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Clodfobble · 12-10-2004, 01:57 PM

I've seen Japanese snow monkeys in person--and not in Japan.

There's a tiny town somewhere between Austin and the border, called Dilly. There is a rich philanthropist who owns a ranch out there. Apparently, on one of his jaunts to Japan, he managed to bring home around 30 of these monkeys.

(The story goes that this particular group was being forced out of their habitat by some evil group or another, and that they were dying rapidly, so he was actually doing them a favor. But we'll never know if he really just tossed them in a sack and smuggled them through customs because he thought they'd make cute pets for all his spoiled nieces and nephews.)

Anyway, once they got back to the ranch, he let them run free over the land, but he underestimated the height the fences needed to be. So the snow monkeys went cavorting through town. Wacky hijinks ensued, of course. Car accidents were caused because they kept darting out into the road, they would overturn and dig through any trashcan they could find... basically every scene you can imagine coming straight out of a kids' movie (except the part where the monkeys wear clothes and talk.) Not to mention they bred like freaking rabbits.

It was hunting season, and no one had ever thought to add Japanese snow monkeys to the "endangered" list in Texas. That was, not coincidentally, about the time the story traveled farther than a 15-mile radius, and animal rescue groups were brought in to round them up.

Nowadays the fences on the ranch are a good 25 feet tall, and supposedly the monkeys are thriving. They've become an informal tourist attraction--anyone driving through can just ask a local where the snow monkeys live. That's what we did.

12-10-2004, 01:57 PM	#6
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	I've seen Japanese snow monkeys in person--and not in Japan. There's a tiny town somewhere between Austin and the border, called Dilly. There is a rich philanthropist who owns a ranch out there. Apparently, on one of his jaunts to Japan, he managed to bring home around 30 of these monkeys. (The story goes that this particular group was being forced out of their habitat by some evil group or another, and that they were dying rapidly, so he was actually doing them a favor. But we'll never know if he really just tossed them in a sack and smuggled them through customs because he thought they'd make cute pets for all his spoiled nieces and nephews.) Anyway, once they got back to the ranch, he let them run free over the land, but he underestimated the height the fences needed to be. So the snow monkeys went cavorting through town. Wacky hijinks ensued, of course. Car accidents were caused because they kept darting out into the road, they would overturn and dig through any trashcan they could find... basically every scene you can imagine coming straight out of a kids' movie (except the part where the monkeys wear clothes and talk.) Not to mention they bred like freaking rabbits. It was hunting season, and no one had ever thought to add Japanese snow monkeys to the "endangered" list in Texas. That was, not coincidentally, about the time the story traveled farther than a 15-mile radius, and animal rescue groups were brought in to round them up. Nowadays the fences on the ranch are a good 25 feet tall, and supposedly the monkeys are thriving. They've become an informal tourist attraction--anyone driving through can just ask a local where the snow monkeys live. That's what we did.