Where humans are caged

Forget the chic dance clubs. And South Beach? Eh, maybe next time. \nFor my last weekend in Florida (I interned at the St. Petersburg Times this summer), my boyfriend and I decided to visit Miami. \nEver since I found out I'd be in Florida for the summer, I had my heart set on visiting my heaven on earth -- Monkey Jungle.\nThe 10-acre primate wildlife park, located in the steamy woods of Dade County, is a truly unique place. \nThe monkeys roam free, not the visitors. We're caged.\nSounds a little twisted, but it's actually quite genius. \nHumans observe the free-ranging monkeys through a maze of screened walkways, so you're actually in the cage and the monkeys run and climb on the outside. \nOriginally, there were no cages, but the Java monkeys viewed the visitors as intruders, and the animals aggressively defended their territory. Since Joe DuMond, Monkey Jungle's creator, wanted to study the monkeys in the wild, he couldn't cage them. Instead, he constructed the screened walkways.\nWith these screened-in paths came the greatest thing ever.\nEvery few feet, there are small metal bowls hanging down from long chains. In them, pieces of empty peanut shells clatter from side to side. The monkeys sit at the top of the screen and jiggle the chain to attract visitors to fill the bowls with peanuts and fruit. After you place food in the bowl, the monkey looks around to make sure it has the stash to itself, reels up the chain and digs in. They then drop the bowl for more.\nI do wonder how much of the monkeys' daily food intake comes from giddy visitors such as myself. My boyfriend and I refilled some of those bowls repeatedly. It never got old. \nAt the Jungle, I learned about the Java monkey social hierarchy, where the primates are born into a social status and must fight each other to move up the ladder. My favorite part of this organization is the mother and baby's placement. When a monkey is born, it is covered in black natal fur. When the baby has this fur, the mother and her baby are the most important monkeys and have first dibs on food and shelter. \nI'd have babies all the time!\nIn the middle of Monkey Jungle is a microcosm of the Amazon Rainforest. Eight primate species live there, including my all-time favorite, the squirrel monkey. They live among more than 150 species of South American palms. \nCheck this out: Squirrel monkey females are the dominant sex, and the males gain 20 percent of their body weight to boost their courage and confidence to breed with the females. Now that's interesting. Can you imagine a guy sitting around eating donuts and chocolate in hopes of approaching a girl? Hmm. Maybe it's more realistic than I think.\nOne couldn't leave Monkey Jungle without seeing King, the Jungle's prized gorilla. King was rescued from a circus where they removed all of his teeth except his molars. Since he can't defend himself, King lives alone. Have no fear because King has a smaller primate friend who lives near his tree house. The gorilla also has his own TV and VCR. He enjoys watching soap operas ("The Young and the Restless" is his favorite) and the latest video about the famous Coco the gorilla. He's quite the sight.\nSo, next time you're near Miami, be sure to visit Monkey Jungle. Sure, South Beach and its plethora of dance clubs is fun, but how often can you observe a baby monkey in the wild? Adorable.