Apes and Monkeys: Their Life and LanguageGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
Apes and Monkeys: Their Life and Language
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Apes; Monkeys; Sound production by animals; Speech
In the corner of the monkey house is a room set apart for the keeper,
and in this room supplies of food for the inmates are kept. In a small
cupboard in one corner is kept a supply of bananas and other fruits.
Consul knows this and has tried many times to burglarize it. On one
occasion he secured a large screw-driver and attempted to prise open
the door. He found the resistance to be greatest at the place where the
door locked, and at this point he forced the instrument in the crevice
and broke off a piece of the wood, about an inch wide, from the edge
of the door. At this juncture he was discovered and reproved for his
conduct; but he never fails to stick his fingers in this crack and try
to open the door. He has not been able to unlock it when the key is
given him, although he knows the use of the key and has often tried it;
but his keeper has never imparted the secret to him, and his method of
using the key has been to prise with it or pull it, instead of turning
it after putting it in the keyhole.
The young keeper, Mr. Webb, deserves great credit for his untiring
attention to this valuable young ape, and the results of his zeal are
worthy of the recognition of every man who is interested in the study
of animals.
Another specimen that may be regarded as an intermediate type was
recently kept in Bellevue Gardens at Manchester. He was playful and
full of mischief. He had been taught to use a stick or broom in fight,
and with such a weapon in his hand he would run all over the building,
hunting some one to attack. He did not appear to be serious in his
assault, but treated it as fun. It is a bad thing to teach to apes,
because they grow pugnacious as they grow older, and all animals kept
closely confined acquire a bad temper.
[Illustration: MR. CROWLEY, LATE OF THE NEW YORK ZOÖLOGICAL GARDEN
(Taken from Life.)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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