Monkey bars

When we moved into our apartment on campus, I noticed that there were bars on all the windows, even though we live on the second floor.  Indeed, there are bars on all the windows of the academic buildings, too.  People warned me about theft, and I assumed the bars were to keep out thieves.

I was half right.  The bars are there to keep out thieving primates, but not specifically humans.  These pictures are from off-campus, but there is a band of monkeys that lives on campus and we have had one hanging on the bars of our dining-room window, eyeing the bananas on the table. Our neighbors tell stories of monkeys strolling into the house, opening the fridge, and walking off with whatever tastes good.  We often see them poking through the outdoor trash bins (there are no covered dumpsters here).

When I stopped to take these pictures, on Chamundi Hill in Mysore, Pam and the kids continued walking. Pam was carrying a small bunch of bananas we had brought for our snack during the outing.  Zip! they were gone from her hand, before she had even noticed the monkeys.  The following photo shows the monkey stuffing its cheeks with our bananas. 

I’m told these monkeys are Bonnet Macaques. 

Update: the next day, a dozen monkeys lumbered by while I was out hanging laundry on the roof.

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