Don't Touch The Apes.
By Jabo
@jaboUK (64354)
United Kingdom
June 22, 2016 9:46am CST
I found this photo when I looked through my album after reading @garymarsh6 's account of his recent visit to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is famous for it's 'apes', (though they are actually Macaque monkeys), so when we were there we went to see them.
There are signs everywhere telling you it's forbidden to feed them, and to not touch them, as they are essentially wild animals. Unfortunately the apes can't read, and this one jumped onto my head!
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory, and there is a belief that as long as the apes are there, it will remain under British rule. Thus they are protected, though they can apparently be a bit of a nuisance sometimes when they invade the town.
Have you ever had a close encounter with a wild animal?
60 people like this
66 responses
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
22 Jun 16
My only encounter was with a rattlesnake coiled in a plowed furrow at night in west Texas. I narrowly missed stepping on him.
11 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
22 Jun 16
@JamesHxstatic Ooh - a rattlesnake is far worse than an ape.
4 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
22 Jun 16
Yikes. A good reason to avoid going to Texas. LOL
5 people like this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
23 Jun 16
i been close to several snakes and wild boars etc, .
3 people like this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
23 Jun 16
No not really except the bear in the road and that was not all that close. I am not really into wild animals. lol just badly behaved dogs.
4 people like this
@snowy22315 (181948)
• United States
24 Jun 16
@jaboUK I saw one...on the hillside about 50 yards from me...It was cool...Naturally, I couldn't find my camera!
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
23 Jun 16
@jaboUK oh yes they howl like a pack of hyenas!! quite ferocious especially the 8 pound Brie!!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
23 Jun 16
@BelleStarr I've never seen a bear in the wild, I should think that was quite exciting. Your dogs are wild sometimes are they?
2 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
22 Jun 16
{gigglin'!} yepperz, they truly can't read :D i wonder if'n they're kin to those other monkey critters (don't ask me where, saw't'n a p.b.s. program) where they'd steal yer sunglasses, hat, camera, shoes - whate'er they could get? those do such so folks'll feed 'em somethin''n order to've their items dropped.
closest call i've'd 'twas a fox'n the barn. whilst't didn't land'n me durin' its leap to safety from the pups, i could feel'ts hot'n stinky breathe 'pon my face, lol.
5 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
22 Jun 16
@crazyhorseladycx Yes I think they were after food, but they didn't try to pinch anything. I remember you saying about that fox.
3 people like this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
22 Jun 16
Adorable photo! I had a gorilla throw poop at me when at the San Diego Zoo. She didn't like blondes looking at her mate. At the San Francisco Zoo, a male lion stood up on his hind legs on a sheet of plexiglass that came between us. He was huge! But he liked me, as I did him.
4 people like this
. Good job you had something between you and that lion.
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
22 Jun 16
a friend has snakes that I have held and I have been photographed with a lion cub when in Spain in my teens
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
22 Jun 16
@arthurchappell I wouldn't fancy holding a snake, but a lion cub might be alright.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
22 Jun 16
Nope. I stay away from them, and luckily, they do the same for me.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
22 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace If you'd gone to Gibraltar wouldn't you have gone to see the apes? It's not like they are dangerous, though they have been known to bite.
4 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
24 Jun 16
@jaboUK Never been to Gibraltar, but I have been to Cape Town. There are apes running free in some parts. I took a tour, and was warned that the animals are not tame, and do hurt people.
1 person likes this
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
24 Jun 16
Oh my God, how could you even manage to smile with that ape on your head
I don't want to come close to apes because I've seen lots who have been attacked by them. I am also scared of other wild animals. I am a cowardice when it comes to wild animals actually.
I don't want to come close to apes because I've seen lots who have been attacked by them. I am also scared of other wild animals. I am a cowardice when it comes to wild animals actually.1 person likes this
@rebelann (112959)
• El Paso, Texas
23 Jun 16
Weeelllll, yeah, but it was a lizard I rescued from Mykey's desire to kill it. I like lizards because the eat ants, insects and mice if they survive long enough to grow.
Funny how on the one hand I miss Mykey but I do not miss his tenacious desire to kill whatever moved.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (112959)
• El Paso, Texas
23 Jun 16
Yes, he was an assassin @jaboUK he was a mixed American Bull Terrier and German Shepherd. Bull Terriers have the potential to want to kill and are single minded about it.
Some things I do miss however were his comic ways, loyalty and protectiveness, no one could get near me when he was around, not even my friends or family other than mom
1 person likes this
@Ceerios (4698)
• Goodfellow, Texas
22 Jun 16
@jaboUK - Ms Janet - One time I was shooting rats on the farm. Plunked one down low in the corncrib. The rat's buddy jumped onto my shoulder from the top part of the corncrib and, from my shoulder, to the nearby woodpile. Wall to wall rats on that farm. My guess is that they were trying to tell me something. 
1 person likes this
@puddleglum (1380)
• United States
22 Jun 16
That's a great picture! In Africa, I stood near a "bat tree" in front of my hotel and a bat dropped a "present" on my shoulder. A friend told me it was good luck. I think, in that case, I'd rather have kept my mediocre luck and my blouse clean.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
22 Jun 16
@puddleglum Yes, I've heard that bird droppings are supposed to be lucky. I must admit that I was worried that the monkey would leave me a present, so I shoved him off as soon as this picture was taken.
1 person likes this
@puddleglum (1380)
• United States
23 Jun 16
@Marty1 That's understandable. When they're flying, they can be scary. I'm not their biggest fan because of the incident I mentioned.
1 person likes this
