How to Keep Monkeys Away

My mom was startled. She thought she just got to see a person at our corn field. She didn't expect that somebody was there at that time. The person was not dad since dad was at another spot not so far from her.

We were the only ones at our farm that day: mom, dad, my sister, my brother, and myself. The person whom my mom just got to see was somebody else. In seconds, she sure didn't know who that person was, an adult, not a kid or any of the three of us her kids.

Only then, my mom got to being aware that the person at that corn field was not a real-human but a scarecrow. The locals use to name it as sipambiar-biari, literary means: someone who works to scare. That's it, even mom, unintentionally got scared for those seconds.

Most likely, my mom didn't know that my dad already put that scarecrow at our corn field. We were picking our chili pepper at that time not so far from our corn field. Somehow, mom turned and seeing the scarecrow whom she thought was a human, somebody else other than us all. She wondered who could it be?

Well, precisely, I can call that thing who look like a human being as a scaremonkey instead of a scarecrow. It was not intended to scare crows but monkeys.

My dad made it just that good, it did resemble a real human, especially from a distance. The top part of that scaremonkey was yellow, putting on a hat. The lower part was blue. It was intended that way, so the monkeys, who liked to come in a troop, could notice it, even from a distance.

Our farm in Sidompak is next to Simarjarunjung mountain with lot of trees and bushes. Even along the way to our farm, at those big trees along the road, you can easily see those monkeys on those branches.

Monkeys are usually energetic. During the day, they either playing around with their folks, or sometimes, I even notice that they can be fighting too. I know the different if they are playing happily or fighting over something who knows what, by the typical sound they express, and also by the way they move. It can be similar to human beings, I guess, can fight over things such as food or toys and what not.  

Let me tell you, I had seen a troop of monkeys stealing. Well, let's say, taking squashes at a neighbor's farm at Huta Lama (literally means: Old Village). I know the owners of the squahes, for sure. They are our neighbors in our village, their house is by the river. I don't think those monkeys can understand what stealing is, can't they? They might think how strange it is that humans prevent them from taking any kind of fruit available around for them to eat. I am curious what precisely do they think as to do with humans on keeping them away from their crops.

Huta Lama is not that far from my house in the village. It is only about 10 minutes walking through a bending road. If you take a straight line from my house to that place, it is even shorter in distance. You see, if you want to see monkeys, you can easily do so by coming to my village. You only need to walk about 10 minutes, and voila, you will be seeing them, lots of them. They live in nature, free, healthy and I am sure, happy. Unlike seeing monkeys in a zoo which I don't really like since they live in such kind of limited environment. They are not free to wander around, but have to stay at particular area, already being measured by humans or the zoo owner.

The distance from Huta Lama to our farm is about 1 km, may be a little longer. Huta Lama locates at a lower landscape with many kind of natural trees around, and also it is next to a river and swamps. Our farm is higher than Huta Lama, up on a hilly area with its magnificent view, to all directions, as far as your eyes can see.

How many times had I seen those monkeys taking squashes at Huta Lama? Many times. They sure know how to work in a team. They do. At that times, I saw how they lined, many of them, from the area where the plants were up to a big banyan tree. One monkey gave a squash to another monkey, and on to the next one, up until the fruit was taken to the tree. That's freaking spectacular!

Do you ever eat squash? There are many kinds of squash in its varieties. We, the locals, usually eat cooked squashes, steamed or cooked with seasonings. We do, eat it a lot, usually with the seasonings.

Those fellow monkeys for sure eat squash raw. It tastes sweet. I notice that even human can also eat it raw, like blending it using a blender.

Who knows how many squashes they had been taken only at that particular farm? I had to pass through that place to get to our farm, that's why I could easily see them doing what they did. What else could they do when I didn't happen to walk through?

Some of the monkeys do live at other trees around the area. Those who live closer to our farm, they could easily reach and take any crop they like.

That's what happened at that time. Our corns were still young. The corn ears were already sweet. It sure tasted delicious even if you ate it raw.

I am sure those monkeys do like it when it is still soft and sweet. They even take corn ears, which is no longer soft and sweet. They still eat it. May be, they have nothing else to eat? Their teeth must be that strong chewing hard corn grains.

My dad put on that scaremonkey at our corn field to prevent the monkeys taking our corn. I myself, have no idea, what exactly those monkey thought or felt about it. The thing is, one day, when me and my mom worked to pick our chilli pepper, we did see many of monkeys picking our corn which was ready to be harvested. The monkeys did see us there.

We were stunned! We didn't really chase them away. One of them was on a high tree, the bravest, most likely. May be a male monkey who's work was to make sure that the member of the troop were safe.

I am amazed knowing that even though farmers have to deal with those troops of monkeys at that area, they still planting their crops there. What else can they do? They need to manage to keep their crops away from monkeys the best they can. The rest, it's nature's work. Let the monkeys take some.***