# At least one monkey on the loose in St. Louis area (1/10/2026) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551 "2026-01-11T02:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/1 "2026-01-11T02:55:20Z")
AFAIK, they aren’t from a lab like the dozens that escaped in the southeast a while back. It (they?) appear to be in the O’Fallon area. > **[Several monkeys on the loose in St. Louis area](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgpP4RLCRY0%2F)** > > Officials are searching for several monkeys that are on the loose in St. Louis, Missouri.==========Follow WHAS11 on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.c... ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/2 "2026-01-11T03:01:33Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > they aren’t from a lab A bullet we, sadly, dodged. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/3 "2026-01-11T03:03:03Z")
I want a monkey. Reckon one could get down here to South Arkansas. I’ll catch it. Name him “Gonzo” And hug him alot. And give lots of treats. Yeah, we’ll be besties! ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/4 "2026-01-11T03:24:41Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’ll catch it. > > Name him “Gonzo” > > And hug him alot. And give lots of treats. Teach him to get the cats down from the rafters for you! \<3 ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/5 "2026-01-11T03:27:32Z")
Hey, @Shoeless ? Where did that restaurant/meal/check, please/wife’s friend/index finger story occur, and when?? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/6 "2026-01-11T03:31:35Z")
My father had a monkey. It stole his smokes from his pocket and shat on his shoulder periodically. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/7 "2026-01-11T03:34:03Z")
Ahh, dad couldn’t master balancing his smokes on his shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/8 "2026-01-11T03:35:44Z")
When I get a free moment, I’m going to ask AI if it can find any prior instance of those same words being strung together in that same order before. Anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/9 "2026-01-11T03:41:06Z")
Try it without “periodically”. Surely this is/was a well trained monkey. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/10 "2026-01-11T04:00:59Z")
Fun Fact. In March 2017, a half-dozen steers escaped from a Kosher slaughterhouse in St. Louis and ran the streets for more than three hours before finally being rounded up. [https://fox2now.com/news/workers-wrangle-cattle-in-north-st-louis-after-slaughterhouse-escape/](https://fox2now.com/news/workers-wrangle-cattle-in-north-st-louis-after-slaughterhouse-escape/) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/11 "2026-01-11T04:18:33Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I want a monkey. Reckon one could get down here to South Arkansas. I’ll catch it. > > **Name him “Gonzo”** > > And hug him alot. And give lots of treats. > > Yeah, we’ll be besties! That’s a great name. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/12 "2026-01-11T06:47:21Z")
In the summer of 2024, a water buffalo escaped from a yard in suburban Des Moines. He was named PHill, after the town of Pleasant Hill, and was eventually captured by police - sadly, a nonfatal gunshot. He was nursed back to health and lived out his days in a nearby animal sanctuary, where he died in early 2025; I had heard that it was lead poisoning (literally!) but this story says otherwise. > **['You were so loved': Owners say beloved water buffalo Phill has died](https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-water-buffalo-dies-phill-escaped-animal-shot-pleasant-hill-iowa-farm-sanctuary/63798892)** > > "In the middle of the night, Phill began to crash and his doctors called to tell us there was nothing they could do," owners of Phill the water buffalo said. How did PHill end up in Iowa, you may ask? A man of Nepalese descent ordered four of them from a breeder in Kansas, and was keeping them in his backyard. At least one had already been butchered, and PHill and any other survivors were taken to the sanctuary, because the man had not obtained the necessary permits to keep livestock within city limits. He was allowed to keep the meat he had already processed. I saw something on IIRC Reddit from a poster who admitted that as a younger man, yeah, he shouldn’t have driven home drunk, but he did, and on the way home, he thought he saw an ostrich run across the highway in front of him. He pulled over and called 911, and when he described his general area, the dispatcher asked for more details and said that no, he was not hallucinating; there was an ostrich farm nearby, and several birds had escaped and 4 of them were still at large. This was in central Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/13 "2026-01-12T23:45:53Z")
Interestingly, AI is inhibiting the investigation. [People have reported capturing the monkeys, even posting fake pictures online to bolster the claim.](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/monkey-on-loose-st-louis-vervet-search-b2899077.html) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/14 "2026-01-13T00:40:20Z")
I saw a Emu trotting down my road once. That was interesting. Seems a farmer down the way thought he’d cash in on a bigger “chicken”, with meat closer to beef than bird. Alas, he decided the feed bill was too high and he just opened the gates. So about 20 Big birds were on the loose. We said Big bird so often my youngest kids were disappointed it was not yellow. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/15 "2026-01-13T01:45:30Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > At least one had already been butchered, and PHill and any other survivors were taken to the sanctuary, because the man had not obtained the necessary permits to **keep livestock within city limits.** > > /lebowski And let’s not forget, let’s not forget, Dude, that keeping a Bubalus bubalis, uh, an amphibious bovine, for uh, ya know, domestic, within the city… that ain’t legal either./lebowski ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/16 "2026-01-13T01:52:01Z")
Well, I guess since it’s only one, it’s not a case of Monkey see, monkey do. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/17 "2026-01-13T01:53:27Z")
From your link: > Local officials say they are doubtful anyone will come forward to claim them Because [![](https://intheirownleague.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/12monkeys-main.jpg?w=1336&h=768&crop=1) ](https://intheirownleague.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/12monkeys-main.jpg?w=1336&h=768&crop=1) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/18 "2026-01-13T02:37:02Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Fun Fact. In March 2017, a half-dozen steers escaped from a Kosher slaughterhouse in St. Louis… In 1986, a 1,400-pound Brahma bull escaped from a San Jose bar (The Saddle Rack). It made it as far as the Meridian Avenue / 280 overcrossing (just a few blocks from where I’m sitting now) before having a fatal encounter with a car. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/19 "2026-01-13T21:12:37Z")
Fatal for who? The bull, or the car and occupants? What was a bull doing at a bar, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551/20 "2026-01-13T21:50:31Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > What was a bull doing at a bar, anyway? “We have a [drink](https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2616/bull-shot) named after you…” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-least-one-monkey-on-the-loose-in-st-louis-area-1-10-2026/1026551.md?page=2)