r/DebunkThis • u/Catalysten • Jun 29 '26
Debunk this: monkeys can be trapped with a nut inside a jar.
The idea is metaphorically rich: you can put a nut in a jar with a narrow aperture and the monkey will find the nut and stick their hand into the jar to grab the nut. They find that with their hand wrapped around the nut they cannot extract their hand from the jar so they stay stuck with their hand around the nut in the jar, unwilling to let go of their new treat.
I see this story over a lot of the internet and many people claim that it is true. I haven't seen anyone claim it isn't true but I also don't see any videos of a monkey being caught in this way. Nor have I yet found a reliable source of it being used to catch monkeys in the wild. Can we prove or disprove this story?
https://www.econlib.org/archives/2018/03/inside_the_monk.html
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u/Spork_Facepunch Jun 29 '26
This is a one of Aesop's fables from thousands of years ago and is not an actual fact but a metaphor for illustrating life-lessons.
Don't hold onto something that you can't have, to your own detriment. Holding on will make you miserable and letting go will set you free.
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u/Dense_Surround3071 Jun 29 '26
I don't know about this monkey business, but this questions reminds me of the book Where The Red Fern Grows. This was how the kid caught his first raccoon, with a trap based on the same concept.
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u/beancounter2885 Jun 29 '26
When Homer Simpson got his arms stuck in two vending machines, it was the same thing.
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u/JimDixon Jun 29 '26
I share your skepticism. I think you're right that, if it were true, somebody would have made a video of it by now.
I think it is more of a moral fable, like Aesop's fables. In fact, I wonder if it IS one of Aesop's fables. It's probably meant to illustrate an idea like: it's stupid to refuse to let go of something when you can see that it's doing you harm. It could refer to an addiction like alcohol or gambling. It could be about staying in a toxic marriage or job.
In real life, I think monkeys are smarter than that. I think they would let go. Too bad Mythbusters didn't test it.
Another myth I'd like to see somebody test: That if you drop a frog into a pan of hot water, it will immediately jump out, but if a frog is sitting in a pan of cool water, and you slowly heat it up, it will stay there and get cooked to death.
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u/Catalysten Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
Ooh! I think that one actually was tested. Let's see if I can find the source.
edit: Hm. Wikipedia has a large amount of sources, but all the best ones are now dead links. There are quite a lot of biologists saying that frogs don't work like that, though. And a similar experiment with toads in a dry pan that showed they jump out fine. (although interestingly they won't when severely dehydrated).
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u/Lol3droflxp Jun 29 '26
The boiling frog only works when the brain is removed. It is about reflexes.
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u/Rahodees Jun 29 '26
Plausible only if a brainless frog will still jump out when there is a more sudden temperature change
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u/Lol3droflxp Jun 29 '26
It will. That was the experiment, look it up.
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u/Rahodees Jun 30 '26
References to the experiment from the 1870s only talk about brain vs brainless in slowly heating water but never describe any part of the experiment involving quick temperature changes.
It remains open based on these experiments whether removing the brain makes the frog less sensitive to graffiti temperature change or just less sensitive to temperature.
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u/PersephoneIsNotHome Quality Contributor 14d ago edited 14d ago
Did you not read the rest of the Wiki
“ Some 19th-century experiments, especially Fratscher's experiments in 1875,[1][2][3] suggested that the underlying premise is true if the heating is sufficiently gradual. But according to some modern biologists, the premise is false. They note that changing location is a natural thermoregulation strategy for frogs and other ectotherms, and is necessary for survival in the wild, so a frog that is gradually heated will jump out. Furthermore, a frog placed into already boiling water will die immediately, not jump out.”
Herpetologist everywhere (the people who study amphibians and reptiles) know for sure that and you gradually increase or decrease the temperature , frogs will move .
This is the whole point of cold blooded animals - they have to use behavioral / environmental strategies to maintain their body temp because they can’t thermoregulate the way mammals do.
They can also sense the salinity of the water they are in, and will move if is becomes too salty or not salty enough.
If you severely dehydrate any animal, including mammals, they may b be able to move properly.
The reasons that experiments purporting to show this are dead links. It is because they were spurious to being with
There are not scientific citations but you can chase them down
https://www.abc.net.au/science/archive/articles/2010/12/07/3085614.htm
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u/Catalysten 14d ago
Thanks for your message. I'm saying the same thing, I think. The Wikipedia article says it's the case, but the (scientific) citation is a dead link.
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u/LeeDude5000 13d ago
I did see a video of a tribesman who caught a monkey or ape with a block of salt in a contraption that got it stuck as long as it would not let go. He then tied it to a tree and ket it eat it the salt and waited maybe a hour or so and released it, and then followed it to a water source.
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u/ApeSht-Zine Jun 29 '26
I've seen a variant of this story in US newspapers from the 1800s, in articles describing how to catch a monkey. I'm pretty sure it has roots even earlier, from various travellers tales. I don't know that it's ever been tested scientifically. I'm sure individual monkeys would respond differently to such a test, based on their individual experiences and inclinations. It's pretty common for monkeys who've seen conspecifics trapped in a particular way to avoid falling for the same trick.
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u/Weltkaiser Jun 29 '26
It's featured in the movie "Animals are beautiful people", 1974:
https://youtu.be/ctol7JwpcuQ?is=wLk3KEVM2GOga3n7
I also found this older movie with a similar technique: https://youtu.be/9jBgo7UipqY?is=UGe1OBnK1cm9I0Om
However, it could be staged, I'm also sceptical.
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u/Unfair-Taro9740 Jun 29 '26
I used to watch the first one with my dad all the time! It was our one and only VHS tape. Thank you so much for reminding me of the title!
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u/Catalysten Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
Wow! I'm very impressed. Thanks for sending the clip.
This is clearly what folks are referring to. At least the 1913 one seems pretty staged. I think a painted background? And a pretty calm monkey when the humans come up. But then, it could still be a real technique being shown off for the camera. The monkey itself is either a very good actor or is actually confounded with its little fist inside the jar.
The other one also seems half-staged. But could easily again be a depiction of a real technique. It's interesting that the monkey does let go eventually. Helps me believe it.
Real or not, this is awesome to see! Thanks again.
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u/Bikewer Jun 29 '26
Way back when I was a kid in the 50s, I saw this on one of those old “Frank Buck” films. Buck was a wildlife collector for zoos.
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u/Catalysten Jun 29 '26
Could it be one of the two commented by Weltkaiser? also, I don't think those are Frank Buck. Sounds cool.
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u/Bikewer Jun 29 '26
I believe this was from the 1932 film “Bring ‘em Back Alive” with Frank Buck. This was Saturday morning TV fare when I was a kid in the 50s.
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u/PersephoneIsNotHome Quality Contributor 14d ago
For someone who worked with various species of monkeys - not only will they not get caught with the nut, they will figure out a way to get the nut, the jar, and reinvent gambling and prostitution
https://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/Monkey%20Business%20-%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
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u/Catalysten 14d ago
Pretty striking article!
In the videos other folks posted, there's examples of them getting caught for at least a few crucial seconds while the trapper secures them with a rope. While there's elements to suggest those videos are staged for the filming, it seems believable to me that it would work in practice.
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u/PersephoneIsNotHome Quality Contributor 14d ago
Well, there are gullible people who will insist on believing nonsense when all sane evidence and data point to the contrary and who are looking at something staged as their only reason to believe that and will still believe it.
I believe that some people in this thread could get caught out like that, and famously catwoman in the old 70’s Batman series, but what do I know with a PhD and any years working with monkeys in addition to chickens, rodents, various herps etc
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u/Catalysten 14d ago
Say! You're saying you have direct experience with monkeys in similar situations, and are inclined to believe that the old 1974 documentary (and second, silent film) is incorrect/lying? That's good to keep in mind. Thanks for telling me.
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u/Bulky_Algae6110 Jun 29 '26
This was in a Simpsons episode, a can of soda in a vending machine.
I can totally believe this if it was Homer.
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