Mingo’s fifth hand

Holder met a spider monkey whose tail worked like a fifth hand. At first he saw only a snakelike tip slipping between the doghouses.

That tip coiled around a puppy’s leg and gently dragged him next door. A kitten followed the same way—tail-first, almost without protest.

Then Mingo himself appeared: tall, slender, spiderlike. One arm held the puppy. His marvelous tail still clasped the kitten’s leg.

Holder’s point still lands: for some animals a “hand” is wherever the grip is strongest. Mingo’s fifth hand was his tail.

Holder met a spider monkey whose tail worked like a fifth hand. At first he saw only a snakelike tip slipping between the doghouses.
That tip coiled around a puppy’s leg and gently dragged him next door. A kitten followed the same way—tail-first, almost without protest.
Then Mingo himself appeared: tall, slender, spiderlike. One arm held the puppy. His marvelous tail still clasped the kitten’s leg.
Holder’s point still lands: for some animals a “hand” is wherever the grip is strongest. Mingo’s fifth hand was his tail.

Mingo’s fifth hand

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