Kansas woman recovering from monkey attack

KANSAS -- The Montague County Sheriff's Office has revealed a Bowie-area woman is recovering from a monkey attack earlier in November. The woman was treated for minor injuries she received after being attacked by a large monkey on her back porch recently.

Sheriff Paul Cunningham said the woman was attacked on her porch by a large monkey on Nov. 9. Cuningham's office learned of the attack when they were called to Bowie Memorial Hospital to take a report on a "monkey bite."

On arrival, the officers talked to Margy Depreist, who lives on FM 1125. Depreist said she saw a large Snow Macaque monkey on her back porch.

File photo of snow monkey

"She tried to scare it off, but then she heard her neighbor calling for the animal apparently looking for it after it got out of its cage. Depreist called out to the owner turning her back on the monkey, which then attacked her," the sheriff said.

The monkey was biting her on the left leg and she also was bitten on a finger as she attempted to use a chair to knock the animal away. Her husband also shot at the monkey with a pistol.

Cunningham said it was a Snow Macaque monkey about 2-1/2 feet tall. He described it as not as large as a chimpanzee, but larger than a spider monkey.

The monkey is owned by Cecil Willis, who also has five other smaller monkeys.

Depreist was treated and released from Bowie Memorial Hospital. While the monkeys are known to carry a "host of diseases", the sheriff said, they do not carry rabies.

"We are working with the county health officer to see what testing may need to be done. Initially we were told we may have to have blood drawn from the monkey using a hazardous materials team, but that does not appear to be needed now," he said.

The investigators also have been in contact with a state zoologist and found the monkey does not fall under wild or dangerous animal statutes. The monkey went back to its owner and has been quarantined in its own kennel.

The Macaque has a pinkish face and posterior. The rest of its body is covered in brown, greyish or yellowish hair. The coat of the macaque is well-adapted to the cold. Males weigh, on average, 25 pounds and a female about 19 pounds.

These Snow Monkeys are well-known for their appearance, which has been documented by photographs published by National Geographic. Their white fur and red face are often shown against a backdrop of snow or dark water, making them look rather ethereal.

(Times Record News - Nov 26, 2015)

Tennessee: "Very aggressive" monkey attacks Tennessee woman and sheriff's deputy

TENNESSEE -- An aggressive snow monkey named Yoshi, who was being kept by a Tennessee family, bit a woman and a sheriff's officer before he was shot and killed, police said on Friday.

Michelle Pyrdum rests her injured, bandage-wrapped right
leg after being attacked by the monkey outside her home.

Four other monkeys belonging to the same family were taken to a shelter.

"That was worse than any dog I've ever seen," said Capt. Tony Barrett of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, describing the bloodshed caused by the "very aggressive" monkey that kept coming at lawmen even after apparently being shot at least twice.

The monkey's first victim was Michelle Pyrdum, who was bitten in the leg while she was washing her truck on Thursday morning in the Shelbyville area, Barrett said.

Once the injured woman was taken away in an ambulance, it was up to sheriff's deputies to figure out how to handle the 3-1/2-foot monkey, which had retreated two houses down to the roof of the garage from which it had escaped. The monkey left the garage and moved toward two deputies.

The monkey was on the garage at right when deputies arrived
following a 911 call from Linda Pyrdum. The confrontation
with Cpl. Ronnie Gault and Capt. David Williams
Sr. occurred a short distance to the left.

"He approached one of them, stopped and leaped five or six feet through the air after the deputy. The deputy shot at him. I don't know if he hit him or not, but he didn't hurt him too bad," Barrett said.

After firing his shotgun and realizing the monkey was still coming, Deputy Ronnie Gault put his left forearm up for protection, Barrett said. "The monkey was going for his face, but he got a hold of the left arm and bit into it, scratched and filleted the arm wide open."

Gault beat the monkey off with the shotgun and Capt. David Williams shot the monkey twice, first with buckshot and then with a 12-gauge slug.

"That buckshot knocked him down, but the slug got him," said Barrett.

Cpl. Ronnie Gault's blood-stained uniform and bandaged
arm indicate the struggle he endured Thursday while
trying to subdue an out-of-control monkey.

Four other monkeys lived on the property, two in the garage and two in another outbuilding, Barrett said.

With the help of animal control and veterinarians from Nashville, the others were subdued and taken by Animal Rescue Corps to a compound at the state fairgrounds in Nashville.

"We were out there until at least 10 at night," said Barrett, noting it wasn't the first time lawmen have been called to deal with issues involving the monkeys belonging to Ricky and Wilma Smith.

Animal Control Director Brenda Goodridge said the owner had four additional monkeys in his custody, but voluntarily surrendered custody.  She enlisted the help of the Animal Rescue Corps to tranquilize the animals and safely remove them from the home.

"The potential for disaster has been great with these monkeys," Goodridge said.  "Tennessee needs to toughen up its exotic animal laws."

The Animal Rescue Corps said two of the four remaining monkeys were being kept in dog and bird cages that were far too small.  They also did not have access to food or water, which means the owner could face animal cruelty charges.

Wilma Smith is in Bedford County Jail, serving time for manufacture of methamphetamine and weapons possession. Her husband had been caring for the monkeys.

State law allows for possession of monkeys.

(Reuters - August 5, 2011)

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• Escaped Monkey Shot, Killed After Injuring Woman, Deputy
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