True Stories of Law & Order- Dwyer & Fio on crime, justice, and candy -

These miscreants (click on .mov file above) give upstanding, law-abiding monkeys a bad rap. In medieval times these mischievous monks would have been sent to the gallows. Seriously.

Piers Beirne sheds light on a rather unenlightened time in his review of E.P. Evans’ The Medieval Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals:

“From the later Middle Ages until the eighteenth century, certain peoples in Europe held the anthropomorphic notion that animals could commit crime. Indeed, those animals that were officially suspected of so doing were prosecuted for their misdeeds in secular courts and, if convicted, were subject to a variety of punishments, including public execution.”

Check out Beirne’s review in the Society & Animals Journal of Human-Animal Studies. It’s fascinating stuff.

If you’re going to be visiting monkey territory any time soon, you’ll want to check out Michelle Tsai’s life-saving article “How To Fight Monkeys” on Slate.com.

Tsai writes:

“What should you do if monkeys are picking on you? It’s like Mom said about muggers: Just give ‘em what they want. When monkeys get aggressive, it’s usually because they think you have something to eat.”

For the whole story, click here.

Cheers and Banana Daiquiris,
Fio