In case you haven't heard, a monkey, most likely a baboon, has been spotted in the Citrus Park area of north Tampa several times in the last week.
As reported in the Tribune, a couple of days ago it ran across Lynn Road in front of a car near the Hindu temple, and yesterday it was spotted in the back yard of a man living in Indian Oaks, a neighborhood off Gunn Highway about a quarter mile east of the Upper Tampa Bay Trail. Later, it was spotted just west of Sheldon Road.
So, this is not just some monkey tale; lots of different people have seen this creature. The couple that saw it near the temple identified it as a baboon because it had the characteristic large red patch on its back side.
It is possible this is the same monkey that was sited 13 miles away in East Tampa last week. That day a man called authorities when he spotted it high up in a tree. They tried to tell the man it was just a raccoon, but a helicopter soon confirmed that it was, indeed, some kind of monkey. In fact, they took video from the air which I watched on Channel 8 News. They were unable to capture the critter that day, and since that time officials have not been trying to catch it.
Just the same the Jewish Community Center, which backs up to Indian Oaks subdivision, kept their 200 children inside yesterday according to today's Tampa Tribune article.
I just googled baboons. They are omnivores, preferring vegetation; however, they will sometimes eat rodents and young mammals.
So, when you're out training in the next few days, be careful if you spy something furry, it might not be a dog or cat. Indian Oaks is about a quarter mile from the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, but then that's always an exciting place to run when you consider that 250 big cats - I mean like lions and tigers - are living just on the other side of the fence at Big Cat Rescue. They are completely hidden from view and pretty quiet; I've only heard roaring once, and I'm sure they are quite secure, but it's still exciting to know they are nearby.
Personally, as my friends know, I love any and all wildlife sightings when I am out running, but those usually consist of snakes, which I see all the time at Lake Rogers Park, deer, which I've seen at Flatwoods, the resident alligator in the pond along the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, a couple of foxes, and such as that. I would love to get a glimpse of that baboon. That would be a great running story.
Read the full article on TBO.com.
Comments