Dassault Falcon 7X

Yesterday was a Wednesday, and I ran errands, while Bow played with Lawrence. They had a good day, meaning that Bow did not misbehave once, and everything went smoothly. They played outside. They came indoors to talk with guests, and they generally had a good time. Besides running the usual errands, I had a chance to shoot this video of my pasture: I have been dreaming for some time of converting this pasture into a spacious island for Bow and a companion or two of his own kind. But lately, this thought was not uppermost in my mind. Two things happened recently that reminded me of the plan.  The first thing that made me think of the island was this news item: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-05/blueseed-floating-city-startups-has-more-hundred-firms-ready-ship-out Why would people intentionally separate themselves from the rest of society and place themselves in a desolate little man-made island out at sea, subject to the forces of both nature and man and without any of the benefits of police protection, in case they are attacked by... oh, I don't know -- pirates? Isn't being with your own kind and part of the mainstream what everybody wants? The problem is that sometimes your own kind attacks and exploits you. Sometimes getting away from it all is the best possible alternative. Haven't we all dreamed, at some point in our lives of the desert island scenario, where we would rise or fall on our own merit and nobody would molest us? The second thing that made me think of the desert island scenario was that I finally watched the movie Project Nim. I didn't splurge and buy the movie. An anonymous fan of Project Bow had it sent to me through Amazon a while ago, saying that hopefully it was not redundant. No, it was not redundant and thank you, whoever you are! I took my time finding an opportunity to watch the movie, because I understood that parts of it were disturbing, so I did not want to watch it with either of my kids. Having seen it, I agree that it was worth watching, and though it was by no means a happy story and parts of it were disturbing, there were many parts that were not, and there were things about Nim's story that reminded me of experiences with Bow and not in a bad way. It was awful that Nim was abandoned by those who had made a commitment to him, but I do not join in the general disapproval of the original aims of the project. Though Nim's separation from his mother was sad and poignant, I do not agree with the person at the end of the movie who comments that it is always wrong to take baby chimpanzees from their mothers. And though I was glad that in the end Nim was given chimpanzee companionship before he died, I don't think that it was chimpanzee companionship that he was longing for when he was returned to the Lemmon Farm. As one of the commentors pointed out, it was awful for him to be lumped in with those other chimpanzees and what he was hoping for was a reunion with his human family and a return to his normal life in New York. Even years later, after the horrific experience at Lemsip, the medical research facility, and after he was placed in a cage in a sanctuary where everybody meant well, he kept breaking out of the cage and into the caretaker's house. He wanted to live in a house! He wanted to be accepted among humans. He did not dream of life in the jungle, and he did not ask to be treated "like a chimp", whatever that means.  Even at the Black Beauty Ranch, where everybody wanted to be kind to Nim, they could not let him roam free. The equines on the ranch could be free. Nim could not. This is true of every chimp sanctuary that I know of, even the ones in Africa. Because chimpanzees do not respect borders and agreements and compacts, it is not possible to come to terms with them about territorial boundaries. And yet the younger chimpanzees can be taken for long walks outside the confines of the sanctuary -- to the extent that they still feel dependent on adult caretakers. It was the same with Bow. When he was little, he clung to me and would not leave me alone. He rode on my back, and when we stopped for a while in the woods and he went to explore, he kept within a small radius of me, not because of any obedience to my authority, but because he felt the need to keep me close. Was it a terrible thing to take Nim away from his mother Carolyn? For Carolyn, definitely. But for Nim, not so much. Remember that Nim was born in a cage. If he had stayed with his mother, he would have stayed in that cage all his life. Being adopted into a human home allowed him to run free and play and learn and live as the Lord of Delafield Mansion. While this freedom could not possibly last, I think it was pretty nice for him to have had it at all. At the Lemmon Farm, there was an island where chimpanzees could roam free. The water kept them from escaping the confines of the farm, but within the island, had they felt so inclined, they could have created a chimpanzee utopia. Instead, stronger individuals often threw weaker ones into the water, where they would drown.  Sometimes the appeal of a desert island is not escaping foreign oppressors. Sometimes it is our own kind that we have to fear the most. The same is true for the people who are trying to build an offshore startup outside the territorial waters of any nation. They are Americans trying to get away from other Americans.  The future of chimpanzees here on earth is looking very grim. Expansion by humans is likely to cut off all possibility of peaceful coexistence in their place of origin. The best possible future for chimpanzees has got to be the creation of environments where they can co-exist with humans, and where they will not be prevented from reproducing. What do I hope for Bow? I hope that he will know more freedom someday soon in the future. I hope that he can have companions of his own kind who will not dictate terms to him. I hope he doesn't have to give up his current family in order start a new one. And someday I hope that his descendants will find a way to respect other people's boundaries, so that other people will be more inclined to respect theirs. Humans are not always nice to other humans. Chimps are not always nice to other chimps. But in time, that can change. It might even be possible that with the application of natural selection over generations of chimpanzees living among humans, there might actually one day be chimpanzees whose word is as good as their bond. Chimpanzees who don't lie and cheat. Chimpanzees you can trust with your life. When that happens, they will be able to walk freely among us. For the time being, though, Bow and I will have to stay in our cage.

Not a lot has happened lately for me and Bow. I published Vacuum County, and it's gotten some excellent reviews. Leo and Brownie have become good friends, but we still have to keep Leo separated from Teyman, so the dogs go out into the back yard  in shifts. Sometimes Brownie and Leo are out back together, sometimes Teyman and Brownie, but never, never Leo and Teyman.  We are afraid that Teyman would kill Leo if left alone with him. Teyman is the first dog we had here, and she is very aggressive. She thinks she owns the place. She just barely tolerates Brownie, even though he towers over her. But Brownie is a gentle soul, and he somehow manages to keep the peace. Not every two dogs are compatible. The same goes for humans or chimpanzees. And sometimes two people who do just fine with each other alone cannot behave well together when a third person is introduced into the room. I've seen this with humans, with dogs, and with chimps. Social dynamics are a complicated thing. One of the things we learned early on at Project Bow when we started having interns is that Bow could do just fine with a new volunteer when it was one-on-one, but then he might be violent with that same person, once another person with a more dominant rank was introduced into the room. For this reason, one of our rules is that Bow gets to choose who to invite, and we go in one at a time, never in groups. Now that Brownie and the frisky little puppy are out together a good part of the day, Bow is more interested in observing what is going on in the back yard, and he often asks to go out. Before, every time Bow went out, I had to go out, too. So if it was not convenient for me, because I wanted to work on my laptop and I needed to set it down on a table, or the sunlight was too harsh to work outside, Bow had to stay in, too, or I had to give up on working. We had to negotiate about that. But the biggest recent development with Bow is this: he's suddenly started asking me to go outside into the outer pens alone, and he lets me go back into the inner pen by myself, while he stays out by himself to watch the puppy and the older dog play. When he needs to use the potty, he uses the one outside. He doesn't leave a mess for me to clean up. Today, he asked to go out by himself again. I went out with him. We watched the interaction between  Leo and Brownie for a while together, and then Bow kind of tickled me in a reassuring way and indicated that he was not mad at me, but I was free to go. He's becoming more independent!

I would like to thank everyone who was supportive during the recent scare involving SB 666. Some of you sent in contributions that helped to defray the costs of my trip to Jefferson City last week. This is very much appreciated! I was able to meet with my state Senator Chuck Purgason. I gave him a copy of When Sword Met Bow and of the 2005 Project Bow DVD. He listened more than he spoke, but he did tell me during our meeting that he was the only one who voted against the bill in committee. I left the state capitol not knowing how it would turn out, as the bill did not come up for discussion that day. I knew Senator Purgason was on our side, but I wasn't sure what he could do to help. When the bill came up for discussion on the senate floor this Monday, Senator Purgason really came through! If you would like to hear some of the things he said, you can access the audio files at his website. Senator Purgason is a plain speaking man and comes straight to the point. There is no ape problem in the state of Missouri, and this legislation was a ploy by bureaucrats to drum up over $130,000 in revenue per year, which, if not paid by the ape owners who would be forced to flee the state upon passage of the legislation, would end up being paid by the taxpayers at large. And, no, this bill wasn't requested by ordinary taxpayers concerned about the threat of rampaging apes. It was pushed by a coalition of out-of-state lobbyists and  zoo people who want a monopoly on great apes. I am proud of my state senator for standing up to the powers that be! It is very encouraging to see that one man acting alone can do so much good, just by pointing out some obvious facts. The proposed legislation has been shelved on the informal calendar, where hopefully it will die. But we have to remain vigilant, because if someone like Senator Purgason is not there to speak for us, you can be sure they will try it again! Now that I am not preoccupied with SB 666, Bow and I can go back to our ordinary pursuits. It's spring. The dogwood tree is in bloom. Sword has a new puppy named Leo. Until school lets out in May, I have to help with the puppy while she is at school. This means Bow has to sometimes cede the center of attention, which he is reluctant to do. And I have a new book coming out, Vacuum County, which I must try to proof before its publication date, April 19. Here is a video of what Bow and I did this morning, now that everything is back to normal: Bow is curious about Leo, and he sometimes seems to identify with him. But he is also very jealous.You can see that Bow has no trouble expressing his desires. He does not require anyone to hold his hand in order to say "no."