MAKING MONKEYS WORK.

Shannon News, 6 November 1925, Page 2

MAKING MONKEYS WORK.

PICKING COCOANUTS. In Pattant, a southern province of Siam, and in Kelantan, one of the unfederated Malay States, monkeys are trained by the natives to pick cocoanuts and edible seed pods for their masters, The romantic notion that monkeys naturally climb cocoanut palms and throw down the nuts out of mischief •Or from a desire to oblige, is declared to be pure fiction. The monkeys .must be caught young], and carefully trained to their jobs by attaching them to a long pole, on the top of which is fastened a bunch of fruit. The animals quickly learn to runup to tire fruit and throw it down for their own food. Having once mastered the main idea, as it were, they can then be perfected in their profession in the palm treefe. Only the larger monkeys are successful 'with the cocoanuts. The smal_ ler monkeys can manage the pods which grow in small clusters on the ends of the branches of the sataw tree, and which provide the natives! with an important food item. j The seeds resemble a broad bean, and are eaten as-a vegetable, both raw and cooked. It is said that a well-trained monkey can pick as many pods in a day as a man,, thus enabling his fortunate owner to earn a full day’s wages with a minimum amount of effort.