Formosan macaques are legally protected in Taiwan, so the
monkeys feel free to pester local farmers. In Taitung County,
the owner of a poultry farm says groups of the monkeys play
pranks on his chickens, like plucking out their feathers or
placing the hens on branches high up in trees.
A farmer who raises boars says they tease them by riding on
their backs like cowboys. A goat rancher says one of them is
trying to have sex with his female goats. He bought six dogs,
but the monkey tamed them within ten minutes. It stood out
of the reach of the dogs, which were kept on long leashes,
then slapped them in the face when they got tired of barking
at him. Eventually the dogs became afraid of the monkey, so
the farmer finally had to have it captured with an anesthetic
dart gun.
In Wulu and Litao, farmers grow cabbages and green peppers,
but they're having trouble harvesting any, because the
monkeys always get there first, by crawling through the
irrigation pipes to get to the fields.
It's almost as if the monkeys know they're protected by law.
Farmers have resorted to setting off firecrackers and playing
tape recordings of gun shots. They should try playing loud
rock and roll?it worked when we were trying to flush out
that Panamanian dictator.
Maybe they need to sit down and have a
talk with these little guys.
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