Cage Building - Day 3

Sombat brought over his trusty welding machine that looked like a relic from world war 1. Him and his brother then set about welding all the joins fully and then welding on the cyclone fencing that would keep George inside the cage.

All structural and wire should be complete tomorrow. Then we turn our attention to the sleeping box, double entry door and on the weekend I'll buy some plants to set inside the holes in the floor to keep George entertained.

Cage building - day 2

Today saw trusty Sombat turn up with a truck load of galvanized steel, a cutter and a tack welder and set about drilling some braces for the uprights, then measuring and cutting all the frame and tack welding it into place.

They dont use a spirit level, dont uses welders goggles and wear flip flops. But they get the job done.

Tomorrow they will come back with a bigger welder and seal all the joint properly. Then the day after that they will start on the cyclone fencing wire that will secure George in his new home.

Scorpion problems

Apart from the snakes that show up from time to time, the last thing you want to see is a Black Scorpion.

And thats just what showed up today as we built Georges new home. Unfortunately for my dog, he somehow got stung on the back. I didn't realise why, but he was dribbling from the mouth, had a large swelling on his back and was looking for my attention. I actually thought a snake had tagged him, but I found the scorpion in the garage where he was chained up.

Vet came over and said he had been stung for sure, and gave him 3 injections to help with the pain and vomitting. There is no antidote for scorpion sting, and while it wouldn't kill an adult or a nasty dog like "Fever", it must have hurt like hell.

I have lost my Bull Terrier "Tyson" and my Pitbull "Bella" to cobra bites when I lived in Southern Thailand. Feever has been bit twice by snakes, but the thing that nearly killed him was a Tik borne blood infection.

Building George his own house.

Today the local village guys turned up to start on George's outside cage. I have searched a lot online, but never really found much help on building a cage for a monkey, so I designed one based on what I think will work for both George, me and my staff.

These pictures are of the slab being carefull laid with wire reinforcement, with slope for drainage, drainage hole and the 44gallon drums will leave holes behind that I cant plant real trees into once the concrete dries a bit and I remove them.

It will end up being about 5m(15feet) x 3m(9feet) and 2.5m high. It will be mostly open space with natural trees planted inside the cage and about one quarter covered for when it rains and to house his sleeping box - which will also be able to be accessed and cleaned without entering his main cage.

It will have double door entry so I have to go inside a smaller cage and close the door before I go into the larger cage, just be on the safe side.

Small food hatches will make it easy for my staff to give him food, and a sloped concrete floor will make it easy to keep clean from the outside with a hose.

I am hoping that I will still have his respect as the Leader and be able to enter his cage as he gets older to play with him and clean him, but only time will tell.

He should feel pretty happy about his new cage. It will be under a lovely big fruit tree with fantastic views and some afternoon sun - as monkeys need sunlight every day to stay healthy. It's also close enough to the main house so that he will hear and see people and not feel too alone.

To think this little guy was almost Green Monkey Curry.

Yippee Kay Aye

One of the things I said I'd never do with George is put diapers on him and dress him in baby clothes. It's demeaning to the monkey and to be honest, its a bit sad for the people using a monkey as a replacement for a child.

However, one night I was at the local night market and there was a stall selling tiny cowboy hats. I have no idea why they sold them, but I bougtht one for George, just for fun.

Well, I put it on him and he kind of enjoyed wearing it around. Later that day some friends came around and George was wearing his little hat. Everyone was laughing at him and he got quite upset.

He tried to take the hat off and then burst out crying. I kid you not, he cried and hugged me and wouldn't look at anyone anymore.

Monkeys are quite emotional little creatures. It's not until you spend a lot of time with a monkey that you can read his mood, and just like a human, he has the full range of emotions.

He hasn't worn the hat since.

Don't buy a pet monkey...seriously.

One of the things I want to avoid with this Blog, is to give the impression that owning a monkey is all cuteness, fun and easy. It's hard work and someone must be with him 24 hours a day. You can't just leave him, even for a few hours. He will fret and panic, and he can become quite upset. I am very fortunate living in Thailand that I have staff that can take care of him when I do have to leave him alone.

I expect some people considering buying a monkey will stumble on to this Blog and see some of the cute pictures and ignore all the hard work. Cleaning the cage every 2 days, picking up monkey poop, having monkey pee on you (cant house train a monkey), cleaning up food from cage and a 20 foot radius of the cage, waking up early to feed him, buying fresh food every few days, getting bitten, putting up with his vocalisation and him throwing toys around and changing your dirty clothes 5 times a day.

If you are considering getting a monkey, think really, really hard. They live for 30 or 40 years and get VERY aggresive at about 2 years old. They should be in the wild or with other monkeys, and if I had the chance that's where George will be.

But I do want to document and share my experiences with George. He is truly an amazing creature. We sit together watching TV and he will groom my eyebrows and arms and I will grrom him in return...which is proper monkey ettiquete.

For all the monkey "experts", I know he shouldn't be drinking root beer, but he loves it, and he gets only a tiny rimfull.

I sometimes look back at his early pictures at that tiny litle, fragile monkey with the head that was too big for his body and am amazed he has grown so big and confident and wonder where he will be in 2 years with teeth that will hurt....even when he is playing.

Moving house.

George needed a new cage - big enough so he could move around and play, sleep and eat. It had to have a removeable tray for food scraps and toilet as monkeys are pretty messy animals. It also needed double spring locks on the door and wheels so I could move him around with me when I was working.

I looked online, but to ship a cage to Thailand would cost a small fortune. A trip to Bangkok found lots of larger parrot cages, but they weren't quite big enough, and a over $500, not perfect for a monkey.

So, I designed my own and found a local Villager who would build the entire cage, including materials for $200. I drew up fairly accurate plans in Microsoft Visio and in broken Thai communicated what I wanted. 1 week later he turned up with an exact replication of what I had drawn him.

I added a thick rope with knots in it so George could climb and swing. A car rear vision mirror added hours of entertainment - more for me than him. A ladder gave him a platform to play on, and some well placed shelves gave him plenty to jump around on.

His sleeping box was built high in the 7 foot cage as monkeys like to be high up in the trees. The sleeping box opened from the outside to clean it and every night he'd get dry, fresh bedding to sleep in.

As the sun goes down, he starts to get vocal and tired. His eyes get droopy and he is ready to put the cover on his cage and put him in a dark space to sleep.

When I finish work or watching TV I'd often walk by his cage and he will wake up and climb down, pull the cover to the side and look at me. I usually turn the light on and talk to him for a while, but he is just like a small child who can barely keep his eyes open, but wants to play. When I turn of the light I can hear him go back to bed. Too cute.

But it's clear that this cage will only last 6 months or so and George will need a proper outdoor cage, with trees and ponds to play in.

Another reason, is that at about 2 years old, monkeys reach sexual maturity and can become very vicious and dangerous. So at some point, he will probably be confined to a cage, so I better build it nice.

Living with George

George and I became very close. He was outside with me more than he was inside his cage. We'd watch TV and he particularly liked the Discovery Channel, but hated Tigers and would scream and hide his face in my armpit.

His diet started to include insectes he caught in the garden, as well as rice, vegetables and his favorite - red grapes. He later found the Thai Durian (stinky fruit) a particular favorite, and enjoyed sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds an dried fruits. It is very important to have a wide diet for a monkey and I changed his food daily.

George was always on a leash, not because I was afraid he'd run away, but because I wanted to control him and make sure he didnt get into any trouble. I live in mountains on a large property, but my pitbull watched him with a glint in his eye. I knew that look. I had seen it when he had killed other dogs that wandered to close. A monkey would be but a snack.

He did get off his leash a few times. I recall one particular time I was in my office overlooking to swimming pool and George was running around the pool, closely followed by my maid who was screaming trying to catch him. The more she screamed and waved her arms, the more George ran.

I went outside and showed her how to catch a monkey. Simply go to the fridge, get a few grapes and start eating them. Monkeys love food, so he came straight away, jumped on my shoulder and I clipped him in. Simple.

George started to grow quite quickly and his dog cage was getting a bit small for him, so it was time for a new monkey cage...

Finding George a new home

George was a lot of fun and he took up a lot of time looking after him and keeping him entertained. He was basically like a baby - you cannot just put a monkey in a cage and expect him to entertain himself. He needs careful care and attention.

After a lot of research, I decided to look for an animal rescue or sanctuary for George. He is a very social animal and needs to be with other monkeys.

I started emailing and calling anyone and everyone who might be able to help. After 2 weeks, I had 1 response - from a zoo in Bangkok who said they didnt want him. A few months later, I did get a response from Monkey World in the UK and they advised another animal shelter. I tried for weeks before I found out that they had just received funding from the Government - they had no interest. It was like trying to ask a zoo to take a dog. George just wasn't as special as a newborn Panda or lion cub. He didnt attract customers. It became very clear, that all these animal sanctuaries, homes and zoos just wanted attractions to make money. Animals were secondary.

I even tried the local Monkey School (tourist attraction) and they wanted to take him. On the way out, and attendant followed me and told me that they already have way to many baby monkeys and they would sell him as a pet.

So, I asked for help on the Internet and the flood of ignorant response to "let him go back into the jungle" were all I got, apart from a few well meaning people who just like me...wanted a monkey.

Faced with the fact that no-one wanted a baby monkey, I decided to keep George and give him as good a life as I could.

Some things were going to have to change.

A fruit basket with a monkey inside.

I always wanted a monkey. What kid didn't? They were so cute and fun and human like.

Well, one day as my girlfriend pulled into the driveway from a trip down to the farm in Sukhothai, Thailand, she said she had something for me in the back of the car.

In the back of the car was a green plastic basket covered witha towel. When I lifted the towel, it was a monkey - a baby monkey.

The hunters in her small farming village had gone out to capture wild pigs by spreading rotten fruit on the ground and a troop of monkeys had come by to feast on the fruit. This baby had fallen from its Mother, and they captured it. It was to be eaten that night.

That may sound harsh, but this is a very rural farming village and they eat pretty much everything - including monkeys. So, she offered the hunter about $15 for the monkey and he accepted.

I now had the monkey I always wanted.

I named him George (of the Jungle) and I estimated he was mayb 3 or 4 months old. He was tiny and fragile. After some searching I found out he was a Pig Tailed Macaque and an Old World Monkey, very common in Thailand through India.

Did he bite? I was too scared to grab him at first, so I just sat with him for a few hours to watch him and see what he would do. He ate the fruit I handed him and he wasn't stressed at all.

A quick trip to the pet store I bought him a large dog cage and built him a little sleeping box, which he slept in as well as water bottle and small food bowl. He slept when it went dark and woke up with the sun and woke me up.

That day I bought a small kitten milk bottle and some baby formula to see if he would take milk. He loved it and I started feeding him at 7am and 5pm, and he knows when its getting close to that time.

I was pleased he was eating the fruits and vegetables, drinking milk and sleeping well. The next step was to find George a proper home, with other monkey friends.