A love for animals, including Chico the Monkey
Above, has Barbara looking as Chico checks Isabelle’s hair.
BY KAREN GRACE
Sam Whidden is remembered as a man who when he found an injured animal, especially a bird, he would nurse it and doctor it and feed it. He was said to be the same way with people.
That love for animals continued throughout his lifetime and continues at Whidden’s today.
In addition to caring for birds and once even releasing an alligator someone had tied up in the bayou, Whidden’s has had many animals over the years. Isabelle and Barbara remembered 13 cats, three dogs, mallard ducks, roosters, turkeys and rabbits while they were growing up. In addition, there have been parrots, a pig, goats and other animals at various times. The most famous of Sam’s animals is Chico, the monkey.
Chico was an African green monkey who had arrived at Port Boca Grande on a merchant ship. The monkey had been tearing up the ship so the sailors gave her to an island family to whom she also became a problem. The family gave her to Murdock, another island legend. Murdock is often pictured on his bike in front of the historic theater building where he sold palm frond fans/mosquito swatters and peanuts to people going to see the movies. Murdock planned to train Chico to hand out the peanuts but Chico was not to be trained. When she didn’t behave, Murdock punished her by locking her up and depriving her of food.
Thinking this was animal abuse, Sam sent Isabelle and Barbara with $50 (according to the 2002 article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune) to offer to buy the monkey from Murdock. Murdock refused to sell her. Some time later, Murdock was tired enough of the difficult monkey and decided to take advantage of the offer and sold Chico to Sam but only got $2.50. Chico would bite the girls but only bit Sam once. Barbara recalls that “Dad bopped her and Chico never bit him again.”
Chico did like some people and when she did, she would jump into their laps and groom their hair. When she didn’t like someone, she became a scary, biting monkey. Sam kept her chained to prevent her from attacking people. When unleashed, she loved to chase the chickens around the marina, littering the yards with feathers. She lived with Sam for 25 years. He still liked her and when he built a new, larger fishing boat, he named it Chico. Years later, Chico was sold to fishing guide “Dumplin” Wheeler, the son of Sam’s old friends, Billy and Doris.
