This past Saturday, I got to interact with Simon more than I ever have before! At first, early in the day, I just said hi to him through the bars of the cage. He was so happy to see me, and danced in circles. I love the circle dance! Then he noticed my wedding ring, which he tried to take! I switched hands, and he played with my fingers, holding them with his hands. It's funny though, because you look at him and it's no wonder people want one as pets. But they can freak out in a matter of moments. For example ~ He started getting very excited, and he picked up a large plastic toy (larger than himself, actually) and repeatedly flung it at me. The bars stopped it from actually coming near me, of course. I waited for him to calm down, then I pet his shoulder and left.

At the very end of the day, Mallory asked if I wanted to go say good-bye to him with her. No way I'm saying no to that! Simon didn't want to see her, for some reason. I think he was being rebellious. He decided to visit with me instead. He scaled my arm up to my shoulder in a flash, then flopped himself into the crook of my arm. He started touching my face all over, then licked my cheek. Before I knew it, he had one hand on my nose, the other on my ear, and he was just licking my cheek over and over. Then he moved to my lips, and I couldn't keep my mouth shut, because he was holding my nose!

Mallory told me it was ok to blow in his mouth, that he likes it. So I gently blew at him and he opened his mouth wide, then licked my lips all over again. It was such a funny feeling! I hadn't thought about it before, but monkeys' tongues are so soft. It felt like being licked by a human baby or something, which makes sense since they're primates. Like, why wouldn't their tongues be soft? But it amazed me nonetheless!

As Simon was making out with me, I realized his hand was nearly on top of my nose piercing, which freaked me out. I didn't want him knocking it out (or worse, ripping it out!). I poked his hand, and he moved it, then leapt off my shoulder onto the bars of his enclosure. As I began to leave, he reached out and grabbed a fistful of my hair. It was obvious he was getting a bit over-excited. I waited for him to let go of me, then left with Mallory. And I must have smiled for hours afterwards! I mean, a monkey licked my face and lips!!! That is pretty freaking cool. It's little moments like those that make all the hard parts of animal work (tons of raking, cleaning, poop-scooping... it's all about the poop-scooping!) totally worth it. To me, anyway.

I'm so grateful I get to experience such cool stuff at Little Zoo. I love it there so much!

Disclaimer: I am trained and authorized to handle wild animals. Most of the animals described in these posts are NOT PETS and are ILLEGAL to own as pets. All content reflects the opinions of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of Little Zoo or its affiliates.