Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A kayaker in a Florida park captured video of monkeys raining down from treetops into the water to swim away from an apparent confrontation.

Rod Guynn said he was kayaking in Silver Springs State Park when he heard the sound of something loudly hitting the water.


"This was loud enough to be a .22-rifle smack," Guynn told Gainesville.com. "I started hearing this loud barking, growling ... This was not an alligator smacking his tail or a turtle jumping off a log into the river."

Guynn said the sound turned out to be about 20 monkeys jumping from treetops into the water and swimming to the other side of the Silver River.

"Normally, you'll see, in the trees or in the banks, you'll see a few. If you counted the monkeys you see, you'll see two to 10. I haven't normally seen a really large number together," he told WKMG-TV.

The rhesus macaque monkeys were apparently fleeing a confrontation between the alpha male and a challenger.

"It never occurred to me to be scared. I think I was just a guy floating by in a kayak. I don't think they even paid attention to me," Guynn said.

Rhesus macaques, native to Asia, where introduce to Silver Spring State Park in the 1930s as part of a tourist attraction. Experts estimate there are currently about 300 of the animals in the park, and their population is steadily growing.