Mom in Mississippi kills monkey that got loose from flipped truck to keep her kids safe

Mississippi Mother Shoots Escaped Monkey to Protect Children

A mother in Mississippi took drastic action last week when she shot one of the monkeys that had escaped from an overturned truck, all in an effort to protect her young children.

Jessica Bond Ferguson, a resident of Heidelberg, recounted the tense situation, noting that the community was on edge due to rumors that the monkeys—initially believed to carry a dangerous disease—had been running loose since Tuesday, although authorities later confirmed this wasn’t the case.

Early on Sunday, her 16-year-old son burst into the house, claiming he spotted an animal in their yard. This prompted the 35-year-old mother of five, whose children span from ages 4 to 16, to leap from her bed. She grabbed her gun and cell phone before rushing outside, having already called the police.

Bond Ferguson found the monkey about 60 feet from her home. Feeling the urgent need to secure her children’s safety, she decided to act.

“I did what any other mother would do to protect my children,” Bond Ferguson shared. She recalled shooting the monkey, which initially stood its ground until she shot again, causing it to back away and ultimately fall.

With neither police nor animal control in sight, she felt a sense of responsibility to take action, fearing the monkey could pose a threat to other children in the neighborhood.

“If it had attacked someone’s child, that would have been a huge responsibility on me,” she reflected. “It’s kind of scary and dangerous to have them running around while kids are playing outside.”

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed the discovery of a monkey on a property nearby but didn’t provide additional information. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks was tasked with managing the situation.

This incident followed an earlier event when a truck transporting 21 caged rhesus macaques overturned on Interstate 59 near Heidelberg on October 27. Tulane University indicated that these monkeys were sourced from the National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, commonly providing primates for research purposes.

Out of the 21 monkeys, 13 were found and secured at the scene, while five died during the search. Three remained at large until the Sunday shooting.

Video from the crash site showed a 16-pound rhesus macaque moving through the tall grass alongside scattered debris from the truck.

Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson stated that, despite initial concerns, Tulane officials confirmed that the monkeys were not contagious; the animals had recently been cleared of any pathogens during health checks. However, he noted that due to their potentially aggressive behavior, the monkeys still needed to be “neutralized.”

Rhesus macaques can exhibit aggressive tendencies, particularly in certain situations. The average adult weighs between 9 and 26 pounds based on gender, and they are often used in research due to genetic similarities with humans.

At this point, it’s unclear what led to the truck’s rollover, but the Mississippi State Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, which occurred around 100 miles from Jackson, the state capital.