[The Shadow]

The Villages Elementary School of Lady Lake

School administrators at The Villages Elementary School of Lady Lake were in for quite a surprise this week when they were informed what was on the roof of the school.

The West Lake school had just released students who walk home Tuesday and was about to release students to go to the parent pick-up line when Principal Dave Bordenkircher's phone started ringing.

"I received a couple of calls from some of our parents who were in our car-rider line, and they said 'there is a monkey on the roof,'" Bordenkircher recalled. "I went out there and sure enough, there he was. I couldn't believe it."

Bordenkircher had to see for himself, so he walked outside, and sure enough a tan rhesus monkey was on the roof of the school. Under the watchful eye of parents, who were snapping photos of the primate, and administrators who couldn't believe what they were seeing, the monkey jumped down, scurried across the parking lot, crossed Rolling Acres Road, and disappeared into the woods.

"He was very calm and was just walking back and forth," Bordenkircher said. "I think when he felt there was too many people out there, he just hopped off the roof."

However, Lady Lake Animal Control Officer Denise Williams warned that rhesus monkeys are dangerous.

"They're hostile by nature," Williams said. "If you smile, look or stare at them, they'll more-than-likely attack."

The monkeys also carry a strain of a strain of the herpes B virus, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease is rare in humans but is typically transmitted through animal bites. It can result in severe brain damage or death.

Williams said she received a call by radio from a crossing guard who noticed the animal crossing the street.

She said that the monkey is more than likely wild, as pet monkeys are not allowed within the town limits of Lady Lake. Rhesus monkeys can travel several miles per day and with the seasons changing, it may have been migrating to find food, Williams said.

Although not native to the state, there is a surprising population of monkeys in Central Florida. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says that the monkeys were first spotted in 1930, and had escaped from a tourist attraction in Silver Springs — which is about 25 miles north of the school.

Over time, the population has grown and roams Lake, Seminole and Marion counties, often in the canopies of trees.

Rhesus monkeys are native to Central and East Asia. Due to their opposable thumbs and quick wit, Williams said they are nearly impossible to trap because they can get out of most things they can get into.

"Most people don't notice them, and if they do it's such a quick glimpse they usually don't realize it," Williams said.

South Florida has populations of vervet and squirrel monkeys, which also escaped tourist attractions, FWC said.

In the halls of the school however, people can't stop talking about the monkey business.

"There has been a lot of chatter about that," Bordenkircher said. "We haven't seen him since."

Rhesus macaque spotted on roof of The Villages Elementary School at Lady Lake - Orlando Sentinel