![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Like taking bananas from a monkey?
Oct. 5th, 2009 10:48 amOne of the TV shows here in Japan had what I thought was a fascinating experiment with monkeys the other day. These were the wild monkeys that are somewhat common here in Japan -- a large pack of them, clearly familiar with the area and rather bold.
The first part of this was showing us what happens when someone walks into their area carrying a banana. First they showed us a woman walking in. She was carrying the banana at about waist level. Within about two steps, they surrounded her, grabbed her skirt, and one of them jumped up and tore the banana out of her hand. Next they showed us a man, about the same height and build. He was carrying a banana in the same way that the woman had. He stepped into the area, and walked across it and back. They cleared his path. One monkey did a half-hearted jump towards the banana, but didn't even really try.
( Experiments! )
I'm not sure that this means anything -- I would want to do a lot more trials and combinations if you were really trying to figure out what the monkeys are using to decide who's banana they can safely steal. But it seems pretty clear that there's some kind of monkey business going on.
Incidentally, they rewarded the monkeys with a whole box of bananas after they finished the various walks.
The first part of this was showing us what happens when someone walks into their area carrying a banana. First they showed us a woman walking in. She was carrying the banana at about waist level. Within about two steps, they surrounded her, grabbed her skirt, and one of them jumped up and tore the banana out of her hand. Next they showed us a man, about the same height and build. He was carrying a banana in the same way that the woman had. He stepped into the area, and walked across it and back. They cleared his path. One monkey did a half-hearted jump towards the banana, but didn't even really try.
( Experiments! )
I'm not sure that this means anything -- I would want to do a lot more trials and combinations if you were really trying to figure out what the monkeys are using to decide who's banana they can safely steal. But it seems pretty clear that there's some kind of monkey business going on.
Incidentally, they rewarded the monkeys with a whole box of bananas after they finished the various walks.
