Your Monkey Versus Snake Season!! Primate reactions to snakes range anywhere from the timid monkey’s classic flight response ("Yikes, let me outta here; It’s a creepy, crawly thing!") to classic fight response ("I could take that thing on with one hand tied behind my back!"). A young spot-nosed guenon once attempted to grab the tail of a 6' pet carpet python and lived to tell about it. A more timid monkey will burst out in a furious peal of screams and chatters, as he scrambles to the safest, highest point in the area!

Here are some things to watch for when considering snakes, monkeys and the great summer out of doors:

Contact your local animal control agency and find out what, if any, snakes are poisonous in your area. Professional pest companies and herpetological societies can also be good sources of information. Ask questions or do your own research to find out the length of the snake full grown, (a pacific rattlesnake, for example, averages about 3 feet in length when full-grown. The striking distance is much shorter than that of a diamond back rattlesnake, which can be as long as 10 feet when full grown.), its temperament (yes, snakes have temperaments too. A sidewinder is generally more aggressive than a pacific rattlesnake.), the season in which the snake is usually found (in temperate climates, rattlesnakes can be found in just about every month of the year, but summer heat beckons reptiles everywhere out of hibernation), habitats that the snake prefers (water moccasins prefer swampy areas but some snakes are not partial to one habitat over another), the antidote or treatment for bite victims, the symptoms, the incidence of bites, the typical outcome of a bite to a small animal, etc. This information will help you to assess whether you want to have an outdoor cage and, if so, how you can most safely construct it and what precautions to take if hiking with your monkey in nature preserves.

When hiking with a monkey in wildlife preserves in poisonous snake areas (Hawaii is one of the few areas exempt), take precautions. If your macaque, guenon or spider monkey is a hiker (one who walks on lead for exercise like a dog), never let your monkey explore an overgrown or cluttered area! Never let him go off-trail, and keep him a safe striking distance from the vegetation at the edge of the trail or walkway. It’s really best to avoid such areas in the prime summer months but if you decide to venture out anyway, be ready to pick your monkey up quickly!

Outdoor cage construction in poisonous snake areas should be of solid material sealed at the base (bricks are best). Rather than deny your monkey access to the wonderful outdoors, plan ahead for the expense of a monkey-safe cage. Remember, even the occasional deadly rattlesnake could mean disaster for your monkey or group of breeder monkeys!! And while some monkeys are afraid of strange outdoor critters, others will squawk, scream and then poke at even a snake!! And statistics with humans show that nine out of ten bites occur when the poisonous snake is "messed with". Sometimes the most timid seeming "babies" turn out to be "hands-on" monkeys. A safe height of an outdoor solid cage wall will depend on the length of the indigenous snake. In most instances, a 4-6 foot brick foundation barrier with a 2 - 4 foot mesh top will ensure your monkey a safe and happy, snake-free summer!!.....q