Monkey Bite Fever

Bali is a wonderful island, but not for the reasons that most people go there. We bypass the resort areas and go up into the highlands near the monkey forests, the volcanos, and the Kopi Luwak, to a town called Ubud. We only heard of this place because some of our friends are from Indonesia. Ubud is filled with foreigners too, but most of the foreigners here are staying for a few months, maybe a few years.

The monkey forest. Yes, they actually have a small forest about a 5 minute walk from our hotel that is filled with monkeys. Why do the monkeys stay here and generally don't go outside of the forest? I don't know, and no one can give me a clear answer on that. But they do have plenty of monkeys here.

My friend Dev and I wander in. Tickets are $2 each, and I buy bananas from a street vendor to feed the monkeys.

It's fun. It's thrilling. But there is a dark side to this forest, just like in the Wizard of Oz. These monkeys don't fly, but they do bite. My friend Dev and I are having a good time feeding the monkeys. One sits down next to him and he gives it a banana. The monkey motions for another banana. Dev pets the monkey on the head. The monkey reaches for a banana. Dev pulls the bananas farther away and says "No, no, no" to this monkey.

We find out later that Dev broke three cardinal rules for monkey interaction. Apparently the monkeys, like California, have a "three strikes and you're out" policy.

1. He pet the monkey
2. He looked directly at the monkey
3. He said No to the monkey

The monkey bit Dev on the forearm, about a 1" cut that lets blood come running out. Blood goes onto his arm, blood onto his shirt, blood onto his shorts. It isn't enough blood to cause real danger, but it is more than you would expect.

Dev is angry at the monkey. Wouldn't you be too? But the first order of business is to get medical attention. Luckily they have a clinic about 20 yards from the entrance to the forest. A nurse is on staff here, a nurse both kind and professional. They've seen this before, about five times each day. She stops the bleeding, sterilizes the wound, injects lidocaine as a numbing agent, and puts in a stitch. She inquires whether he's been vaccinated for tetanus recently, and since we're not sure she gives him a tetanus injection. She has antibiotics on hand and gives him a ten day supply of amoxicillin. She bandages the wound, gives him instructions for the days ahead, and has him sign a medical log book. She is so wonderful, both professional and honestly kind, that Dev asks her to marry him. Half jokingly, but maybe half seriously too. She looks at him, half humorously but maybe half seriously too. She asks him his age, and then she decides that the age difference is too great and he is too old for her.

Dev and I return to the monkey forest and spend about an hour there. We are more cautious, clearly, but Dev is too courageous to let a one inch monkey bite prevent him from seeing the wonders of the monkey forest.

We return to the hotel later and Dev's father wisely insists that we check into rabies vaccinations. There has apparently never been a case of anyone getting rabies from a monkey bite, but Dev's father insists that caution is better than probability. We ask around and find that there is a clinic about 20 minutes away that has rabies vaccine, and Dev goes there.

Could this monkey forest exist in the U.S.? Clearly not. Among the eight people that were on our trip, a variety of opinions existed:

• The monkey forest should be shut down
• They should have more prominent warnings and prevent locals from selling bananas at the entrance
• It's ok, it's Bali and not the U.S.
• Any monkeys that bite should be eliminated, either euthanized or castrated
• People should only be allowed to walk through with a guide

What do you think? Would you go in the monkey forest, and should they change it?


One last surprise for you: We caught the actual monkey bite on video.