Cute little monkeys

A couple of weekends ago we decided to take the kids to visit the zoo. We had received a lot of recommendations for the zoo and the kids needed to get out of the apartment, so it sounded like a good idea. Unfortunately, this was the first weekend of the Chinese New Year, so the rest of the country also decided that visiting the zoo would be a good idea. When we arrived, the parking lot was full and cars were parked along the street approaching the zoo. I dropped the family off at the main entrance and then drove back to the end of the line of parked cars to find a spot to park our car. I got out of the car and noticed a group of about five monkeys sitting on the sidewalk. As I approached, these monkeys immediately disbanded their meeting and disappeared into the nearby trees.

I walked a little bit further and discovered another group of monkeys. Again, as I approached the monkeys fled the scene--that is all except one. One monkey decided that he particularly liked the spot he occupied and didn't seem to want to leave. "How cute," I thought. "This is just like the squirrels back at home--simply wandering around to find food and scampering off when someone gets near. Let me get a couple of pictures." I took a couple of pictures of this monkey and then started walking on. I knew I probably shouldn't get too close to the monkey, so I tried to keep a safe distance as I walked around him.

Suddenly the monkey stated staring at me. He bared his teeth and came at me. Those teeth looked pretty sharp and I was certain I didn't want to feel the monkey's teeth or claws on my bare legs so I took a couple of steps back. I started second-guessing my decision to wear shorts--why didn't I chose to wear nice thick Levis to protect me from strange animals at eye level with my knees? Luckily the monkey stopped moving toward me, but it did keep staring at me. Now I was in a dilema. My family was waiting for me at the Zoo entrance and I needed to pass the monkey to get to them, but I really did not want to excite the monkey anymore. I slowly and carefully took a few steps to move past the monkey in a wider arch. The monkey kept it's eyes on me, but did let me pass. I quickly hurried to my family, relieved that I wouldn't be visiting the hospital for a monkey bite.