So, while some other Park Rangers tried to capture the escaped butterflies, we moved on to Monkey Island. Katie told us to gather around in a circle so that she could explain about the howler monkeys. They were brown and black and made the LOUDEST sounds I had ever heard (their howl was even louder than the ear-piercing screams of my baby sister Izzy when she wants a bottle).

Anyway, Katie told us that they were native to South America and spent up to 20 hours a day sleeping (which, if you ask me, sounds like heaven). And although I had missed the answer to the last quiz question, I was able to answer question eight which was:

8. Why do howler monkeys have such long tails?

They have long tails so they can swing upside down from trees, which is exactly what I would use a tail for if I could grow one.

This was a really easy question because all I had to do was take a look at what the monkeys were doing. Then we learned that the monkeys were vegetarian, and Katie asked us whether we would like to help her feed them. So, we were each allowed to take a piece of fruit from a bucket and throw it to the monkeys. They were only DELIGHTED to be getting treats thrown at them and jumped and leapt from tree to tree to catch and eat the fruit.

Everything was going great until Ronan dared me to taste the monkeys’ fruit.

I said,
    
             because:

1. I didn’t want to get into any more trouble,

2. I don’t like regular fruit, so I didn’t think I would like monkey fruit either.

Only then Ronan said, ‘You’re chicken!’
And I said, ‘Am not!’
And he said, ‘Are too!’
So, then I said, ‘Well, if you’re so brave, you eat the monkeys’ fruit instead.’

And I thought I’d won because he went all silent and glared at me, but then he said, ‘Fine, I will,’ and he took a big banana from the bucket and started to peel it. But, just as he was about to bite into it, he was spotted by one of the BIG MALE MONKEYS (who I think must have been a teenager, because he looked just like the teenagers in my estate – all GRUMPY and MOODY).

The monkey started howling and beating his chest and he pointed at me and Ronan, and then the other monkeys all started HOWLING and ROARING because they thought we were stealing their lunch (which, to be fair, we kind of were). Then Katie, who had figured out what had upset the monkeys, shouted at us, and all the other park visitors watching the howler monkeys, to hurry and run away because she knew what was going to happen next.

And she was completely right, because, what happened next was that the monkeys started to pick up big pieces of their POOP and throw them at us.

So, we were all running and SCREAMING and trying to avoid the poop missiles that were being thrown by the monkeys and Múinteoir Emer shouted at Ronan, asking him why on earth he had tried to eat the monkeys’ food, and Ronan shouted back that it was because ‘Milly dared me’ and then I was shouting too because I was in trouble again. (But, if you think about it, it really wasn’t my fault.)

Then, when we were far enough away, Katie got on her walkie-talkie and asked someone to temporarily close Monkey Island, until the howlers had calmed down. Then she looked at me and at her watch and then at me again and said to herself, ‘You can do this, you look after wild animals for a living, it’s just one more hour,’ and gave a really big SIGH.

Then she turned to the rest of the class and said, ‘Okay, last stop of the day, thankfully, will be to the Education Centre, to look at some INSECTS up close.’

And, as we walked there, we used the rest of the packet of baby wipes that Múinteoir Emer had in her bag to wipe away any monkey poop that had landed on us.