Runaway monkey recaptured after week on the loose in Tennessee

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A runaway monkey that spent a week on the lamb in a Tennessee neighborhood has been captured and is in good health, his owner said.

The 3-year-old Capuchin monkey, named Pretty Boy Floyd, sparked a flurry of social media posts about monkey sightings in North Knoxville when he was spooked by a dog Aug. 20 and took off into the trees, owner Bill King said.

King, who lives in Crossville and was in town visiting friends at the time of the escape, said he searched for the monkey every day, but Floyd remained elusive until he heeded a call from King's 14-year-old daughter when they were called to the scene of a Sunday sighting.

Flowd was spotted numerous times through the week by shocked neighbors.

Ron Merritt said his girlfriend spotted Floyd Aug. 21 on their front porch.

"She said, 'There's a monkey out here on the front porch on the deck,' and I said, 'No, you're kidding me.' We were getting ready for the eclipse, and sure enough that monkey was out here on the deck," Merritt told WVLT-TV.

Word of the sighting reached King, but Floyd had left the area by the time he arrived on then scene.

King said he and his daughter were called to an address on Adair Ave. Sunday by someone who spotted the monkey in their backyard.

"She just got down there and talked to him," King told the Knoxville News Sentinel. "She lured him in with some honey, and he come up to her and she reached out and got a hold of him. ... I knew once I could keep those other people from scaring him, I knew we could catch him."

King said he was overjoyed to be reunited with Floyd, a therapy animal that helps the Army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder and other health problems.

"I didn't cry but I come real close," King said.

King said Floyd appeared to be healthy and free of injuries, but he planned to take the monkey to the veterinarian Monday morning as a precaution.