Monkey sends motorists bananas

SOME said it was a gorilla in their midst. They were obviously towards the back of the traffic tailback.

Those with a better view -- and less prone to exaggeration -- could see that a much smaller primate was the cause of the disruption on the N11 in Wicklow yesterday morning.

And while those towards the back of the two-mile delay were undoubtedly going bananas, those towards the front were handing them out.

"She got out this morning, I don't know what time," owner Ed Drew said yesterday afternoon.
"But I got a call to say 'one of your monkeys is on the road'. We went down with the quad and a net and caught her straight away

"She was tired and completely disorientated. Someone had pulled up in a Jeep and given her a banana so she was eating that."
The 'she' in question is a three-year-old capuchin monkey called Gina. She escaped from Copsewood Aviaries in Kilmacanogue sometime yesterday morning, sparking lengthy tailbacks.
But AA Roadwatch suspected monkey business of a different kind when reports of the cause of the traffic jam first started coming in at 8.15am.

"We got a call from a female motorist and initially we thought it might be a hoax. We found it very odd, but we have to look at all things that come in," a spokeswoman said.

"By 8.35am we found out there was a place nearby that keeps monkeys, so we thought it could be true," she added.
"By 8.45am the gardai in Bray confirmed there was a monkey on the road but he was caught, caged and cleared by 9am."

Mr Drew (46) has a wide variety of animals and birds at the business he has been running for 15 years, including, chipmunks, rabbits and peacocks. While some are for sale, his nine monkeys are kept as pets.
Yesterday, Gina decided to sample life on the outside. Fittingly, she ended up alongside an 'On the Run' service station.

"There have been no escapes like this before. I've had few birds escaping, but nothing as exotic as that," Mr Drew said.
By yesterday afternoon -- and after a protein lunch and a sugar drink -- the cheeky monkey was doing well.

"She's a bit stressed out from being out of her own environment, but she's actually quite tame," Mr Drew said.

"She's back in now with her buddy -- she lives with her brother -- and she's fine now."

- Jason O'Brien