« The Run | Main | The Power of Kindness »
October 25, 2005
Ferdie
We were on our way back from a friend’s game ranch near the Kruger National Park when it happened.
I almost didn’t stop, but something caught my as I avoided the dead monkey in the road. I pulled off to the side and reversed the car.
“You’re not getting out are you?” said my girlfriend, Jean.
“I just want to make sure it’s dead.” I said. “I think I saw it move.”
“And if it’s alive what are you going to do? Run over it to finish the job. Just let’s go…okay?”
“I just want to check, Jean,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
“If it’s injured it will bite you,” she said. “It’s so darn dark. What if there’s something else out there?”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Don’t be a typical, stupid, macho man,” she yelled angrily, pulling on my sleeve.
“It’s okay,” I said.
I grabbed my flashlight and got out.
The monkey was dead. It must have been hit by another car. There was no blood and the body was intact. The passing car probably glanced the animal and killed it in the process. I pushed its body with my shoe to make sure it was dead.
A sudden movement beneath the monkey made me jump back with fright. “ There’s a bloody snake under there,” I yelled and ran back to my car not wanting to have anything to do with any creatures that slither.
I jumped into the car and slammed the door.
I was out of breath.
“I bloody-well told you,” said Jean. “Now let’s go. This is making me uncomfortable.”
With my heart pounding, I shone my flashlight out of the window and pulled the car around the dead animal giving it one last glance.
I was shaking. I hate snakes!
“Hah!” said Jean.
“Hah, yourself,” I said.
That’s when I saw it. A baby monkey. It was no bigger than my balled up fist. The baby had crawled from under the body and was trying to nurse on its dead mother.
“There’s…there’s a baby monkey!” I yelled. “And it’s alive!”
“Stop the car,” urged Jean. “Go see if it’s okay. Hurry up!”
(I won’t even mention what I felt like saying to Ms. Jean Brownlie at that moment. I also forgot to mention that she was the one in possession of her own licensed firearm at the time. It probably wouldn’t have helped much because she wasn’t a very good shot.)
I got out of the car again and shone my flashlight at the baby. It cowered, trying to crawl under its dead mother again.
I noticed three other baby monkeys on the road, but they hadn’t made it.
I tried to reach for the baby, but it hissed at me and clung onto its mother.
I got a blanket from the car and threw it over the dead monkey. I gathered up the blanket and managed to separate the baby from its mother. I reached in and brought the trembling the baby out. This was the sweetest little thing I have ever seen in my life. I have never experienced anything more adorable!
The monkey was petrified. It’s little bottom jaw quivered as it whimpered.
Jean held the baby in the blanket against her chest for most of the journey then, once it was sleeping, she wrapped it in her jersey and cuddled it in her lap. It’s didn’t take the baby long to feel Jean’s love and warmth. (When Jean was in the mood for cuddling, nobody did it better!)
We fed Ferdie with an eyedropper and baby formula that night at the Pilgrims Rest Hotel. We put some cotton balls in a shoebox and both slept on the floor on either side of the box.
We wanted to take the baby home and keep it as a pet, but we decided that the city was no place for an animal that belonged in the wild. It was a tough decision, but the right one.
The next day we took the baby to an acquaintance of mine who owns a private zoo/shelter where he takes care of orphaned animals and trains other animals for movies and television.
Ferdie survived and grew up to work at the zoo. According to my friend, Ferdie became an expert cuddler and a great bottle feeder. During his tenure as a baby sitter, he was known to cuddle many orphaned babies including possums, ferrets, puppies, kittens, a meerkat and even a lion cub.
Posted by trevor at October 25, 2005 06:15 PM
Comments
I love this story and the drawing you did with it. Thank god you stopped!
Posted by: lindsay at October 26, 2005 08:56 PM
It has been a while. Just popped in to say hello.
Hello :)
Hey Amanda, welcome back- how ya doin' there in Blighty?
Posted by: Amanda Gurney at October 27, 2005 04:49 PM
Really touching.
A real humanity based story.
Thank very much for savng Ferdie
Posted by: Anthony Muthu at June 25, 2008 09:25 AM