Male chimps can be jerks. True, females can also be jerks (see: Chimpanzee, Jamie), and not all males are jerks (at least not all of the time). There is an exception to every rule. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that chimpanzee jerkishness has a certain maleness to it, just as chimpanzee maleness contains a certain jerkishness.
But just as not all male chimps are alike, so too is it true that not all jerks are alike. While this is by no means an an exhaustive examination of the topic, here we will distinguish between two types of jerk: Those jerks who wreak havoc blindly, as if possessed, and those who inflict their jerkiness with forethought and intention.
To illustrate the former, let’s turn to our dear friend Willy B. Today I watched him sit peacefully in the shade beneath a climbing structure on the Bray, his 2-acre habitat, surveying the yard for remnants of a the day’s forage. When the forage was finished, he quietly returned to the indoor enclosures. It being mid-afternoon, however, this peaceful Dr. Jekyll was suddenly and inexplicably transmogrified into a raging Mr. Hyde. Apropos of nothing and with no other chimps in sight, he began to bang on the food chute with the back of his wrist. The noise and vibration shattered the calm of the afternoon and soon the others were up from their naps. With hair on end, they circled each other in the confines of the front room area. Some began to pant hoot, which in turn raised the tension in the room even further. Minutes went by. The banging was incessant. Others began to stand bipedally and swagger. Bang, bang, bang. The noise swelled and soon came to fully occupy the space where thoughts would normally occur, making it impossible to do anything but join in the chaos. Bang, bang, bang…
BANG! A fight breaks out. The swirling mass of chimpanzees, now screaming, races from the front rooms through the chute and out to the Bray. Willy B climbs to the top of the tower and, with a fear grimace, watches as the other chimps threaten and hit one another. But he is not angry. Instead, he is scared and confused. Because he is once again Dr. Jekyll, wondering what on earth could have caused such tumult below.
Interestingly, this fight contained within it, and was indeed amplified by, the actions of our second type of jerk. Are you familiar with the admonition, common in both comedy and politics, to never punch down? For male chimpanzees, punching down is not only accepted in certain circumstances but is in fact a right of passage. As Craig Stanford states in The New Chimpanzee,
[Adolescent male chimpanzees] don’t submissively pant grunt to one another, and dominance among them is hard to discern. But once a young male reaches adulthood, he begins to climb to higher rank by taking on and intimidating each adult female. When he has risen in status above the most dominant female, the young male finds himself at the bottom of the male dominance network. Only time and repeated jousts with higher-ranking males will determine his ultimate highest status. (p.42-43)
According to some researchers, adolescent male chimpanzees routinely harass adult females as a low-cost way method of honing their competitive skills before testing them in the much riskier world of male competitive dominance. Gordo is well beyond adolescence, but his actions are often reminiscent of a chimpanzee stuck permanently in the liminal space between the female and male hierarchies. While size does not dictate rank, his more diminutive stature makes it unlikely that would challenge Cy, Terry, or Willy B directly. His social skills are of little help, either. He is able, however, to dominate Honey B. Usually.
As the dust on the Bray began to settle, the chimpanzees worked their way through the chute and back to the greenhouse. The screams had subsided and all that remained was Honey B’s diminishing whimper. This, thought Gordo, was the perfect time to assert himself. As she approached him, he hit her across the back and ran straight back to the Bray, knowing that she was afraid of the outdoors and wouldn’t have the courage to follow him.
He reached the platform and turned to watch Honey B screaming at him helplessly from the end of the chute.
Is it any less indecent for Willy B to cause daily disruptions to the harmony of the group simply because they are born out of blind rage and not malice? I make no claims as to the relative moral status of these two varieties of jerkishness. Nor, again, do I intend to cast all males as irredeemably jerkish. But in my experience, they do seem on average to contain each type of jerkishness in greater proportion than their female counterparts.
And as to whether these same tendencies prevail in my own species, I claim ignorance.
Thank for for the lesson on jerks and jerkiness. Lots of excitment today, I wonder what brought it on? Poor Honey B, I wish she could have given Gordo a quick punch before he ran out…he better not turn his back on her, she might get him yet. I hope things will be calmer tomorrow. Thanks, J. B.
JB I appreciate your insightful observation of the chimps jerky behavior especially among males. I was hoping The Bray would temper Willy B’s afternoon outbursts but guess not so much. As for Gordo trying to intimidate Honey B, beware, Willy B can relate the scooter incident to him. Plus Honey B watches everything and will wait for the right time to launch an unexepected counter attack. Please keep sharing the chimps behavioral actions with us.
Willy B, my handsome guy. Poor awkward chap. If only you knew why he melts down each day. Did he do this when it was just him, Mave, and Honey B or has the larger group dynamic (and relationships with the other males)sparked the tantrums? I wish you could sit him down and talk it over. Sigh….
Have you added ear plugs to the Wish List yet? 🙂
That’s a lot of commotion, or is it emotion, to witness. Poor Honey B! Gordo best beware. Ms. B is a clever gal and one of these days she is going to run past the opening of the chute, hot on the heels of Gordo.
Men! And they say women are the emotional ones. Thanks for our lesson on the natural history of jerks , or was it a lesson on natural histrionics?!
Hi Kathleen – Oh, yes, he did it all the time when he lived with Honey B and Mave. But that group was more established and there were fewer moving parts, so his actions didn’t result in fights quite as often.
JB, as it as loud as or worse than “part-time, newly reformed jerk” Burrito’s erstwhile morning displays?
Either way, Im guessing no one gets caught in a mid-afternoon slump at the office!
I think Burrito’s old displays still take the cake, though maybe not because of volume but because of duration.
I once heard Ms Goodall comment about one of the chimps she studied so long ago. His name was Frodo and she said could start a fight with a piece of fruit. I guess men will be men and men will be chimps.
Well written observations!! Having worked with the named individuals in their previous lives, it’s a pleasure to see that they are still as devious as they were before!!
Oh, no, this day won’t sit well with Honey B. at all. I hated to read of her screaming helplessly. But Gordo better watch out! I trust she’ll make sure he’s never a jerk to her again!
I always get the feeling that Honey B is the type to hold a grudge. She might not directly challenge him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds more inderect means to exact revenge on Gordo. HB is definitely not someone I would mess with!
Gordo should reme.bwr that the only thing that’s made her venture forth from the chute thus far is a male who needs a good chimp slap!
From what I can see, Honey B’s grudges are Jamie-level in proportion.
I like your observations of jerkiness, J.B! And I think we all know that this is a mirror image of some human primates! It’s difficult to do anything about WB’s daily melt down when the reason for it is unknown, but I’m surprised at Gordo’s sneakiness. What’s Cy’s reaction to them? Extra hugs being sent telepathically to HB today.
Cy is an extremely tolerant leader, so he tends to only intervene after the chaos has already erupted. Generally speaking, it is his mere presence, not any particular actions, that settles the drama.
Wait…human MEN are jerks?? No one told me….Ha! (Cute post, Jeeb!)
All I can say is thank God chimpanzees don’t have to go through the sheer torture of dating! I can see it now. Burrito in a love triangle with pretty much everybody, but when he can’t grow up and commit (he’s a real mama’s boi), all the women begin to wail on him and suddenly, instead of being friend-zoned, Burrito now has a contract out on his life…after Jaime’s group hired Willy B to do it.
Yup, a would-be love story as old as time. :rofl:
I think they get sick of each other sometimes, tempers flair. As long as they don’t get hurt.
I love your blogs so much!! Your insight is truly amzing, funny and entertaining!! Makes my day!! Thanks!!
Wow. Jerkishness in these cases is a fine word. it’s probably very challenging to figure out why this happens and there’s no way they can be controlled except for the chimps themselves which can be scary. I certainly would not want to be on the receiving end of Willie B’s, what I will call, tantrum. Nor Gordo’s. but it’s so fascinating to watch as they will also come down from something like that, and just be calm and comfortable with each other again. Something humans can learn better from.
I agree with Sandie that we humans could learn a lot from the outbursts and limitations of how far the chimps will go to exercise dominance, unhappiness, needs for self-expression, etc. Would they hurt each other if they had actual weapons? It sounds like it. But given how smart they are if they wanted to make a weapon that could do life-threatening damage they would do so. Instead they seem to make a lot of noise and maybe some pounding that can be very hurtful and scary but seem to be able to calm things down eventually. Power hierarchies prevail. Testosterone! Sheesh! I guess all this is from ancient times of needs for survival and genetic lines, but it’s still unsettling to watch and hear about. Power struggles! Testosterone! Oh my! Thanks for sharing the challenges with us, JB, and not only the heartwarming parts…
I absolutely love this insight into male chimp jerkishness!!! So eliquently put. Gordo better be careful and hope Honey B does not scheme to get him back when he least expects it!!!
I dont know if anyone has heard of a program called Monkey Life formally Monkey busisness? They had a chimp called Charlie, who we all loved, even his friends. He was low ranking chimp, but the poir soul had been traumatised by being used a prop for photographers in Spain. And so, the place is next to a tank museum and every time he heard a tank go past, he would go off one and he would scream the place down. If their were any new chimps the would run and scream in fear, but poor Charlie, his friends would either ignore him or after his screaming for 5 minutes, someone would go and give him a thump to shut up. He was though really loved by all the caregivers and a lot of his fellow chimps. This kinda of reminds me of him when i hear about Gordo or Willie B going off on one.