Monkeys are not nice

Monkeys are terrifying and I never knew it.

They have always been my favorite animal.  I wanted one for a pet.  They are smart and cute, and the stuffed animal versions would wrap their arms and legs around you to give you a full body hug.  What's not to like?

I'll tell you.

When the real life monkeys wrap their arms and legs around you it's so they can kill you.

Last time I was in Ubud, I visited the Monkey Forest and I even invited a little monkey to jump up on my shoulder.  There are pictures to prove it.  However, once it was on my shoulder and I turned to look at it up close and personal it bared it's fangs and hissed at me.  That was when the little guy went flying. 

I still thought I loved monkeys when I took James to the forest.  Against his desire you might say.  He was terrified of monkeys from the get-go.

When we got there I reacted like Kristin did when she held Becky's parakeet on her finger, cooed at it, and then flung it in to the table after remembering she was "scared of birds."  I panicked a little.  James and I held on to each other tight and both tried to pretend we weren't afraid, but we ran from site to site and tried to avoid monkeys and follow groups at all possible cost.  It was worse than any haunted house I have been to before. 

                 They may be terrifying, but they sure help their friends out.

These monkeys know they own the place.  They seriously jumped on any old person they wanted at any given time - including sneak attacks (why James walked backwards and I walked forwards - ha!) and they stole whatever they could get their hands on.  And some were big.

I'm going to give you a heads up here.  That Planet of the Apes deal - not too far off.  Trust me.








Now here's an animal you don't have to worry about.  Hello Butterfly.