Abstract

Among the various animals which levy their toll on the South Indian agriculturist, monkeys occupy a fairly important status in many reas of the province; this is particularly the case in localities situated in the vicinity of hill ranges or along forest areas. Though the writer has very ittle experience of conditions outside this province it is probably similar in he neighbouring provinces also since we had newspaper reports of monkey. rouble in places like Belgaum and Khandesh in the Bombay Presidency. Though in some countries outside India cases have been recorded of monkeys being trained in farms for useful items of work such as fruit picking, coconut gathering, scaring away other pests like crows, etc., in India so far as he writer is aware, the monkey is only notorious for its destructive habits. Any one visiting places of pilgrimage situated on hills like Tirupati, Palni, etc., can easily convince himself of the acts of mischief and the depredations caused by monkeys to pilgrims in various ways. I noted the monkey trouble even in Puri (Jagannath). In this paper attempt is made to record the writer's experience with monkeys on his small farm and in some of its adjacent villages, all situated along the foot hills of the western ghats, in South India in the Malabar Dist

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