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...