Planet of the Apes

This morning we were awoken by another monsoon which kept us house-bound for a few hours. Later in the day we had a really nice Sabbath with a simple service and testimony meeting; but first we were in for a couple surprises.

On the way to breakfast Heather spotted this little lizard on the trunk of a tree. It didn't seem very frightened and I was able to get close enough to catch it. It gave me a little bite for the ignominy of it all, and in the photo is still trying to bite something, but he was actually a pleasant little fellow. In fact; we were able to catch him a second time after we'd walked away and found that Deacon was sad that he hadn't touched it the first time.

If rain and lizards weren't enough nature today, someone spotted monkeys overrunning the two vacant houses beside us. They were in the trees and on the ground and moved from one house to another, going up the steps and stealing whatever they could get their hands on. I was videotaping them and didn't really notice that the swarm was moving in our direction until one of them climbed up our front steps and tried to go into our kitchen while we were all right there. I chased it off but soon another one climbed the stairs and looked like he wasn't intimidated by us at all. By this time I had switched from a pillow to an umbrella and when I pushed the button and deployed the spring loaded umbrella, that awesome display of technology was enough to back him down the stairs.

While I was covering the stairs, three other monkeys climbed a tree next to the house and got onto our roof. Tyson opened the bathroom door and found a monkey stealing a bag of laundry detergent that Heather uses to wash our clothes. It was kind of a scary feeling watching different areas of the house while monkeys walked on the ground below and the roof above us. I have been bitten by a monkey before and wanted to scare them off without making them angry. Because there were so many of them, and because of 'animal strength' which makes them much stronger than their size suggests, our real plan was to lock ourselves in either the kitchen or the master bedroom if they decided they were coming in (those rooms aren't open to the elements like the rest of the upstairs living areas).

Fortunately, our small resistance was enough to convince the marauders to move on through the forest. After they'd left, I noticed Deacon gaurding the top of the stairs, armed with a padded mallet in one hand and a can of mosquito repellant in the other hand. Bless him.

- C