A monkey in a pink tutu that slipped out of a home in Missouri, America was captured just before a winter storm threatened the region.
“Bananas” is how the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office described the apprehension of the primate in a Facebook post.
The spider monkey was spotted on Friday afternoon at the intersection of two highways near the town of Otto, just to the south of the St. Louis area. The monkey had been staying at a nearby home when it managed to open a door and get outside.
The sheriff's office said the small monkey was returned to its caretaker after “careful negotiations and some coaxing." Photos posted on the sheriff's department Facebook page show a deputy kneeling on the ground before the tutu-clad monkey approached and grabbed his hands.
The sheriff's office said its a great example of how officers “having to be prepared to handle whatever the job throws at them.”
The full post read: “Situation ContainedShortly before 4 PM on 1/3/25, Deputies responded to the area of Highways 21 & ‘M for reports of a subject monkeying around.
“When they arrived, first-responding units found the subject was naked except for what appeared to be a tutu.
After careful negotiations and some coaxing, Deputies were able to get close enough to go “hands on” with the subject and bring this bananas situation under control without incident.
“In all seriousness, this is a great example of law enforcement officers never knowing what they’ll face on any given call, and having to be prepared to handle whatever the job throws at them.
“This spider monkey was staying at a nearby home when it managed to open a door and get outside. Deputies surrounded the animal and eventually got it back to its caretaker.
“Nice work by everyone involved. What a day in #JeffCo!”
The timing was fortuitous. A winter storm packing snow and ice hit the region on Saturday, closing roads and sending temperatures plunging.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings from Kansas and Missouri — where blizzard conditions are expected — to New Jersey.
In the two states where blizzard warnings were in effect, travel “could be very difficult to impossible,” with snow whipped around by high winds reducing visibility, the NWS said. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.
“Do not travel unless necessary!” the NWS said.
