Shapeshifting Squirrel Monkeys

Squirrel Monkey

I’m not sure if this is a case of synchronicity, or if I am just naive in my assumptions of how common an occurrence it is. But in my quest to bring ya’ll wild and weird West Virginia content, I came across two different stories, nearly 40 years apart, of basically the same story. 

In October of 1923, Tom Saunders of Wheeling was visiting the Hinton, WV area to go squirrel hunting. He was in the Upland area when he saw a squirrel jump from one tree to the next. With cat-like reflexes, Mr. Saunders aimed and shot, hitting his mark. However, when he went to collect his prize, to his shock and horror, there was no squirrel. He was staring at the carcass of a monkey!

Apparently, for several months before the incident, a local kept claiming that a monkey was ‘haunting’ the Upland area, but no one seemed to believe him. Now there was proof, lying there wearing a leather collar with no markings. It was theorized that the monkey had gotten loose from a street carnival that had passed through Hinton. It was also noted that Mr. Saunders would have never knowingly shot a monkey, as their cries are way too close to a human’s. 

Fast forward to October of 1962. Wetzel Justice was squirrel hunting in Boone County, WV. He also shot what he legitimately thought was a squirrel but turned out to be a monkey. The mystery of where this particular monkey came from was soon solved when Ruben Lee Pauley came forward to claim the body.

Ruben had purchased the monkey for $19.95, plus shipping costs from a Miami company, Jungle Pets Incorporated. He only had the squirrel monkey for about a week before it escaped and made its way over the mountain ridge where it met its demise at the hand of the squirrel hunter. Not one to waste an opportunity, Pauley planned to have the monkey stuffed. I really wonder if somewhere out there, there’s a taxidermy squirrel monkey sitting in someone’s living room in Boone County. 

Obviously, monkeys of any type are not native to West Virginia, but they have a long history of getting away from circuses, street performers, and even private owners. It makes one wonder if there could have ever been enough of these rogue primates to create a breeding population, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. I also thought it was pretty interesting that in two separate incidents, those out squirrel hunting saw what they swore was a squirrel but turned out to be a monkey. It’s actually kind of scary; I don’t seriously think these were shapeshifting monkeys….but why were they so hard to identify? Are hunters really just out there shooting anything that moves? (Don’t answer that, lol). 

Anyway, this isn’t West Virginia’s only weird primate story. In the summer of 1906, an incident with a circus train in the Great Bend Tunnel outside of Hinton led to numerous monkeys being suffocated. The bodies were taken on to Ronceverte for burial. It is thought that those monkeys haunt the tunnel to this day. Also, in 1915, a pet monkey named Mary Jane got loose and terrorized the citizens of Huntington, before finally being caught eating jam in a local home. Then of course we have several BigFoot-type sightings that have been blamed on gorillas and other bigger primates escaping circuses. I’ve added a few stories below for you to check out, but this fall, keep your eyes open in the woods, especially if you’re out squirrel hunting. We’re overdue for another shapeshifting squirrel monkey sighting!

Monkey Cemetery

Monkey Loose in Huntington

Hinton Daily News 29 October 1923

Beckley Post-Herald 31 October 1962