A man from Luzerne County faces a fine for keeping a monkey in his home.
The game commission found out about the animal Monday morning when it got loose.
Tyler is a Java macaque monkey. His hours of freedom are over. His years as a resident of Ashley are also over.
Jeff Arnott owned Tyler. He said his son took Tyler for a ride on an ATV Monday morning, and that's how Tyler got loose.
Tyler is a pet, but he's also a wild animal, and that had the game commission worried about the safety of the people in the neighborhood.
Arnott said Tyler is as gentle as a kitten.
"He has four hands. He's fun. We had fun with him," Arnott said.
Tyler was located a couple blocks away from his home on Preston Street. Barnes Street is where Tyler was spotted on the porches and roofs of a couple homes.
The game commission said family members came to retrieve Tyler, and that's what landed Tyler in a cage, in the custody of the game commission, with the eventual destination a facility for wild animals in Snyder County.
"These particular animals have extremely large teeth in their mouth. They're capable of inflicting severe injuries, so that's why we needed to come down here and help these guys out any way we could," said Gerald Kapral of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Kapral added he usually deals with bears. Tyler is his first monkey.
Tyler has lived on Preston Street for 15 years. Arnott said Tyler came from Missouri and was the property of his now ex-wife. When they split Arnott got custody.
Michelle Maier lives across the street. She said Tyler was just like another neighborhood kid.
"He was person friendly. Never had a problem for as many times as I was over there. He'd come over to my house and play with my cat. Never a problem," Maier said.
Now that kid has left the nest. Arnott signed Tyler over to the game commission.
