Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss what prompted the monkeys?

sorry i cant help myself.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080610/ap_on_sc/indonesia_fishing_macaques

"Scientists find monkeys who know how to fish
BANGKOK, Thailand - Long-tailed macaque monkeys have a reputation for knowing how to find food — whether it be grabbing fruit from jungle trees or snatching a banana from a startled tourist. Now, researchers say they have discovered groups of the silver-haired monkeys in Indonesia that fish.

Groups of long-tailed macaques were observed four times over the past eight years scooping up small fish with their hands and eating them along rivers in East Kalimantan and North Sumatra provinces, according to researchers from The Nature Conservancy and the Great Ape Trust.

The species had been known to eat fruit and forage for crabs and insects, but never before fish from rivers.

"It's exciting that after such a long time you see new behavior," said Erik Meijaard, one of the authors of a study on fishing macaques that appeared in last month's International Journal of Primatology. "It's an indication of how little we know about the species."

Meijaard, a senior science adviser at The Nature Conservancy, said it was unclear what prompted the long-tailed macaques to go fishing. But he said it showed a side of the monkeys that is well-known to researchers — an ability to adapt to the changing environment and shifting food sources.

"They are a survivor species, which has the knowledge to cope with difficult conditions," Meijaard said Tuesday. "This behavior potentially symbolizes that ecological flexibility."

The other authors of the paper, which describes the fishing as "rare and isolated" behavior, are The Nature Conservancy volunteers Anne-Marie E. Stewart, Chris H. Gordon and Philippa Schroor, and Serge Wich of the Great Ape Trust.

Some other primates have exhibited fishing behavior, Meijaard wrote, including Japanese macaques, chacma baboons, olive baboons, chimpanzees and orangutans.

Agustin Fuentes, a University of Notre Dame anthropology professor who studies long-tailed macaques, or macaca fascicularis, on the Indonesian island of Bali and in Singapore, said he was "heartened" to see the finding published because such details can offer insight into the "complexity of these animals."

"It was not surprising to me because they are very adaptive," he said. "If you provide them with an opportunity to get something tasty, they will do their best to get it."

Fuentes, who is not connected with the published study, said he has seen similar behavior in Bali, where he has observed long-tailed macaques in flooded paddy fields foraging for frogs and crabs. He said it affirms his belief that their ability to thrive in urban and rural environments from Indonesia to northern Thailand could offer lessons for endangered species.

"We look at so many primate species not doing well. But at the same time, these macaques are doing very well," he said. "We should learn what they do successfully in relation to other species."

Still, Fuentes and Meijaard said further research was needed to understand the full significance of the behavior. Among the lingering questions are what prompted the monkeys to go fishing and how common it is among the species.

Long-tailed macaques were twice observed catching fish by The Nature Conservancy researchers in 2007, and Wich spotted them doing it two times in 1998 while studying orangutans."

Why did the monkey cross the road?

That's an interesting article. Dave you could be a monkeymeister. Is there a forum for that?

last train to Clarksville

"The other authors of the paper, which describes the fishing as "rare and isolated" behavior ... "

They must not be paying attention. Bears , cats , dogs , coons and birds all fish.

Are those monkeys dumber than a coon or hawk ?

Bruce

[img][/img]

Very nice. I like.

I truly believe we vastly underestimate the intelligence of animals. I think it's a we're the superior species kind of thing. That said I think we vastly overrate our importance on this planet.

I once had a psychcology prof tell us that animals can't experience pain because they can't verbalize. I said if I stepped on my dog's foot and it yelped that was not pain? He said no.

tell that to the dog.

The macaques in my neighborhood pick coconuts for a living, I sure hope they don't turn to fishing, I don't think I could handle being out fished by a monkey, bad enought when it happens with kids and women.

I can see it now, you sidle on up to the Monkey who is outfishing you, and you try to ask him what bait he's using.

He just says nothing and stares back at you.

Oh the humiliation.

Now they just need to give the monkeys typewriters after they finish fishing. Get enough of them (3-4 million), and they could replace outdoor writers.

I can see it now, an all-monkey issue of In-Fisherman.

You know the old saying. If you give a thousand monkeys a thousand typewriters they'd still get their butts kicked by a redear sunfish.

I don't have any problems with monkey's fishing, so they can fish big deal.

The thing that really makes me mad is when you're standing on the shore minding your own business and up walks a monkey. He stands right next to you when the whole bank is open. I mean he could have just walked 100 feet down shore and had a section of shore all to himself. Then he whips out an old goofy looking pole and ties a worn out fly on it. The monkey gets the line going, has the double haul perfected, sails the fly 50-60 feet into the pond and gets a strike on the first cast. Meanwhile I'm on the bank completely tangled in my own fly line, with the fly deeply imbedded in back of my shirt and I'm blaming the whole event on wind.

Then the damn monkey has the nerve to say "Nice day ain't it?"

I just hate that.

Oh never mind.



I just looked at the photo I took after he switched to a spinning rig and I realized that I was completely wrong.


Technically he was an ape.

Ba-dum-bump. (rimshot)

That's a classic. LMAO!

The Arlington Sheraton bar; PB Convention 2025

Some of my best friends are monkeys.

Can you imagine how big the pictures of the monkey's fish will be??? Just look at how long their arms are!! It won't take long for them to evolve into the Condello picture taking technique.

i actually got to thinkin, monkeys were likely fishin long before humans, which is probably why i pound my chest after catching a nice fish

Jeez I'd always hoped that I'd be retired by 2025, never thought I'd have to take a job bar tending.

I was gonna ask you about that but I though it would be impolite.

...and Theo's still crankin' out the rim-shot yuks

Did you notice the chimp wearing the cowboy hat and unbuttoned plaid wifebeater shirt in the background, giving "the look"?

he looked like he was putting out the 'vibe' to me....