While kayaking Silver Springs, Florida, a woman found herself in the middle of an especially wild close encounter – surrounded by falling monkeys!
“They’re jumping in,” the kayaker said as she filmed. “Look at them all! These are all monkeys jumping in. Oh my God, it’s raining monkeys!”
Monkeys fall from sky in Silver Springs State Park, Florida
“One jumped in here right here by me!” The kayaker said as she laughed. “Go on, little one.”
Commenters on the initial video wondered what exactly was causing the monkeys to jump into the water, theorizing both that something big in the trees had frightened the monkeys and that the kayaker herself was the cause of the disturbance.
@fireball_1969 this was the best day to see Florida’s wild monkeys they sure put on a show for us.#foryoupage #outdoors #wildlife ♬ original sound – fireball_1969
Later, the kayaker took to TikTok in a followup video to share the whole story.
“We kayak this river quite a bit just in hope that we will get to see the monkeys because you don’t see them a lot,” the kayaker shared. “That day just happened to be a very extra special day.”
@fireball_1969 update on the monkey video i posted #wildlife #foryoupage #Outdoors ♬ original sound – fireball_1969
The kayaker also shared the cause of the monkeys jumping in the water and fleeing to the other side of the river. According to the paddler, one of the larger monkeys had been making a lot of noise and a smaller monkey then jumped into the water and was swept downstream toward that larger monkey. Shortly after, all of the monkeys started jumping into the water. The kayaker also explained that her group had been observing the monkeys for quite a while at a respectful distance, and that nothing was lurking in the woods chasing the monkeys.
After the encounter with monkeys, the kayaker then went on to paddle up the river and see manatees.
The monkeys of Silver Springs State Park, Florida
The monkeys leaping into the water in the video, of species Rhesus macaque, are invasive in Florida and indigenous to south and Southeast Asia. According to Springs in Florida, the monkeys carry Herpes B, which can spread to humans by way of bodily fluids and lead to complications including spinal cord and brain swelling and ultimately death.
The monkeys of Silver Springs were brought to a small island, now Silver Springs Park, around 80 years ago by a tour boat operator. The tour boat operator released six monkeys onto the island, hoping to create “a park closely resembling the Tarzan story” according to Springs in Florida. Unbeknownst to the tour boat operator, the monkeys were adept swimmers and the first six monkeys escaped the island nearly immediately and the tour boat operator brought in a replacement batch.
The second group of monkeys also escaped. By the 1980s, the monkeys had established themselves throughout the island.
