As many of you know, we’ve been working around Honey B’s odd preferences this winter. She’s a strong-willed individual who voraciously defends her zone of control (which Willy B will attest to). Whatever everyone’s plans are for the day, she has a tendency to shake them up.
Today, Honey B brought more of that same energy.
As she frequently does, Honey declined to shift into the playroom and greenhouse after we cleaned them this morning. Instead, she opted to remain in her beloved front rooms, thus preventing us from servicing them all simultaneously. She watched indifferently as the others rushed out into the larger enclosures.
We’re not sure why Honey B chooses to stay in the smaller rooms; we’ve discussed several hypotheses, all of them equally plausible. Perhaps she prefers cozy spaces, enjoys watching the caregivers clean around her, or appreciates a few moments of seclusion from the other chimps. It’s also possible that she simply likes to introduce a little neutral chaos into our otherwise organized routine. We’ve seen her do just that on multiple occasions.
Whatever her reasoning may be, it’s interesting to watch how this mischievous chimp spends her time apart from the group. Today, she literally hung out in Front Room 7 as I swept, sprayed, scrubbed, rinsed and squeegeed the adjacent areas.
For the first few minutes, Honey B playfully swung on the firehose vines and made an earnest effort to dismantle the fasteners holding them together. Then, she found a toy brush to sweep some nut shells into a small pile. After that, she made a nest in the corner and lounged peacefully as I added fresh blankets and enrichment items to the other rooms.
As far as chimpanzee personalities go, Honey B is definitely on the more human-oriented end of the spectrum. Fortunately, she is also relatively well-adjusted to sharing space with familiar chimps. When I reunited her with her companions after cleaning the rest of their spaces, Honey B politely greeted Mave and Willy B before carrying on with her business elsewhere. All the residents of that wing enjoyed lunch service in their usual configuration and then dispersed out to the playrooms and greenhouses for some afternoon grooming.
Now, as I’m putting the finishing touches on this blog post, I keep glancing over at the new monitors that show our security camera feed. Honey B was just playfully interacting with Terry across the double barrier that separates their respective greenhouse enclosures. I could tell that it was going well by Terry’s exuberant bounces and head nods. They’ve come quite far from their first meeting, during which Honey B went all “honey badger” on poor unsuspecting Terry.
Whether she’s being asked to shift to another area or being introduced to a new friend, Honey B never lets things get boring around here.
P.S. If you didn’t get the “honey badger” reference and are feeling adventurous, you should do a YouTube search about them. I’m referring to the 2011 video with 98 million views. I’d post the link but the language used in the title is absolutely NSFW and thus not safe for the blog either…
Victoria Walker says
I am an excited new subscriber and can’t wait to read about these incredible creatures.
Thank you for all you do.
Victoria
Tobin says
Welcome to the community of CSNW supporters, Victoria. You have definitely arrived at the right place. The cattle and chimpanzees who reside at this sanctuary are endlessly fascinating and adorable. I find them to provide a welcome reprieve from the insanity of the world of human primates.
Anthony says
Welcome, Victoria! We hope you like the content we share!
CeeCee says
Maybe our Miss Honey B thinks she cleans better than you do, Anthony…Just sayin’..:revolving_hearts:
Kathleen says
Maybe?! :laughing:
Anthony says
Oh, for sure! That’s not saying much… 😉
Nancy D says
Thank you Anthony for recommending the Honey Badger video on YouTube, its hilarious. I knew they could be mean but, wow. I wouldn’t exactly put Honey B Chimpanzee in the same class but she might have a touch of ‘badness’ in that mind of hers. She’s too smart for her own good and I can’t help but admire that…she’s no pushover!
Enough, I’m going to return to YouTube for a re-watch.
Anthony says
Haha, the video is a classic!
Of course, Honey B isn’t that ruthless, but it’s fun to joke about her being headstrong like that. 🙂
Linda C says
Lol, I know rhat video well, Anthony!
A niece’s husband had complained so much of a lack of sleep after his daughter was born, that when he took her on base for the first time, his co-workers said “Is this the honey badger?” :laughing:
Anthony says
Hahaha! Of course you know the video, LC.
Hopefully that nickname stuck because that would be an awesome one to have as a kid!
Linda C says
Hahaha, nope. Amelia Jane hors by “Bedeals”(because Amelia Bedelia). she’s still fairly fierce, though! :slight_smile:
Carla René says
Hi, A!
Are there published studies and evidence to show that autism has shown up in both Pygmy and Common Chimpanzees? Asperger’s?
Anthony says
Hey CR!
Great, great question. To the extent of my knowledge, nobody has effectively identified ASD in an individual chimpanzee in the same way that they would diagnose a human patient. However, I have read a couple papers about autism-like behavior in chimps.
In one study, behaviorists investigated variation in social responsiveness within chimpanzee populations and analyzed its relationship to rearing history and social status. Their conclusion was that rearing background didn’t matter but “autistic traits” were predictably linked to low social status. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5503195/#R21)
Interestingly, another study found that autistic traits were linked to rearing history, with mother-reared individuals having stronger social responsiveness UNLESS they had a mutation that affected a key vasopressin receptor. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/aur.2550)
My limited experience as a psychologist is surely holding me back here, but it seems like the new paradigm of autism spectrum “disorder actually being a roughly-defined conglomerate of variable traits would translate quite well to other social species like chimpanzees. It seems like that work has not been advanced much farther than those few papers mentioned above, though.
Footnote: Autism research is one of the areas in which researchers currently push for continued use of nonhuman primate models. I feel obligated to say that I am in no way supporting this practice despite providing links to some of the resulting articles. (https://nprcresearch.org/primate/hot-topics/autism-spectrum-disorder.php)
Carla René says
Hey, again,
Wow, what a nice and concise answer. Since finding out about my Asperger’s, I have often wondered about this condition in chimpanzees. I’m guessing that because orangutans and gorillas share even lower percentages of our DNA that these behaviours possibly could exist in those species, but might be more difficult to spot the farther you get from the pure DNA.
I’ve been on a quest to understand my brain better, and why I react to certain situations in a very specific way. Y’know, considering how “volatile” chimpanzees can seem or be, high-functioning autism doesn’t seem like a huge leap, especially because in a large number of us, extremely high IQs are a part of it and we all know how insanely intelligent chimps can be. I tend to overreact emotionally to upsetting things, but now that I understand this about myself, I can work on minimising that reaction.
HEY! Maybe that’s my way of DISPLAYING! HA!!! (Oh, man, that HAS to go in my new stand-up routine!)
<3
Linda C says
I am really glad that you asked this question, Carla Rene. The secod I read your question, it sort of made sense
Carla René says
Thanks, Linda,
No one recognised this autism disorder in me while growing up (except maybe for the kids who used to shove me in lockers for always blowing the bell curves in test scores), but now that I’ve been diagnosed and am reading about it, then following the trajectory of my life, so many things are making sense. It’s such a relief to learn that I’m not a freaking monster!
I thought I didn’t have any friends because they were jealous (which they admitted), but it turns out those with high-fuctioning autism have social anxiety and lots of trouble making and retaining friendships because we sometimes don’t react to social situations like other neuro-typicals. Low social status in chimps probably isn’t a function of others that are stronger and thus more group-accepted (as it has been believed), it seems it could be more like a result of their inability to connect on a social level with their troop members. We’re so afriad of how we’re going to be judged by others, we learn to “act”, and that struck me as Anthony mentioned that she greets her troop then moves on into her own world.
Honey B’s stubborness could be autism; Asperger’s brains sometimes have trouble with rules and authority, and the first thing Anthony mentioned above was that she voraciously defended her zone. WE DON’T LIKE CHANGE.
Merely doing a minor in primatology means I’m not required to write a thesis, but the area is so close to my heart that perhaps I can do an off-the-books study and write a paper about it on my own. However that shakes out, it’s an exciting area of study!
Cheers.
Anthony says
I think we should all be on quests to understand our brains better! Perhaps the world would be a more compassionate place.
As for autism in other species, I speculate that individual variation in social aptitude occurs in most, if not all species with complex social behavior. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are macaques, wolves and dolphins who need to put a little extra effort into understanding their conspecifics’ actions and motives.
That’s about as far as I’ll go since I’m wading deeper into unfamiliar territory with every sentence, but it’s certainly an interesting and pertinent topic. Thanks for your contributions, CR!
Carla René says
Thanks, A,
In my reply to Linda C (which hasn’t shown up yet), I wondered if perhaps low social status was more a result of Asperger’s, since we have trouble making and sustaining close friendships (and are WIDELY misunderstood and misjudged :brain:), instead of a by-product of stronger chimps climbing the ladder to be more widely-accepted by the whole troop.
Whatever the situation, the topic is so fascinating to me that I’m considering a paper on it. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you ten whole dollars and a pizza coupon for your quotes.:dollar::pizza::moneybag: Wait…better make it five, rent’s due. :laughing:
Cheers.
Carla René says
Hi, A!
Are there published studies or other evidence to suggest that autism occurs and has been found in chimpanzees? What about Asperger’s?
Kathleen says
Honey B is a loveable character. While we will never know exactly what goes on in her beautiful brilliant mind, I can’t help but wonder what she could be thinking. Could it be that the front rooms are a familiar and favorite space because this was her “first home” since her arrival? Or as you suggest, maybe Honey B simply enjoys having the space all to herself, the thrill of alone time?
Today, it appears as if she needed to perform specific maintenance tasks : firehose fasteners needed adjusting and floor needed an extra spit polishing. She is not being difficult, she’s fastidiously tending to her most favorite place. 🙂
Laurie Mowat says
I love the way you describe alone time as being a thrill. I can only go so long before I need to be left alone!
Anthony says
That’s a possibility with Honey B, although we’ve noticed that she often declines to shift even when housed in other areas. I don’t know if any of us will ever understand her reasoning, but we do have an obligation to respect her choices and brainstorm adjustments to our routine that will keep her comfortable!
Kim Harris says
I love Honey B because she’s a lady who knows what she wants and isn’t shy about it!
And I’m loving the security camera setup. That’s awesome to be able to see at a glance if anyone needs some extra attention.
Anthony says
It’s a nifty setup! It’s already proven its value on numerous occasions.
Stevie Gillis says
that was so informative and im honestly thanking you! thise bratty “Honey B-ish” chilrunns of mine now refer to me as “church if God Becky” (i was NOT raised in a godly home so….still learning but they dont have to laugh in my face. ill just bet HB snickers to herself every single time yall have to use this as a disclaimer! and btw, i wouldnt trade not one of them for anything; except the chimps. then all deals are off the table! at least theyll groom me!
Anthony says
Haha, a little mischief can be a good thing! We’re not sure if that’s Honey B’s motive but it’s our job as caregivers to respect her autonomy. Either way, we don’t really have any other options than to “play along.” 🙂
Laurie Mowat says
Maybe she likes spending time with you when she has you all to herself?
Anthony says
Possibly! She does enjoy hanging out with caregivers, so maybe having us cleaning nearby is comforting. 🙂
CarolR says
She’s so well named….highly intelligent, sweet, strong willed……but oh so cute that she can get away with most things.
Anthony says
Haha, I love Honey B too. 🙂