Through a Window (19 page)

P
ATROLLING THE BOUNDARIES
is but one of the many duties that the young male chimpanzee must learn if he is to grow to be a useful member of society. His adult experiences will be very different from those of a female. Thus it is not surprising that the milestones along the path he follows towards social maturity are different from those that mark the route for the female. Some, of course, are shared—such as the weaning process and the birth of a new baby in the family. But the initial break with the mother and the first journeys with the adult males not only come much earlier for the young male than for the female, but are of far greater significance. For it is here that he must learn many of the skills that he will need as an adult. The young male must challenge the females of his community, one by one, and then, when all have been dominated, he must begin to work his way into the dominance hierarchy of the adult males. The way in which the young male tackles each of these tasks, and the age at which he passes from one milestone to the next, depend heavily on his early family environment and the nature of his social experiences. This becomes very clear if we compare the development of Fifi's sons, Freud and Frodo, with Passion's son, Prof.

As we have seen, even though Freud was a firstborn child, he enjoyed a relatively social infancy. Fifi's younger brother Flint
was an important figure in Freud's first two years. Flint was fascinated by his small nephew, and Fifi was very tolerant, allowing him to play with and carry her precious infant when he was only two months old. Fifi's elder brothers, Faben and Figan, were often around too, and Freud developed friendly bonds with both of these high-ranking males. Thus, as Fifi herself had been, he was surrounded for much of his early life by supportive family members. He became, like his mother before him, self-confident and assertive in his interactions with his peers.

When Flint died at eight and a half years of age, unable to survive the loss of his old mother, Freud lost not only his principal playmate but also his adolescent male role model. Nevertheless he continued to enjoy a relatively rich social life. For one thing, even when old Flo was no longer around, a magnet to draw together the members of her family, Fifi still continued to spend time with her elder brothers. Freud always rushed to greet uncle Figan, jumping into his arms and even, on occasions, riding briefly on his back. This friendly relationship persisted after Figan had become alpha male. Moreover, Fifi was not only a sociable female, spending a good deal of time with other chimps, but after Flo's death—perhaps as a direct result of it—she became increasingly friendly with Winkle, a young female about the same age as herself. Winkle's son Wilkie was a year younger than Freud, and when the mothers were together their infants romped endlessly, using up some of their seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy. An only child demands a great deal of attention from the mother when she is the only other chimp around: thus the hours that Fifi and Winkle spent together, when they could feed or rest in peace, were beneficial to them as well as to their infants.

Of course, Freud went through the usual weaning depression—pressing close to Fifi when she rested, pestering her to groom him, desperately seeking reassurance in this new and unpleasant experience. And Fifi herself seemed upset during the
early phase of weaning when, for the first time, the smooth, efficient coordination between herself and Freud, which had always been a characteristic of their relationship, was disrupted. Gradually both mother and son learned to cope with the situation, but Freud was still depressed when, for the first time since his birth, Fifi became sexually attractive again. Whenever his mother was mated by an adult male, Freud, in a frenzy of agitation, rushed towards the pair and, whimpering or even screaming, pushed at his mother's suitor. During the first and second of Fifi's pink swellings Freud seldom missed a single copulation; his distress and almost obsessive interference was reminiscent of Fifi's behaviour at the same age. Most youngsters appear to be less disturbed, although all interfere when their mothers are mated.

By the time Fifi's next infant was born, however, Freud had recovered from the stresses and strains both of weaning and of his mother's sexual popularity. He was enchanted by his baby brother Frodo, and as soon as Fifi would permit such liberties, Freud pulled Frodo from her arms, and sat grooming him or playing with him. He was almost always gentle, but there were many times when he made use of his young brother in order to get his way. If, for example, he was ready to move on before Fifi, and if, when he set off, she refused to follow, he would sometimes return, gather Frodo to his breast, and make off with his little brother. Sometimes this ploy worked and Fifi, with a sigh, got up and plodded after her two sons. But there were many occasions when she pursued Freud, retrieved her infant, and returned to get on with whatever she had been doing. There were times too when Frodo himself refused to play big brother's game and tottered back to his mother on his own.

There was a world of difference between the early experiences of Freud, the firstborn, and his younger brother. Even though Freud, in contrast to other first infants, had enjoyed a remarkably social environment, he had spent many long hours with only Fifi for company. And though she, like Flo before her,
had been a playful mother, there had been countless occasions when she was too busy with her own concerns to pay attention to Freud. How utterly different it was for Frodo. He was never on his own with Fifi—his elder brother was always there. And Freud served, in turn, as playmate, protector and comforter, and role model.

It was different for Fifi, too, now that she had a second child. She was freed from the constant pestering of a bored infant, always wanting to be played with, wanting to be groomed. And she was freed not just
sometimes,
as when she had joined forces with Winkle after Flo's death, but
all
the time. She was able to sit, utterly relaxed, idly watching as Freud and Frodo played together. If she thought at all—and of course she did—she could think her own thoughts, uninterrupted. Even so, she remained playful herself and often seemed unable to resist joining in the games of her sons when she had nothing better to do.

Frodo was fascinated by almost everything that Freud did. He watched him carefully, then often tried to imitate what he had seen. When he was nine months old, for example, and still unsteady on his feet, he gazed wide-eyed as Freud did a noisy and impressive drumming display on the buttress root of a big tree, then did his best to do the same. But his coordination was not up to it—he lost his balance, tumbled down a slope, and screamed in terror—or was it frustrated anger? At any rate, his attempt at adult male behaviour ended in ignominious rescue by his mother. There was another time when Frodo, keeping very close to Fifi, watched Freud as he played aggressively with young baboons, chasing them, stamping his feet on the ground and flailing a large piece of dead wood. When all was quiet and the baboons had left, Frodo went over to the abandoned weapon, intent, no doubt, on demonstrating how fearsomely
he
could brandish it. But it was too heavy for him even to lift it from the ground.

Freud was very affectionate towards his young brother, and very protective too. When Frodo became adventurous and
climbed beyond Fifi's reach, Freud often followed, seemingly to keep an eye on the infant. So that when, as often happened, Frodo "got stuck" and whimpered in distress, Freud was close at hand to rescue him. When Frodo was about two years old he loved to play with baboons. Sometimes he got carried away and approached not only youngsters but even adults with his little displays. These adults occasionally became irritated with all his bristling and stamping and flailing of branches, and then they threatened him, slapping their hands on the ground and exposing their great canines. Frodo would scream in fear, and Freud was just as likely to rush to his rescue as Fifi was. Often, indeed, Freud stayed close by at such times, a self-appointed guardian.

While Frodo could hardly
rescue
his elder brother, he often showed concern if he was hurt or upset. When Freud was seven years old Fifi occasionally found it necessary to discipline him during feeding—if, for example, he tried to take a choice item that she had earmarked for herself. Twice when she mildly threatened her elder son he threw tantrums, hurling himself to the ground and screaming. Fifi ignored him, but little Frodo hurried over to his brother and embraced him, staying close by until Freud was quiet again. A year later Freud hurt his foot badly. He was unable to put it to the ground and for the first few days he travelled very slowly. Fifi typically waited for him when he stopped to rest, but sometimes she moved off before he was ready to limp after. Three times when this happened Frodo stopped, looked from Freud to his mother and back, and began to whimper. He continued to cry until Fifi stopped once more. Then Frodo sat close by his big brother, grooming him and gazing at the injured foot, until Freud felt able to continue. Then the family moved on together.

Most fascinating to watch was the interplay between Fifi and her two growing sons that led, for all three, to higher status in the community. Freud began the long struggle to intimidate the females of the community when he was seven years old. Charging towards and around them, he waved branches and hurled rocks—typical adolescent male behaviour. Initially he tackled the older juveniles and adolescents whose mothers were lower-ranking than Fifi. If one of these mothers turned on him—which was often the case—then Fifi would almost always back him up, threatening the female concerned, or even attacking her, for her ill-advised retaliation. Thus Freud's confidence grew and, as time went on he began to challenge the older females so that, more and more often, his "victims" turned on their puny assailant and chased him off, or even beat him up. Fifi, because she almost always went to his defence, was increasingly drawn into conflicts with the other females.

There were times when Freud aimed too high. Once, for example, he had the audacity to threaten high-ranking Melissa, and she thrashed him soundly for his rashness. Fifi, although younger and lower ranking than Melissa, had, like Flo before her, a staunch and fearless nature. In response to Freud's anguished screams she rushed up, her hair bristling, uttering fierce waa-barks of threat. Melissa at once turned from Freud to Fifi, and the two mothers fought, grappling and rolling over and over. Freud ran behind them, uttering high-pitched and futile waa-barks of his own. Unfortunately for Fifi, Melissa's adolescent son Goblin was nearby and, hearing the screams of his mother, he charged up, attacking Fifi and chasing her—and Freud—away.

But all the time Freud was growing bigger and stronger and, as levels of the male hormone, testosterone, increased during puberty, he became more aggressive too. By the time he was nine years old he was able to support his mother in
her
altercations. When Fifi once became involved in a fight with the high-ranking Passion, both Freud and Pom joined the skirmish, in support of their respective mothers. But Freud was able to chase Pom away, and then he returned and hurled a rock at Passion. This startled her and allowed Fifi to win the fight. And so, as the years went by, both mother and son gradually raised their social standing.

Meanwhile young Frodo was growing up too. Secure in the knowledge that, if things went wrong, Fifi or Freud—or both of them—would surely come to help him, he began to challenge community females at a very early age. After all, he had been watching Freud, learning from him—and, indeed, "helping" him—for years. Again and again, as Freud had threatened some wretched female with his swaggering displays, little Frodo had joined in: his every hair bristling he had bounced and stamped about on unsteady legs, swaying tiny branches, looking for all the world like an animated figure from a Disney cartoon.

Frodo was just five years old when he began to challenge some of the females on his own. Of course, he was still very small, but he quickly learned that the judicious use of rocks as weapons tremendously enhanced the effectiveness of his threats. Very soon he developed a reputation as a prize thrower. Many young chimps throw rocks during intimidation displays—it was a characteristic component of Freud's performances and it is more than likely that Frodo, initially, was imitating his elder brother. But Frodo perfected the throwing technique, and, in a very short space of time, many of the younger and lower-ranking females came to fear this precocious young male and hastened away when he swaggered towards them, rock in hand. Frodo scored direct hits rather more often than other stone-throwers, not so much because his aim was better, but because he approached to within a couple of feet before hurling his missiles. He developed other unpleasant techniques as well.

I remember vividly an incident that happened when I was following Fifi, Little Bee, and their families. Suddenly Little Bee, gazing up the steep slope, began to utter small screams. And there, some yards above us, I saw Frodo just starting a swaggering display, hair bristling, rock in hand. He hurled it towards us but it fell harmlessly between Little Bee and myself. It was not clear whether Little Bee or I had been the intended victim—Frodo had always considered that I was merely another female, to be dominated along with the rest. Next he began pushing at a huge rock. It was much too big for him to lift, but he could—and did—set it rolling down the slope. It gained momentum rapidly as it bounded towards us, ricocheting erratically from one tree trunk to another. Had it hit any of us we could well have been knocked out, if not killed. And then, even as I was wondering which way to run, Frodo set a second rock in motion. By the time he had started to push at a third we were all running for our lives—not only Little Bee and myself, but Fifi too. Fortunately Frodo did not make a habit of this type of bombardment, although he continued to throw stones and small rocks for years.

One of the most important milestones in the life of a young male is when he begins to travel away from his mother with other members of the community. The severing of apron strings is far more necessary for a young male than for a young female. She can learn most of what she needs to know for a successful adult life whilst remaining safely in her family setting. Not only can she watch her mother and her mother's friends caring for their infants, but she can actually handle them herself, gaining much of the experience which she will need later when she has a baby of her own. And she can learn, during her mother's "pink days," a good deal about sex and the demands that will subsequently be made of her in that sphere.