San Antonio has seen its share of bizarre incidents, but a child's weekend encounter with a Vervet monkey definitely ranks up there. According to San Antonio Animal Care Services (SAACS), an 11-year-old boy was bitten on the ear by the monkey during a family gathering at his mother’s home on Saturday. The boy received medical attention following the bite, which his family reported to Animal Care Services the following day.

While cute and grey-furred, Vervet monkeys come with a set of sharp teeth and a propensity to bite. This particular monkey seems to have been quite out of place in San Antonio, a city where keeping monkeys as pets is strictly verboten. Nonetheless, SAACS has taken the monkey into custody and is to work closely with the Texas Department of State Health Services, as well as local primate experts, to navigate the monkey's quarantine requirements.

Anyone who has seen these primates in their natural habitat – the southeastern parts of Africa, not suburban Texas – can tell you they're social creatures. Troops of Vervets establish complex hierarchies in the wild, something which does not translate well to the confines of domestic living. Their bites, no small matters, can transmit diseases like rabies, Herpes B virus, HIV, and monkeypox.

Following the incident, the monkey's owner faced citations for the bite, lack of rabies vaccination proof, and possession of a prohibited species. As the investigation unfolds, one can't help but wonder about the intricacies of exotic pet ownership and the obvious risks involved. Not just to the public, but to the animals as well – plucked from their social webs only to potentially become furry little outlaws in places like San Antonio.