Monkey loose in Tampa

It may be a raccoon that's monkeying around Tampa neighborhood
By JENNIFER LEIGH | News Channel 8

Well, maybe it's not a monkey up a tree in an East Tampa neighborhood after all.

Authorities now suspect that the critter huddled in a tree near a home at 3001 E. Elm St. may be someone's pet raccoon.

Officials are going to set a trap with bait and wait for the animal to come down. That's not expected to happen until after dark.

Whatever it was, the animal caused quite a stir this morning when Juan Washington first saw it when he was taking out his trash. The startled creature made its way up a tree and started leaping from tree to tree until it settled about 50 to 60 feet up in one.

Washington didn't get a good look at the critter, but he said it was too big for a squirrel. He yelled for a neighbor to call police.

Police, wildlife officials and Lowry Park Zoo animal experts eventually converged on the area and a police helicopter flew by so officers could take a few photos.

Lowry Park Zoo veterinarian David Murphy looked over the police snapshots and determined the animal is apparently a raccoon, not a monkey.

Authorities believe it may be an escaped pet that was rummaging for food on trash pickup day.

They were alarmed because a monkey would have posed a risk to the neighborhood.

Lowry Park Zoo officials said even if it turns out that it's a monkey cowering in the tree, it's not one of theirs.

"We're not missing any," zoo spokeswoman Rachel Nelson said. "All of ours are accounted for."