Sunday, December 28, 2008

Eight of Santa's Little Helpers stayed behind ...

We had visitors in our garden - eight of them ...
enjoying the view ...

and there is a little baby as well!

Big Daddy.
Hey, Dad. Now, about my xmas present ...

Get off! I want to swing! No, you get off!!

Look Ma, look! I'm Spiderman !
No, no, wait! I am a xmas decoration!

Damn. Dad won't give a hint ... I wonder what I'm getting for xmas?
Wow!! Look everybody, look!! I got a missile for xmas! Oh.
No wait, it is a stupid old garden lamp ...

10 comments:

evencleveland said...

How much fun - Christmas monkeys!

Anonymous said...

are you kidding? in your backyard? that is, quite literally, wild.
we used to get frogs in the pool once in a while growing up (southern california, usa), and there was an owl once - i considered that to be exotic. but 8 monkeys...
what is the protocol with monkeys? do you stay inside? do you get close?

kendalee said...

Cool! Great pics Anairam. I love how at home they've made themselves and the little ones are so cute. As long as they stay outside and don't start raiding your fruit bowl or fridge for a picnic... ;)

Jesse said...

Yikes, that's scary! The little ones are so cute, though,

Linda Sue said...

Oh MY! The cuteness factor is off the scale! Blessed by a family of MONKEYS! I reckon that is a very good sign for a great new year for you. MONKEYS! In your yard! I see a story and illustrations brewing here- as soon as you dig through that horrendous pile of word upon word- the snow is melting here as well.

Mrs.French said...

oh my! we get the occasional racoon, but never anything like this! xo

Sarah said...

Wow! I get foxes and sometimes a squirrel but monkeys... How exciting! Are they tameish?

Anairam said...

stephanie - Yes, it was quite a nice Christmas visit from the relatives (they are called chacma baboons), although our neighbours, whom they visited first, were not quite so amused - they got into their house and made a right royal mess!

up and down town - We are very lucky to live near part of the Cape Nature Reserve - sea on one side, and mountains on the other, so the baboons are not an uncommon sight round here ... Protocol - the baboons are quite used to people and associate them with easy and tasty food - not a good thing! So especially the male baboons can be quite dangerous when confronted - they will take food, or what they perceive to contain food (rucksacks, handbags, camera bags etc) off you - one should never resist as they can can inflict nasty wounds with those canines. Best is to stay inside, keep windows & doors closed so they can't enter, take dogs inside, don't try and corner them but leave an escape route open for them should they enter your house. Also,never leave food out in the open or rubbish bins outside. One should not try to encourage them to stay in the neighbourhood but try and move them off in a non-violent manner - e.g. by clapping the hands loudly or spraying a hose in their direction. I've tried the clapping before - the females and young tend to move off, but not the big males. They usually leave anyway within an hour or so if they see there is nothing for the taking. Unfortunately tourists still feed them, despite many signs asking them not too! There is plenty of natural food in the mountains for them, but like many humans, they become lazy and look for the biggest gain with the least effort!

kendalee - Even though I am quite scared of the big ones, the little ones are so sweet - they are just like little kids!

jesse - I agree!

linda sue - Almost finished now! But first some New Year's celebrations ... Mmmm, drawing a baboon will be quite a challenge, I think!

mrs french - although there are several chacma baboon groups around here, we do not see them that often in our garden ...

sarah - They have unfortunately become too used to humans - all our own fault (see above) - so that now there are sometimes some ugly encounters. It incenses me that some people shoot them, poison them, and lay vicious traps for them - I think we have created the problem, and now, if we want to live in this area, we have to learn how to live with them in a manner which doesn't harm them.

Anonymous said...

so interesting. thank you for answering my question.

Le 'usband said...

Fortunately le 'usband escaped over the garden wall before he could be included in the photo shoot ...