they broke out of a wildlife sanctuary, officials said on Tuesday.
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”Maybe the visitors panicked and threw sticks and stones. Chimps mob people. If you try and defend yourself you can get hurt,” he added. He advised any humans attacked by chimpanzees to ”be submissive, lie on the ground.”
Bad killer chimps! BAD!
(Thanks Matt!)
Our dog, Mingus, plays a game we call “Get the kitty!”, which generally consists of Mingus snapping/pawing at our cat, Chuck, until Chuck comes after him. From there it usually degenerates to Chuck lying on his back swinging an occasional paw at the dog if he comes close.
This dog plays “Get the monkey!” and the capuchin seems to play by Chuck’s rules. The monkey even looks a little like Chaz.
Curious…
(Thanks Shay.)
Monkey menace? Simply cook and eat them!
Fed up by an army of monkeys that has made life miserable in rural Uganda, a minister has come out with a simple solution: eat the animal!
Junior Agriculture Minister Israel Kibirige Sebunnya has warned that crops would be wiped out if the problem was not addressed. And he has suggested a novel solution to the problem.
‘I wish we could adopt the habit of eating monkeys like they do in West Africa,’ junior Agriculture Minister Israel Kibirige Sebunnya said here.
Haven’t we already established that monkeys are far to similar to us biologically to be consumed? I mean, seriously… How does this seem like a good idea to anyone?
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