My kids often ask if the story was true--that Phyllis had a monkey as a kid. And that we were terrorized by him--because he was terrorized as a captive. Poor little guy was insane when he got loose. Not the nice little monkey image from TV and movies. Monkey's shouldn't be pets. We shouldn't have had a monkey. Anyone remember his name?
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Uh..you brought up a touchy subject...Donnie Whitted won him for me at the fair. You could name your monkey and the fair people would give you the letters for the name and put it on the cage. Donnie named it after my dad...Leroy. Dad was not the least bit amused. One of the few times I made dad mad. I had to change the letters to say, "Elroy". My monkey's name was Elroy.
To bad we don't have a picture of the cage I built him. It was huge.
I would pull it out of the garage to give him fresh air and I had to work to buy him meal worms and fruit to eat.
PETA would never let that happen now. It was crazy. Spider monkeys are mean. There wasn't anything cuddly about him.
It always makes for a good story when you go to some conference or meeting and they do the mixer thing where you have to write a fact on a piece of paper and the group has to guess who? No one EVER thinks of me as someone who would have a monkey.
I remember him getting loose in the house and some guy wrapping his arm in a sheet for protection. Elroy was jumping from chair to curtain rod to couch etc. Poor guy was a wild animal not a pet. I'll never forget that. However when in his cage he was very gentle in taking grapes from me. I really felt sorry for him. He was abused by being taken from his domain. Imagine being passed around--how afraid he mustv'e been at all times. Like they teach with dogs--aggression is always fear based.
That's insane! We're taking Claire to the fair in 2 weeks. She will NOT be getting a monkey. :)
Aggression is fear based in humans too.
I agree Steve...it is so sad to think of an animal meant and designed for the jungle to end up in an Illinois garage. Imagine his life with the fair. He wasn't the only monkey. All Donnie did was throw dimes on those plates and he won him.
Sad.
I sold him to a man in Chicago that had several other apes in his house...
Let's talk about Sweetie....our little half Dachshund/Chihuahua who was never spayed and had false pregnancies all the time. She would always get in my closet and act like she was having pups. She was a virgin the day she died.
NOW...let's talk about our cousin Judy who has a pet turtle that she has had since college, that is allowed free access to her entire home, and you never know when she will walk out from under the couch or bed. Her name is Pokey and she is not one of those tiny turtles they sell in pet shops...she is the river kind.
Next let's talk about the fact our grandfather kept Shetland ponies for us to ride when we came to visit. Our other grandfather raised pigs. I made a concoction one day of some old groceries my aunt gave me to play with. I only remember mixing the pancake mix with water and adding Cayenne pepper, oil and other spices. I fed it to the sow, and the sow got real sick, and it was the only time my grandfather ever got mad at me. He said, "Phyllis Ann, what have you done to my sow?" (you can hear his accent can't you)
In Detroit, I had a kids club and one night one of the boys brought his bright yellow snake in a bag. He thought it would scare me. I had him bring it up and I petted it in front of the kids. The next week a boy brought an Iguana. I petted it too. After that...they knew I was fearless. I never let them know I am deathly afraid of bats.
NOW BATS....that's a Matthew and Mary story. They have had three that I know of, in their home. Two while company was over.
Ah...animal memories.
Monkeys can be incredibly vicious. I just read this story in GQ about this guy who had owned and worked with monkeys his whole life and one day they turned on him and tore his face off and bit parts of his body off, including his hands. He's still alive but incredibly disfigured.
No, monkeys should not be pets.
Monkeys like to eat nuts, if you know what I mean. They always attack specific parts.
your more humorous online dad. its strange.
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