We are now at the 1 month mark of our time here in Kodai. It is hard to imagine trying to get to know this corner of the world in any less time than a month minimum.

Before coming here, I thought nothing of monkeys other than how adorable they can be. I have discovered otherwise in recent days. Our new home up in the hills is much closer to monkey habitat. They regularly hang around the 

roadsides waiting for naive tourists to get as close as they can and take pictures of them and maybe even toss them a banana. Bad idea. Never let them know you have food and definitely keep your distance.

 

My observation is that there is a whole clan of them that feed from the local garbage bin. I went to take the garbage out on Sunday afternoon. The contents of the plastic bag that I carried was full of food scraps. It even contained a couple of non-edible bananas.  I walked to the end of the driveway to discover that I was being watched by a rather large monkey. I slowed my pace a little, not sure what to do. It was only one monkey so I slowly continued on my way. It followed me. I looked back over my shoulder and realized that this may turn into a confrontation.  I picked up a stick and threw it in his direction. He backed off a little, then came close enough to grab for my bag while hissing at me (or growling – it was hard to tell). He was determined to get my bag. All I remember seeing is an angry little monkey face that was mostly scary looking teeth. Fortunately another person came by in the opposite direction and scared him off for me so I could continue on my way.

The garbage bin is just around the corner from our place. As I approached I realized that my monkey problems were not over. One little guy was intrigued by my bag and started to approach me. Again, I picked up a rock and threw it at him. He dodged the rock and ran up a post by the side of the road. Once it looked like he had no plans to come down, I continued. He looked pretty content just to sit on the top of the post and scratch his butt. (shaking my head and sighing).

I was almost to the garbage bin.  As I got closer I saw that there had to be about a dozen monkeys all clambering around on the bin. They were inside and out – on top of, and around. There was no way I was going to get to throw my garbage in there without an incident.  Again – passersby to the rescue. Two local guys saw my predicament and smiled. I asked them what I was supposed to do now?! They just told me to follow them. They walked quickly to the far side of the bin, and as they did, the monkeys scattered away. They instructed me to quickly toss my bag in the far side of the bin. Once the bag was out of my hands I was no longer a target. The two guys that helped me just went on their way and I turned back to go home. I know those monkeys enjoyed my contribution to their meal and the truth is, I’d much rather that they ripped apart the bag while it was in the bin rather than on my lawn.

Monkeys can also mess with the wiring of the house. A few days ago they were playing on the roof and somehow managed to disconnect our power. The power company had to come by the following day to repair the damage they had caused.

No. I do not hold the same opinion of monkeys now as I did a month ago. I’ve learned to respect the little beasts. Just a thought: What kind of a sick mind would actually come up with a game that claimed that nothing is more fun than a barrel of monkeys? Nothing is more scary than a garbage bin full of monkeys!

My adventures continue.