The sign above gives an ominous foreshawdowing of events to come.
The culprit. He spots Francis and her cell phone.
Francis sees something of interest in the monkey exhibit - a new little one.
Though hard to see clearly, this mother has a monkey baby on her back.
We both try to get a good photo, but Mom is always in motion.
We both try to get a good photo, but Mom is always in motion.
Francis drops her phone near the fence, and in an instant, our little culprit grabs it and tries to smash it on rocks, boards, walls, and anything else he can slam it against. He seems to want to crack it like a nut. He fails, fortunately, and finally gives it one last fling.
After Francis informs the staff, the Monkey Wranlger arrives and chases the monkeys with water from a hose into a portion of their enclosure that has a door that isolates them from the remainder of the space. They do not like this and object by squealing and carrying on a great deal.
The Monkey Wrangler pulls the door closed of the isolated portion of the exhibit, which will allow him to enter the enclosure and not be bothered by the monkeys. He ties it tightly in place. Just prior to this photo, he had one monkey come and pull vigorously on the rope, but he chased that monkey away using the garden hose again.
A small crowd, including Francis, gathers to watch the action. Everyone is pretty impressed that the staff members know exactly how to isolate the monkeys within their space.
The Monkey Wrangler enters the enclosure to recover Francis's cell phone.
The cell phone is intact, and the gentleman cleans it thoroughly and gently.
Francis gets back her cell phone, and learns that the name of the monkey thief is Paco, which is a nickname for Francisco, which sounds kind of like Francis.
The rope is released and the monkeys are freed from their room within their enclosure.
