In this BBC Earth footage, macaques sneak down from the mountains in Japan to steal fruit and vegetables from the local farms – often with their babies in tow.

They are able to break into fields by expertly navigating the electric fences by finding all their weak spots. Farmers are barely able to keep up with the challenge, but there’s one thing that seems to deter the macaques.

Shiba Inu dogs are one of the oldest dog breeds, originally bred to hunt small game, such as birds and rabbits. Farmers have since found they have another purpose: scaring monkeys away from their farms.

The Shiba Inus have been trained to protect the farmers’ crops against monkeys – with great results. In fact, there’s a saying in Japan that’s similar to the English phrase “fighting like cats and dogs”. They say, “fighting like dogs and monkeys”.

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Top image credit: Getty