Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Furry friends

Exploring the rock also included an occasional sideshow by the locals. These cute furry creatures seemed to have no problems around us big cousins and our clicking cameras but we were reminded by our guide that they were still wild animals and we were not to feed or try to pet them. Yes- they can be aggressive, but they seemed to enjoy climbing on a few people as we passed by, and play effortlessly on the railings, along the rocks and roadside as we walked past to our next point of interest.

The Apes (I have a tough time calling them apes) are a species of tailless monkeys called Barbary Macaques. These Macaques can be found in Morocco and Algeria, with those in Gibraltar being the only free-living monkeys in Europe today. Here on the rock our guide told us there are four clans that dominate different areas. The British army takes care of the population and their well being. They actually get fed every day partially because they otherwise come down into town and have been know to wreak havoc in the city.

Cute little guys tho- everybody likes monkeys!

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