# Get Fuzzy, Bucky, and monkeys **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596 "2003-07-19T17:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/1 "2003-07-19T17:04:03Z")
In Darby Conley’s comic strip _Get Fuzzy_, Bucky Katt often comments on his dream to eat a monkey. Is there any reason _why_ he thinks a monkey would taste good (has he ever explained), or is this just a very funny unexplained character trait for a very funny character? (I must say this urge is the topic of one of my favorite strips: where Bucky believes “Planet of the Apes” is some sort of a restaurant.) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/2 "2003-07-19T17:07:24Z")
Have they ever explained the single fang? Is it Darby Conley’s tribute to Geneisha, the Remover of Obstacles who has only one tusk? ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/3 "2003-07-19T17:24:06Z")
I don’t think they ever explained his fang, other than it’s apparently why he’s called Bucky. And once the ferret knocked his tooth out, but the dentist put it back. And I don’t think he’s explained Bucky’s obsession with monkeys, either – just that it’s his dream to eat a monkey. In light of that obsession, I thought this strip was really funny: [http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20030718.html](http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20030718.html) ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/4 "2003-07-19T18:09:51Z")
Heh. Rhesus Pieces. In reply to the strip you posted, I don’t know why Rob won’t let Bucky eat some of the Chunky Monkey ice cream. How would it hurt Bucky? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/5 "2003-07-19T18:24:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > \*\*I don’t think they ever explained his fang, other than it’s apparently why he’s called Bucky. \*\* Nah, he’s named after Buck O’Neal, the Negro League baseball player. And Satchel is named after Satchel Page ---
**Author:** ![Quantum\_Butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e79b87/32.png) [@Quantum\_Butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quantum_Butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/6 "2003-07-19T18:26:44Z")
Maybe because milk is bad for adult cats? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/7 "2003-07-19T18:50:42Z")
_Rule #125 of comedy (Skelton’s Corollary)_\*: it’s funnier if it’s not explained. \*“I just do 'em. I don’t explain 'em.” – Red Skelton ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/8 "2003-07-19T19:25:39Z")
Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream is banana flavored ice cream with walnuts and big hunks of chocolate. Chocolate is toxic as hell to dogs and cats. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/9 "2003-07-19T19:49:24Z")
Well, that explains it. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/10 "2003-07-19T20:05:21Z")
I believe that the “Bucky wants to eat a monkey” gag started with a Sunday strip in which Bucky revealed that he thought that fish eat monkey. Darby Conley apparently liked that gag, and riffs on it every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/11 "2003-07-19T20:31:58Z")
Probably irrelevent, but perhaps Conley is a fan of Larry Niven’s science fiction stories about the Kzinti: - tigerlike alien conquerers who have a fondness for “monkey meat”. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/12 "2003-07-19T21:07:09Z")
I also believe that felines in the jungle always enjoy a tasty primate. Bucky does always identify with his larger distant kinfolk. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/13 "2003-07-19T22:35:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wang-Ka \* > \*\*Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream is banana flavored ice cream with walnuts and big hunks of chocolate. > > Chocolate is toxic as hell to dogs and cats. \*\* What about talking dogs and cats who walk on their hind legs? Perhaps their physiology is different? ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/14 "2003-07-19T22:44:54Z")
Milk makes my cat puke everywhere. I assume Bucky would have a similar reaction, maybe more so because cartoon animals have that tendency to exaggerate the reactions one might expect. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/15 "2003-07-19T23:30:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FisherQueen \* > \*\*Milk makes my cat puke everywhere. I assume Bucky would have a similar reaction, maybe more so because cartoon animals have that tendency to exaggerate the reactions one might expect. \*\* Ironically, a cat puking a person will make milk fly out of my nose. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/16 "2003-07-20T03:26:26Z")
I believe that milk tends to make adult cats get diarrhea. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/17 "2003-07-20T05:52:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\*I believe that milk tends to make adult cats get diarrhea. \*\* Speaking as a man who has in the past accessorized his home with a box of shit, how would anyone know if a cat had diarrhea? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/18 "2003-07-20T06:13:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quantum Butterfly \* > \*\*Maybe because milk is bad for adult cats? \*\* Could you explain that to mine? He manages to drink some of my milk almost everyday while I’m eating lunch. It’s particulary hard when I’m eating a tuna sandwich and I can’t hold/eat both at the same time. He hasn’t gotten sick yet, but it’s damn annoying. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/19 "2003-07-20T14:45:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rabid Child \* > \*\*Heh. Rhesus Pieces. > > In reply to the strip you posted, I don’t know why Rob won’t let Bucky eat some of the Chunky Monkey ice cream. How would it hurt Bucky? \*\* Cats can’t digest lactose very well, nor do they digest sucrose well, so the combination would probably make him vomit and certainly give him the shits. (Have you ever _smelled_ cat diarrhea? Oy.) Besides, cats also can’t break down theobromine, which makes chocolate toxic to them. As for the monkey thing, well, monkeys are funny. Cats do one of three things with everything: they sleep on it, swat it around, or try to eat it. If you’re going to work monkeys into a strip about a cat, trying to eat one makes a lot more sense than sleeping on it or smacking it around. That, and monkeys are just far enough out of the range of things cats normally lust after (birds, squirrels, the chihuahua next door) that you snicker and say, “A _monkey_? Why a monkey of all things?” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596/20 "2003-07-20T15:18:34Z")
I always assumed it was a toned-down version of Bucky’s hostility toward humans. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-fuzzy-bucky-and-monkeys/189596.md?page=2)