Longleat Safari - will my car be destroyed?

Longleat Safari - will my car be destroyed?

Author
Discussion

Escort3500

11,938 posts

146 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Went years ago and the monkeys chewed lumps out of the rubber overriders on my mum's Fiesta Ghia, pulled out the 'chrome' plastic inserts in the screen rubber and bust off a wiper arm biggrin

anonymous-user

55 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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"Will my car be destroyed?"

Well, those cheetahs can be hard to see off....biggrin

yellowjack

17,082 posts

167 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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ukaskew said:
Went through once, thought it was amusing taking pictures of the misfortune of others...



Then I lost my aerial and saw a Mondeo losing the entire rubber seal around the windscreen.

We go several times per year now, but always skip the monkey bit.
Rubber seal on a Mondeo? It's got plastic trim on the 'A' pillar, but I'm fairly sure that ALL Mondeos have a bonded windscreen?

Anyway, I had a 1982 'X' plate Cortina. That DEFINITELY had a rubber seal around the screen. And within that seal, on the outside, was pressed in a 'chrome effect' plastic trim strip. The little beggars had that away pretty sharpish.

I took my '12' plate Mondeo through last year when we visited. I got through OK, but you need to keep moving fast enough to prevent them climbing aboard. I managed it, but there were a couple of drivers being dicks, seemingly keen to make the car behind then come to a stop. I'd probably not risk it again,especially if it's busy. As many have said, you can opt to cut out the Monkey Enclosure and watch other people getting their cars torn apart from the relative safety of the other side of the fence.

Miner49er

382 posts

206 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Went years ago in a Chrysler Voyager and I hadn't locked the doors.

One of the monkeys pulled the door handle on one of the sliding doors. I heard the door click, panicked and accelerated in an attempt to get rid of the monkey.

The monkey stayed put and the door slid wide open. This was seen as an invite to all his buddies to help themselves to the food that was scattered around the car.

My kids still have nightmares about it. And I'm now divorced.


Enjoy your day...

LordHaveMurci

12,047 posts

170 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Miner49er said:
Went years ago in a Chrysler Voyager and I hadn't locked the doors.

One of the monkeys pulled the door handle on one of the sliding doors. I heard the door click, panicked and accelerated in an attempt to get rid of the monkey.

The monkey stayed put and the door slid wide open. This was seen as an invite to all his buddies to help themselves to the food that was scattered around the car.

My kids still have nightmares about it. And I'm now divorced.


Enjoy your day...
rofl

Butter Face

30,419 posts

161 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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LordHaveMurci said:
Miner49er said:
Went years ago in a Chrysler Voyager and I hadn't locked the doors.

One of the monkeys pulled the door handle on one of the sliding doors. I heard the door click, panicked and accelerated in an attempt to get rid of the monkey.

The monkey stayed put and the door slid wide open. This was seen as an invite to all his buddies to help themselves to the food that was scattered around the car.

My kids still have nightmares about it. And I'm now divorced.


Enjoy your day...
rofl
That's ace rofl

I haven't ventured in there when I have been, in my view there has been generations of monkeys born, raised and educated by others in that pen and they're prefectly trained to destroy cars.

rainmakerraw

1,222 posts

127 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Butter Face said:
That's ace rofl

I haven't ventured in there when I have been, in my view there has been generations of monkeys born, raised and educated by others in that pen and they're prefectly trained to destroy cars.
You're not far wrong. The monkeys at Knowsley Safari Park close to where we live are like an F1 pit crew. I swear they hold seminars after hours. teacher

We often sit parked up outside the monkey cage, laughing at all the cars blindly wandering in. Within about five seconds a team of monkeys will ambush them from a hide, two on each end and one on top. Off come the number plates (unceremoniously launched into the air behind them), then the wipers and aerial, and finally they start at the door handles and wing mirrors. Most cars are moving hastily forward by that point. hehe

Jonmx

2,549 posts

214 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFUHD8uf5Ho
Follow this chap's advice and you can't go wrong.
(NSFW rude word)

Mr Obertshaw

2,174 posts

231 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Mazda 6 washer jets fit a MK2 yaris... The things you learn after a trip through the monkey enclosure.

andyf1140

54 posts

111 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Just bypass the monkey enclosure. I have seen them pull out windscreen washers with the pipework. Basically anything that's not properly secured will be attacked. There's plenty to see without taking the risk, and you can see them removing bits of other peoples cars from the adjoining paddock biggrin

toastyhamster

1,669 posts

97 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Did Longleat a few years ago, no issues with the monkeys (not so the car in front, very funny!) and wasn't that fussed as I was in a high mileage 306 at the time, however at West Midlands Safari park last year faced with a full adult rhino walking towards the car I was sh*tting myself, it only had to move it's head an inch and it would have been a very expensive day out (Audi Avant). Ever since then I've said any safari days and it's the wifes car!

surveyor

17,881 posts

185 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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No way. I remember going through in my company car, being very relieved that they had chosen to attach the car in front. They were particularly good at removing the rubber strips at the bottom of the windows.

ukaskew

10,642 posts

222 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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yellowjack said:
Rubber seal on a Mondeo? It's got plastic trim on the 'A' pillar, but I'm fairly sure that ALL Mondeos have a bonded windscreen?
Top Pistonheadery there, it may not have been a Mondeo, memory is hazy!

dci

530 posts

142 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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I was there a few weeks ago albeit in a mates car. I would never subject my car to that abuse..

I did see the usual wipers, washer nozzles, number plates and wheel trims being torn off as well as the more intricate trim pieces.

They seem to have developed a method of disembarking moving cars by using the rear wiper assembly as a rope swing to get from the car to the grass without touching the tarmac. I watched one 66 plate Hyundai jeep have its rear wiper and arm removed in this way. Would have been an expensive trip for that chap.

We had one monkey use the VW badge as an arse scratcher so anyone opening the rear boot afterwards had a hand full of monkey arse dust.

Puggit

48,526 posts

249 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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LordHaveMurci said:
Miner49er said:
Went years ago in a Chrysler Voyager and I hadn't locked the doors.

One of the monkeys pulled the door handle on one of the sliding doors. I heard the door click, panicked and accelerated in an attempt to get rid of the monkey.

The monkey stayed put and the door slid wide open. This was seen as an invite to all his buddies to help themselves to the food that was scattered around the car.

My kids still have nightmares about it. And I'm now divorced.


Enjoy your day...
rofl
roflrofl

Do you mind, I'm trying to stifle laughter on an international conference call hehe

Miner49er

382 posts

206 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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I also went in a Morris Marina Coupe with a vinyl roof. Well, it went into the enclosure with a vinyl roof...

The tearing noise was excruciating.


On returning from Le Mans, I always wonder to myself whether a trip to the monkey enclosure would save me all the hassle of removing the stickers.

PurpleTurtle

7,066 posts

145 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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Jonmx said:
cuprabob said:
Before going I advise you go onto iPlayer and watch Peter Kay's Car Share Series 2 Episode 3....
First thing I thought of when I saw the thread title laugh
Me too, I was properly LOL'ing at that ep!!

LordHaveMurci

12,047 posts

170 months

Friday 28th April 2017
quotequote all
Miner49er said:
I also went in a Morris Marina Coupe with a vinyl roof. Well, it went into the enclosure with a vinyl roof...

The tearing noise was excruciating.
Less excrutiating than driving a Marina though biggrin

MrBarry123

6,030 posts

122 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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We went a few months' ago and nothing happened other than a few monkeys running over the roof.

Saleen836

11,142 posts

210 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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It's very local to me (2 miles) but not been for a long time, went round in an old mk2 capri but got through damage free, more than can be said for the 6 month old sierra 4x4 all nicely colour coded in white that I was following, what myself and the owner thought was a pile of monkey poo on the rear spoiler was infact a nice bitten out chunk of spoiler!