There are several families of wild monkeys that live on the path between Vadakanal and Kodakanal. Usually they don’t cause a problem and quickly scatter to the edge of the trail when people walk by. But sometimes if you happen to smile at them and show your teeth and there happens to be a male there, there can be trouble. That is exactly what happened during one of my first trips into town. I was laughing at the monkeys and happened to show my teeth which upset one of the males and it started to growl and approach me. Luckily there was a stick nearby as well as rocks which quickly persuaded him to back up.

On a separate occasion Aimee and I go out for a hike and explore some of the more remote areas of the mountain. At one point a giant family of monkeys were sitting hear the path and every time we approached they started to growl and get violent. I could throw rocks and scare away a few but there were so many of them that they kept coming back and occupying the trail. Finally I found a huge bolder and ended up holding it above my head as I walked by which scared all of them off pretty quick.

On the way back a bigger male monkey noticed Aimee’s bright red water bottle. He decided that he needed it more than Aimee and started chasing her around trying to steal it. Aimee starts screaming and runs circles around me and I start making kicking motions at the monkey. This one does not back down which surprises and scares the shit out of me as I’ve never seen this happen before. It decides to challenge me and starts growling and shows its teeth. Remembering that I have no healthcare insurance and I didn’t get my rabies shot I’m a little hesitate at fighting this monkey. There are no nearby rocks to throw or sticks lying around, so I don’t have much besides kicking at it and hoping it doesn’t jump on my leg and bite me. The monkey backs away slightly but leaps forward after my first kick. Luckily a group of Indian guys were walking behind us. They come running up shouting and kicking at it and together we manage to scare way the aggressive male.

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