Random Musings on Life and Chimps

I woke up this morning and before getting out the bed, I usually reach over and turn on the radio. Newsradio 88. Love it. Anyway, I heard the story about the victim of Travis the Chimp and how her brother wants to gain custody of his sister and her child. That way he could make medical decisions that, right now, she obviously can’t make. She’s still sedated and I wonder how much of her face they’ve put back on. Who would you want in charge of you in that situation? Personally, I would choose a blood relative even if I’m married. So that “honor” would go to a sibling or child. Anyone who chooses a parent has to be realistic; will your parent still be alive? And you have to consider,who from your family would be most objective and not make decisions of the heart? So yeah, I wouldn’t want my husband in charge of my end-of-life or any critically important decisions but he must know CPR. He gotta be able to save my life the same way I could save his. 






Now back to this chimp. I’ve always had a fascination with wild animals; a distant fascination. Would I go on a safari? In a heartbeat. But I respect the power of beasts. Many do not. And the fact that chimps are so much like us is even scarier. They are unpredictable. I’ve forever been scarred by the National Geographic special I watched, The Dark Side of Chimps. Groups of male chimps would leave the family and hunt for a lone chimp and just attack him for no reason. Beat him to death and then rip off his penis leaving the carcass splayed open to rot. When Animal Planet was airing the show, Escape to Chimp Eden, I watched religiously and at many moments, I clutched my pillow in fear or disgust. The ad campaign creeped me out, as that grinning chimp rolled by on the side of a bus or he would mock me on the train (Season 2 in April!). Travis was only 200 lbs. A 200 lb human has no where near the raw power a chimp possess. It’s amazing. Should he have been shot dead? Well, his owner stabbed him with a butcher knife trying to get him to stop his attack, his owner pleaded for the cops to bring their guns in the 911 call, then allegedly Travis went after police in their cars. Would I have shot Travis? Yes. I’m curious though, where’s PETA? Who else is disturbed by the photos of Travis and his owner? What exactly was the extent of that relationship? Maurice. That’s a good name for a chimp.