Woman 'almost loses finger' after monkey mistakes finger nail for peanut

A woman ‘almost lost her finger’ after a monkey thought it was grabbing a tasty peanut.

Tasmin Tricker was feeding a ‘big daddy’ while visiting the Ouzoud Falls on a day trip from Marrakesh, Morocco, last month when it decided to hop onto her head.

“We started feeding the monkeys nuts and one got on me,” the 26-year-old said.

The South Londoner ended up sharing the video of what happened next to TikTok when ‘big daddy was not so friendly’ and it went viral - racking up millions of views.

And it’s pretty understandable why.

Because after getting comfy on her head, the Barbary macaque grabbed her hand to fill up the food – including biting one of Tasmin’s fingers.

The waitress has her own theory about why the monkey did this and it’s not necessarily out of some kind of vicious motive.

“I felt his gnashers nip me. My nails were leopard print as a French tip. I don't know if he thought that was a nut,” she said.

"I freaked out. That was the first one I held and he was the big one as well. It was quite a lot.”

Tasmin said the tour guide had told them how ‘friendly’ the animals were, but ‘not to her’.

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In the video, she lets out a scream of ‘ow’ as she becomes pretty panicked.

"I was wearing Gucci sunglasses my mum got me for my birthday. I had to keep pushing them back because the monkey put all his weight on me. It was lucky he didn't take them,” she recalled.

After being told to kneel down, she ‘froze a bit’ as she was stuck in ‘panic mode’.

"My reaction was definitely an overreaction because he didn't bite me hard but I've heard stories about monkeys,” Tasmin said.

"People commented on the video saying I need to get rabies jabs but he didn't break my skin. I think I just panicked."

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She still enjoyed the experience though and said she’ll ‘definitely do’ a trip like that again as it’s all ‘nature’.

“You can't really do those sorts of trips and expect nothing to happen,” she added.

Plenty of users took to the comments, worried she’d get rabies from the bite.

As one said: “Rabies is the best way to die."

And another eerily added: "Wait until the flees settle in along with rabies."

But others focused on praising Tasmin for how well she stayed calm.

One put: "She did well not to freak."

While another joked: "You are lucky he didn't steal your glasses."

Topics: Travel, Animals, Viral, TikTok

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_