Sunday, October 3, 2010

The 7 Most Incredible Crime Sprees Carried Out by Animals: #7. The Vervet Monkeys and Their Alchoholic Tendencies


The vervet monkeys of the island of St. Kitts developed a fondness for alcohol soon after being brought there by rum industry slave traders, 300 years ago. After escaping captivity, the monkeys started feeding from the fermented sugar cane left in the field, which meant that the traders' plan to train them into rum-serving butlers had backfired horribly.
These days, however, they get their free alcohol fix from a different source:



Tourists. You literally cannot turn your back on St. Kitts without a monkey sneaking up and stealing your drink. And if you don't have a drink, they will give you one just so they can take it. There are a variety of methods employed by the monkeys in swiping drinks, from the nervous grab and run:

... to the brilliant "knock it over and lick up what's left" tactic:


... to the confident "drink it at the table" method:

... and our favorite, the old "steal from a friend who has done all the hard work" technique:


Of course, at the end of the day they have to suffer the consequences:


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