Remember the loose monkey in Portland?

It was about 6 weeks ago that Portland was turned upside down when reports of a monkey bouncing around the city, well -- the reports also bounced around the city. It was seen a few times by multiple different people (after being mistaken for a squirrel or chipmunk) on Congress Street near Tandem Coffee and Bakery on the 4th of July.

And according to NEWS CENTER Maine -- no lie -- a few days after the first sighting of the monkey, there was apparently a banana peel found on the street in Portland.

But after a few days of mass hysteria (and probably some monkeypox jokes), the monkey seemingly just disappeared. After a ton of research, there was no mention of whether or not he was captured by the Animal Refuge of Greater Portland, adopted by a zoo, or became someone's pet.

The monkey essentially just disappeared into thin air. Which begs the question -- does anyone actually know what happened to that monkey? It was six days of monkey talk being flung around followed by a cold turkey six weeks of silence.

Andre Mouton
Andre Mouton
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ORIGINAL STORY:

Maybe it's the most patriotic monkey in America?

If you were around Portland on Monday, more specifically in the area of Tandem Coffee and Bakery on Congress Street, you may have seen a sight that you're either just not used to or made you feel like you're losing your mind. Because there was reportedly a monkey that was rolling the dice on its life and running in front of cars passing by.

A post to the Portland, Maine group on Facebook by Anna McMurchy chronicled her experience with the random monkey on the loose, which she actually quickly mistook for a chipmunk at first.

Andre Mouton
Andre Mouton
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"This may sound crazy, but is anyone missing a monkey?? On Monday, I was driving my friend to the bus station, and as we drove through downtown near Tandem Coffee and Bakery, a small creature ran across the road in front of my car. At first, I thought it must be a squirrel (it was too big to be a chipmunk), but as we got closer, I saw that it had a round head, funny ears, and a little skinny tail. I would have thought I was crazy if my friend hadn't seen it too and gasped, 'Is that a monkey?!' We googled it and it looks like a baby rhesus macaque. Has anybody else seen something similar around downtown? It really threw us for a loop."

Animal Control has been contacted

Despite some commenters urging animal control to not be called due to fear of the monkey being euthanized, one Mainer in the thread mentioned reaching out to animal control at the urging of the exotic wildlife sanctuary. As for now, the monkey still seems to be on the loose and it's unknown whether or not its still near Tandem Coffee and Bakery.

Claudette Bleijenberg
Claudette Bleijenberg
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If you do come across the monkey, though, do not engage and make a call to Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland at 207-854-9771 with location information.

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Stick to the cats and dogs that you know because if you're keeping any of these animals (or animals like them) as pets in Maine, you're breaking the law and could face stiff penalties.

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.

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