A Ocala man put a deer feeder up in his yard expecting to catch some pictures of native Florida wildlife, what he got was an invasion of rhesus macaques who are said to be carriers of hepatitis B. The things have apparently overrun Silver Springs State Park and have begun roaming the area for food (and the ground with their poop).
How they got there is still a mystery.
This could probably be traced back to Hurricane Andrew in 92. I was living in the Cutler Ridge area of South Miami at the time and there was damage to the zoo and other wildlife facilities that resulted in the escape of many animals…a lot of which probably never were recaptured. I know that I was seeing a lot of parrots roosting in trees around the area in the months following the hurricane before I said fuck this shit and moved back to Atlanta.
Quick. Register them to vote.
Just like the Iguanas and Boa Constrictors…People either got tired of their “Exotic” Pet….or they grew terrified of it….and let it loose into Nature….and Gila Monsters and Cobras and on and on and on
I have a brother in law in Ocala. I think that’s him on the left. Phenry my brother in law is registered and votes correctly. That’s why we haven’t shot him yet.
Probably abandoned exotic pets. Fertile little buggers.
We had a pet monkey in Brazil.
They’re cute.
At first.
Dang. I thought you were going to Mooch-Roll us again with the epic nighttime wildlife feeder camera post.
Ever read “Stormy Weather” by Carl Hiaasen?
I can see a lucrative special archery hunt venture here!
Look… if your gonna shut off the brave Cuban tap, the next “best and brightest” in line are in line.
Why does all the weird shit happen in Florida?
OK sometimes California.
Dianny, Yes I’ve read that….Another author who takes on this is Randy Wayne White ..All Florida stuff..a bit grittier than Carl…(early stuff is the best) The latter stuff covers the mass of scary shit that does not belong here.
How about a final solution? Put a bounty on those stinkin’ monkeys.
Hey it’s Floriduh. Fill the feeder up with Monkey Chow if ya want deer…
@dianny. Is that the one where Skink lashes himself to a bridge in anticipation of a major hurricane?
It’s been many years. Great funny books.
Thanks to the efforts of the idiotic “gang green” we have re-introduced wolves to Oregon. We would be happy to send a few (dozen) to Florida to help reduce the monkey (and other animal, small children, etc.) over-population.
Encourage them to migrate as refugees, fly them 1st class on American Airlines to Chicago, Detroit and Dearbornistan.
Hepatitis B is the least of what they carry—Simian Herpes and secondary carriers of Ebola. Let the pythons eat them.
Herpes simplexvirus B infects the central nervous system in humans. Eighty percent of cases are fatal. If the troop has it, one scratch, one bite can infect “the children playing in the yard near the feeder.” (idiot)
Shoot, shovel, shutup.
Have “open season” on all non native critters. Set up a bounty on large snakes, $10 a foot. Hunt day or night. See how long the “problem” lasts.
Capture them and sell them to a medical lab. Keep PETA happy.
Second thought…probably not a bag limit, if regulated at all, in Florida. This isn’t going to get better. Time to eliminate exotic species before they become unmanageable.
Tarzan movies filmed in Silver Springs.
http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/266246112-story
There are monkeys living wild in Florida?
Man, and I thought California was strange.
Other than than Gov Brown and the legislators, our monkeys live in zoos.
Michael Jackson had one at his Santa Barbara ranch, Twinkieland I think was called, but that place was outer space, not California.
They knew how to catch a bunch of monkeys in Hatari!
Wild Monkey
https://youtu.be/dI6t9FQF3l0?list=PL6fJmjt84zZiXLrW3oSLPa4TvvYzKzkuk
Not my circus; not my monkeys
-old Pollock proverb
Dr. Tar,
Loved that movie!
Mean critters. Florida needs get a handle on it’s non native species. Quit screwing around and put a bounty on them.
Suggestion: suppressed .300 BLK, subsonic ammo
I wonder what monkeyburger tastes like?
Uncle Al
Is that a densely populated area? I was going with a Creedmoor 1000 yards out. Can’t go wrong with the 300 acc, my favorite round in the platform. Bottom line, from what I understand these damn monkeys will make those big ass snakes look like child’s play.
Uncle Al,
With all the diseases, you wouldn’t want one.
But I agree with many of the above. Time for open season, year round, no limit. Can Florida afford a bounty? Can they NOT afford a bounty?
@Bad_Brad – Ocala is a decent sized place with a decent sized population, but those pics came from a guy with enough property to have a deer feeder and game cam set up. I figure he’s got at least a little elbow room between himself and his neighbors. Also, it is horse country, with quite a few thoroughbred farms in the area. And to boot it is semi-forested. You won’t get many 1000 yd shots, and loud bangs near the horsies is a big no-no (and the local police are, quite properly, on the horsies’ side).
The first place my father few out of in WWII was Libya. One of his flight crew made a pet out of a Spider Monkey. One day that guy was holding that monkey in his hand and the monkey grabbed his thumb with his hands and his pinkie finger with his feet and ended up breaking both. Back to the states. Pops said if you see a monkey kill it. Good enough for me.
@Deplorable B W – Dang. Too bad about the disease. I like my burgers rare and it sounds like I’d have to cook a monkeyburger long enough to hockey-puck-ify it to make it close to safely edible.
I like the bounty idea, but I’d rather the local community put up the bucks rather than get the dang govt involved ’cause they’d be sure to take the fun out of it.
Uncle Al
Ya probably got the drift I’m a gun manufacturer. All my personal AR 15 platform guns are indeed Blackouts. Including one for the wifey. Love that round.
Carl Hiassen and Randy W White are pussies. If you want to get the essence of True Florida Weirdness, then read Tim Dorsey’s stuff on Serge Storms.
But even Serge’s weirdness can’t match the bizarro world of the Port St Lucie – Fort Pierce nexus in St Lucie County
I was asked about macaques before, I told her I’ve never heared complaints. She liked that answer.
I think they would make great target practice, no bag limit, five dollar bounty on return of body. That pays for your gas, food and the rounds.
I would’ve broke out my 10/22 and took out as many as possible. They’re definitely posing a risk to human health in the area.
I’m only interested in monkey wrenches. When I go to a zoo, I avoid anything to do with monkeys, apes, primates, etc.