As first reported by Newsweek, a Reddit user shared the encounter on an unknown animal ID subreddit in a viral post that has notched nearly 6,800 upvotes.
There's a monkey on top of my car (Dania Beach, FL)The user, u/disgruntledmarmoset, said he arrived at FLL on October 14 on a Spirit Airlines flight from New York. What started as a quick trip to the parking garage turned into an unexpected face-off with a simian perched on his roof.
byu/disgruntledmarmoset inanimalid
"My car is kinda high and I wasn't expecting any surprises, so I didn't see him at first," the man later told Newsweek. "I heard like a scratching sound and looked up and saw him. I was like W**!"
He grabbed his phone to snap a photo and hit the lock button on his key fob to persuade the primate to scoot. When that failed, he opened and slammed the car door, which did the trick.
One commenter expressed amazement, writing, "What the hell, Florida? Every week I learn about a new invasive species you have that’s been there for decades."
Noted another: "There's a large colony of them that hang out at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Park 'N Fly. They're fun to go look at. Not sure on type, though."
While the encounter might seem unusual, Florida is no stranger to monkey mischief.
As New Times previously reported, not far from the airport, a colony of African green monkeys, AKA vervets, has called Dania Beach home for nearly 70 years. The primates, thought to have escaped from a research facility in the 1940s, have become an iconic part of the local landscape.
Despite their long history in the area, the vervet population faces an uncertain future as their habitat shrinks. Conservation efforts are underway, and the monkeys continue to thrive for now — sometimes in unexpected places.
The airport encounter highlights that the wild creatures have made themselves at home in the manmade environment. So, you might want to keep your eyes peeled around Fort Lauderdale International Airport.
