Be Mine, Foxie

“Foxieee!!…” is an unapologetic and relatively common fan-girl level squeal you might hear ringing through the chimp house on any given day I greet her. Given that we’re both grown women, it’s ridiculous, but the joy in seeing this effervescent sprite of a person will not be contained. Nor should it be. Foxie’s typical response to this is for her hair to stand on end (pilo, in chimp lingo), run toward me, toss me her doll du jour, and sprint or pirouette off for a game of chase. If I’m extra fortunate, she might pause long enough to push her lips through the caging and greet me with a breathy pant and a kiss to the back of my hand. Oh, and I’m pilo, too, but unfortunately my hair doesn’t stand on end. 😉

I have had the profound privilege and joy of knowing Foxie and her beloved group members for around 13 and a half years or so now. For those of you who may be newer to our blog, they were the original group of seven chimpanzees who arrived to the sanctuary on June 13, 2008. It’s equally hard to believe so much time has passed as to imagine any time without them. When I look back on photos from earlier years I see a lot less gray hair on both of us, a little less hitch in our giddy-ups, but speaking for myself, always a heart the shape of her.

We’re asked all the time who among the chimpanzees is our “favorite”. Foxie is not my favorite. She is my family.

I cherish, no less, each of the unique relationships I have with the chimpanzees, a gracious gift of their choosing from them to us. And just as with humans, for whatever ineffable reasons, sometimes you just connect with one another in different ways.

Foxie was born on August, 8, 1976, to her mother, Winny, and her father, Brian, at the then Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (now Texas Biomedical Research Institute) in San Antonio, Texas. Winny gave birth to 11 children and she died while living at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico in 2013. Our records don’t indicate where Brian wound up, but it was unlikely in sanctuary. As is common for all chimpanzees used in biomedical research, Foxie has numerous full and half-siblings. Most are only listed as numbers. Her one younger sibling who we do have information on is her half-sister, Sophie, who was also born to Winny and thankfully resides at Save the Chimps in Florida.

What I find particularly delightful and interesting about Sophie, who would not have known Foxie, is that she also loves her dolls, especially stuffed monkeys. (Of important note if you are going to be Foxie’s friend: she DETESTS stuffed primate dolls and they are guaranteed to meet a swift and violent end involving immediate de-stuffing and beheading, so don’t even THINK about sending her one! 🙂 Foxie is a troll>Dora>Strawberry Shortcake & friends purist.).

Sophie and her monkeys. (Photos courtesy of Save the Chimps):

And my personal favorite, carrying her giant witch:

Foxie herself went on to be used in biomedical research for thirty years before arriving to her sanctuary home. Used as a “breeder” (lab terms) and in hepatitis vaccine research, Foxie gave birth to two sons, David and Steve, a rare set of twins, and two daughters, Angie and Kelsey. And like most chimpanzee mothers in labs, her children were stolen from her within days of birth to continue the cycle of research. Devastatingly, David and Steve died while still in the labs. And thankfully, Kelsey eventually made it to Chimp Haven in Louisiana (Caregiver Sabrina was so fortunate to work with her!). It’s our understanding that Kelsey has since passed away, but we’re profoundly grateful she had a chance to experience a wonderful life in sanctuary. And Foxie’s only remaining daughter, Angie, is living happily at Save the Chimps.

Kelsey (photo courtesy of staff caregiver, Sabrina):

Angie (the 1st). Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps:

When J.B., Diana, and Sarah (our former Director) met Foxie’s group, they had been living in a windowless basement of the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania (which leases animals to labs for research) for over two years. Their cages were the size of bathroom stalls and they were lined up next to one another.

Foxie arrived here in 2008 as all her group members did, ghosts of themselves:

Foxie, nearly sixteen years living in sanctuary later, because of you:

I’ll never know how Foxie, or any of the chimpanzees, found the inner strength to survive a day in the labs, let alone over thirty years. But I hope she somehow always knew the magic she holds, the wondrous person she is. I think she did. She is one of the most intuitive and loving friends a chimp or a human could hope for. She is brave, cautiously adventurous, joyful beyond imagine, and she has a closet full of sassy pants and she’s not afraid to wear them while spitting in your face or round kicking steel doors to rile the neighbors.

As previously mentioned, probably one of the most well known and endearing facts about Foxie is her unwavering love (and to be honest, sometimes, love/hate) for her dolls. An intrigue first sparked shortly after her arrival, on July 13, 2008 (according to one of the very first blog posts!) by the chance meeting of Trixie the Troll, who staff happened across at Goodwill and thought the chimpanzees might be interested in. Foxie was interested. And she scooped Trixie right up:

All these years later, Foxie has hundreds of dolls (thanks again to you) and it’s rare to find her without one. She still enjoys her trolls, but some years ago she discovered Dora the Explorer dolls (she was over the moon for France Dora!) and now she’s primarily committed to Strawberry Shortcake and her friends. Of course it’s emotionally appealing to make the common assumption she’s replacing her lost children with the dolls. Does Foxie often exhibit mothering behavior toward her dolls? Yes. And does she also bite, beat and stomp the bejebus out of them? Yes. We can never know what’s inside her head, she’s her own person after all, but they clearly provide her with comfort, joy, and sometimes a means of expressing some very strong emotions. And that’s all we need to know.

One of Foxie’s favorite games is to pass her dolls back and forth through the caging with us as we chase her with them. These games are often raucous games complete with backflips (her, not me), hanging upside down and kicking about (still her) and wildly laughing hearts (both of us). But some of my most cherished times are when we’re just sitting together quietly, her hugging her doll close to her before handing them to me, then I in turn hug and “kiss” them before handing them back. Even now I think what an absolute act of courage for her to part with something she so dearly loves, feeling safe in the trust we will return what is rightfully hers to her as soon as she asks.

While I’m hugging the doll, Foxie will often nod her head and smile, softly hooing, or sometimes serenely gaze into the distance, lost in a passing thought. And so it goes for some time. Every outstretched hand, doll, and gaze, I hope, a sacred weaving, the tapestry of her strong spirit healing and reinforced with each thread of love and honoring from my heart to hers. Eventually she’ll tuck the doll into her, hold my gaze as she gently touches the back of my hand with her fingertips and then move on to her other important chimp business.

Foxie just being Foxie makes our hearts sing, but her courageous and curious spirit is something to witness. She’s one of the few chimpanzees who declines building a nest, preferring, nay, insisting, on sleeping on the bare ground. She doesn’t like blankets, or most things, touching her (and don’t try to tie any such thing around her dolls, either!). She’s not comfortable on structures that move and tests new ones out step by step, bite by bite. All of this makes perfect sense given her history. But what I love is that she doesn’t allow her fear or discomfort to deter her. She can be fearless! She just does things in her own way and time. Which is exactly what sanctuary is all about.

In 2016, long-time supporters made the Twister, an amazing structure on Young’s Hill, possible for the chimps. It’s an amazing tower of firehose with a crow’s nest at the very top. Occasionally we’d see Foxie attempt to climb up with her friends, but she always got part way and headed back down, vexed by all the moving parts.

Well, fast forward to a summer day two years later. I was walking around the perimeter with the chimpanzees when I noticed Foxie heading toward the Twister, and Jody, her dear friend, right behind her with a look of pure determination. What was going to happen?! I could see it as if in slow motion…as if Jody was telling Foxie, “That’s it, Foxie, today’s the day you’re going to the top!” Foxie climbed a few feet up one of the beams of the structure and hesitated. Jody came up right alongside her and ushered her, to my complete thrill and amazement, all the way to the top! I couldn’t believe it! I whooped and hollered and threw my hands in the air, announcing it on the radio, so proud of her! She glanced over at me and pounded her fists on the platform. I still remember the look of satisfaction and awe on her face as she took in the view. I’m forever grateful to Jody for that day. That’s just who she was to her family. To us all.

We hold immense gratitude for all of you who have made Foxie’s life here in sanctuary possible. Countless moments of adventure, choice, hope, healing, and love, all in her own choosing and time. YOU changed her life. And our special thanks go out to Foxie’s Pals: Vicki, Monica, Chris & Lee Ann, Donna, Sharlene, Donna, Jon & Sandra, Linda, Penelope, Jordan, Sara, Connie, Virginia, William, Nancy, Kimberly, JJ, and Jayne.

I believe the world became a more magical place the day Foxie was born. And though it would be some thirty years later before I would know it, so did my heart. If you find yourself in need of  some Foxie level enchantment in your life, please consider becoming Foxie’s Pal, too. From our hearts, thank you for being here.