i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> pedal-pushing primates. >> grandpa would go with a young gorilla on a motorcycle, go get a slurpee. >> grappling great apes. >> people would come and watch people box and wrestle. >> but, this whole "gorilla magilla"... >> people would come and picket the facility. >> ...is no barrel of monkeys. >> i was told "don't open this envelope until i pass away." he's a good boy. >> that sounds like an ultimatum. >> it was. game on. ♪ ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm headed to palm harbor, florida on the gulf coast, about 20 miles northwest of tampa. you know, sometimes the strange things that people inherit on this show reflect timeless american values. sometimes, though, they tell us how much times have changed. this is one of those stories where the heir is faced with a gorilla-sized challenge. >> my name is debbie cobb. my grandmother, anna mae noell, passed away in october of 2000, leaving behind her 53 primates that i had to figure out how to care for. >> debbie, i'm jamie. nice to meet you. >> glad to meet you. >> you know, i see there's a lot of retirees here in florida. yours are a pretty wild bunch. >> well, you haven't seen the half of it. >> what a beautiful place. it's a 12-acre primate sanctuary, full of irresistible characters. like pongo, a 400-pound

male orangutan. >> he really, really likes you jamie, because he doesn't just purr for anybody. [ pongo vocalizing softly ] >> that's purring. >> that's purring. >> i can tell he's a flirt. >> oh, a big one. >> pongo's original home was a zoo in south carolina. but he didn't play well with the other orangutans. >> bye, pongo. >> these guys don't get the option of being able to go to a zoo, so they would have had to be euthanized if they didn't come here. there's somebody else i want to introduce you to, is blue -- is a spider monkey. he's 57 years old. >> what's special about blue? >> well he's a critically endangered species, and the number one thing that makes him so special to me is he's actually the same age as i am and he was around when my grandparents were here. >> debbie's grandmother, anna mae noell, is born into a north carolina family of traveling performers in the vaudeville era. as a boy, her grandfather bob joins a troop of vaudevillians from virginia

who raised him like a son. anna mae reminisces about those early years in this recording decades later. in 1931 by chance or kismet, their traveling families wind up in the same town, pamplin, virginia at exactly the same time. they combine acts for a one week variety show. >> your grandparents met pretty young. >> oh yeah. they were really teenagers. >> and suddenly, they're teenagers in love. >> grandma would always tell me "we weren't supposed to be seeing each other, but we did." [ laughing ] that's funny. they had planned this big getaway

and off they were. >> they eloped to new orleans and at first stick with what they know, vaudeville. then one day bob goes to see a man about a car. he returns, instead, with a 90-pound chimp named snookie. >> grandpa actually put up $300 to get him, and back then that was a lot of money. >> he plans to make it all back, and more by taking a new act on the road featuring the world's only athletic ape. >> so, they went from juggling and joking to monkey business? >> absolutely. yes. >> and part of this act was allowing people to go in the ring with a chimp. >> they said, "how can we do an act, not get people hurt or killed, make sure the animals have fun... grandpa would go talk to the police department and find out who was the biggest, baddest bully in the town. and then they would spread the word that this big, bad bully was gonna be there to box and wrestle with the chimpanzee. >> did any man ever win? >> no -- people didn't know what a chimpanzee was.

a 95-pound chimp can pull 850 pounds in one arm, and when they're mad 1250, so it didn't happen. >> you got to think if bob tried this today he'd be the one getting the beatdown from a disapproving public. but in 1940, it's a laugh riot. >> nothing like a chimp humiliating you. >> he wasn't the big, bad bully anymore. ♪ >> snookie is such a hit that bob and anna mae add more chimps to their show. they also add two kids -- velda mae, who would become debbie's mom, and bobby jr., her uncle who, years later, recalled the snookie routine fondly. >> for 14 years the troop follows the carnival circuit, not always to screams of delight. >> how many injuries have there been in your family as a result of dealing with exotic animals?

>> well, i don't know how many injuries, but you have to remember they have great teeth and they can hurt you. i remember that grandpa lost his fingers. >> grandpa bob noell tells the story again and again through the years. >> at least he wasn't also losing an arm and a leg. in fact, by 1954 the noells have socked away enough to purchase 12 acres of incorporated land in florida, a place to call home in the winter months. this is where granddaughter debbie is born to velda mae in 1959. >> how'd your parents feel about you hanging out at the chimp farm? >> well, my dad loved it. my dad was more like a son to my grandparents. my mom on the other hand, she was there, but, i'll be honest, i think

that was very hard for my mom. >> the noells certainly make for interesting neighbors. >> the animals had as much freedom as we did back in the day. >> bill stanton, a kid on a farm a stone's throw away, pals around with debbie and the chimps. >> some of them didn't actually go into cages at all. they literally lived in the houses and the trailers with people. >> was that smart? >> maybe not, but when you have grandparents that aren't normal... ♪ ...and you're playmates are gorillas, orangutans, and chimps it doesn't get better than that. >> somewhere along the way the noells' enterprise begins to shift. they're still entertainers, but with a growing focus on animal rescue. >> grandma and grandpa were one of the first in the state of florida to have a great ape license, and that's how it all began, 'cause they went from chimps to orangutans to gorillas. >> blue the spider monkey,

arrives about that time. then there's a young lowland gorilla named otto that her grandmother rescues in 1968. >> i was a child and i heard my grandmother was gonna go get this sick gorilla. he couldn't even stand up, and he had this septic arthritis and he had tb, so he had to be quarantined. >> the family nurses otto back to health, and he becomes almost a brother to debbie. >> you don't look afraid. >> oh, not at all. i felt more secure with him than with anybody in the world. >> was he dangerous? >> i never was afraid of him -- never. >> he grows up to be a fearsome sight though. so fearsome that american tourister casts him as the 400-pound suitcase abusing star in its famous luggage ads. by then debbie's grandparents have quit the carnival circuit. but they don't retire in florida. instead, they open their home to the public. they call it noell's ark chimp farm.

they're hoping all these lovable creatures can keep tourists entertained and support them and their rescue efforts. it doesn't quite work out that way. >> the attitude and the people changed. people would picket. they were being chastised. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question -- in 1953, j. fred muggs becomes the first regular animal cast member on a live television show. which show was it? "the nfl on cbs," "the price is right," or, the "today" show? the answer after the break. ♪ today, the new new york is sparking innovation. you see it in the southern tier with companies that are developing powerful batteries that make everything from cell phones to rail cars more efficient. which helps improve every aspect of advanced rail technology. all with support from a highly-educated workforce and vocational job training.

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call for a free kohler nightlight toilet seat with consultation or visit kohlerwalkinbath.com for more info. >> so, which 1950's tv show featured j. fred muggs? it's the "today" show. to raise ratings, producers cast the chimp as host dave garroway's sidekick. >> in 1971, bob and anna mae noell turned the florida headquarters of their traveling animal show into a family compound and permanent roadside attraction. they call it noell's ark chimp farm. >> everybody would come and see grandpa play with the gorilla... ♪ >> ...because that was very abnormal to see a 650-pound gorilla playing with a 250-pound man. grandpa would go with a young gorilla on a motorcycle,

go up to the 7-eleven, go get a slurpee. >> there would be chimps, orangutans, gorillas sitting up on the front wall. >> neither of anna mae and bob's kids, debbie's mom and uncle, wants a career in the family business. undeterred, anna mae devotes her golden years to the serious work of rescuing more apes. >> we have had practically no social life, because all our life is wrapped up in these animals. i don't go out to cocktail parties, i don't go to tea parties. i don't do any of that stuff. >> not that they're getting invited to a lot of parties down the block. with every passing year more and more neighbors complain the chimp farm is a smelly nuisance. >> new people come in, and suddenly instead of growing lettuce and tomatoes, there's a housing development that goes up. >> steve fiske is chairman of the local chamber of commerce. he says some new residents find the chimps a little too close to home.

>> if the wind's in the right direction you're gonna realize it has odors. >> odors? debbie doesn't even notice. throughout high school she helps care for the apes. she then studies nursing and veterinary technology in college. >> at 21, i decided to set off and go visit 21 zoos across the united states. >> and when she does, she keeps hearing something that makes her proud. seems folks everywhere actually know of her grandmother. >> and they would say "you know mae knoll"? i had a job at the atlanta zoo just off of her name and her reputation. >> but by now, back in florida, grandma's reputation is under assault. animal rights groups put the chimp farm on a black list. >> people would come from other places in the world and even stand there and picket the facility. >> how did grandma react when there would be protesters? >> it bothered her, but even then in her only-grandma style

would bring animals out to the picket line and say "this is what you're picketing against." >> things only get harder for anna mae noell. in 1991, debbie's grandpa bob falls into a diabetic coma and dies. anna mae loses her lifelong companion of 60 years. >> if you knew anything about them two, they were a team. it was the hardest time in my life watching her go through that. >> it also leaves debbie's grandma, now in her 80s, to run the chimp farm. so, debbie stays in florida to help keep it going. >> i thought i would just come to the chimp farm and work on the weekends and visit all my friends. and then my whole world changed. >> because in 1999 state and federal authorities closed the chimp farm to the public citing its small cages with rusty or jagged edges. they can keep the animals for now, but they can no longer charge

admission. >> were they right in terms of condition? >> maybe for the enclosures, but not in love, care, and consistency in the care of the animals. >> authorities give the chimp farm three years to make the necessary improvements. 85-year-old anna mae responds by taking in yet more primates. they can live for years, a lot longer than the increasingly frail anna mae can expect to. so what will happen to the place when she's gone? one day she gives debbie a sealed envelope with an explicit instruction. >> i was told "don't open this envelope until i pass away." >> then in october 2000, anna mae noell dies at age 86. >> what would happen to the chimp farm without grandma? >> mm... >> the answer is in that envelope. debbie opens it after the break.

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♪ >> so, which is america's most-visited zoo? it's the san diego zoo where the lucky animals live within site of the pacific ocean and captivate more than 3 million visitors a year. >> in the fall of 2000, anna mae noell dies leaving behind her life's work -- the chimp farm she and her late husband created. it's home to more than

50 primates, and it's sitting on some prime florida real estate. but if any of anna mae's heirs have plans for that land, she's about to throw a monkey wrench into them. >> when grandma died... >> mm-hmm? ...there was a brown envelope. >> [ sighs ] >> tell me about it. >> an envelope changed my life. >> inside that envelope is a document that names debbie's uncle bob, her mother velda mae, and debbie as heirs and trustees, and instructs the three of them to hold the property jointly for the benefit of the animals. >> grandma put a trust together for the animals, and it's clearly stated that as long as there was one animal and one person that came back, then the animal park would be there. >> in other words, if one of the trustees wants to keep the chimp farm alive, the other two cannot shut it down and sell off the land. anna mae must have known

it would be just one person -- debbie. >> that one thing she did changed my life forever. i had to either help the chimps or walk away. >> how much was the land worth when you inherited it? >> somebody said that it was worth about $6 million. >> here's the point where a strange inheritance splits a family apart. debbie's mother and uncle, she claims, push her to give up the chimp farm so they can sell the land. >> they told me "why would you want it and ruin your life for a group of animals when you could have $2 million in the bank, and you'd never have to work again?" >> you could do it. >> some would, but who are you going to sacrifice in that? were you gonna lose otto? were you gonna lose her oldest chimp that lived well into his 60s? which animal was gonna be sacrificed for a dollar bill? >> it was two against one. >> i knew that some of those animals had been ones that they had grown up with. could they really, at the end of the day, turn their back on them?

>> neither debbie's uncle or mother would appear in this program. both denied to us they wanted to see the chimp farm closed. whoever said what to whom, there's no doubt debbie was only given two options -- put up or shut down. >> that sounds like an ultimatum. >> it was. game on. >> that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. hello. - hi. how's it going? - alright, how ya doing? - welcome! so, this is the all-new chevy traverse. what do ya think? this looks better than 99% of the suvs out there. it's very modern... sleek. maybe the most impressive part of the all-new traverse... is what's on the inside. surprise! what are you doing here? i've missed you guys. i haven't seen you guys in so long! what's happening? we flew her out. it's a family car, we had to put your family in it! yeah, it gets 7 thumbs up!

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>> now, back to "strange inheritance." >> in 2000 when anna mae noell dies, she leaves behind a shuddered chimpanzee farm with dozens of apes, chimps, and critters. a trust provides that the sanctuary remain open -- so long as her son, daughter, or granddaughter debbie is willing to run it. only when it closes can those three sell the land.

the heirs do not see eye to eye. >> i had to be the person that said these animals needed someone. >> debbie says the family dispute is so bitter it ends her relationship with both her mother and uncle. >> but in the end, anna mae noell's trust for the benefit of the animals prevails. >> did the get anything out of the estate? >> they weren't supposed to get anything in the beginning. remember, it was a trust for the animals. it didn't say "a trust for debbie, a trust for uncle, and a trust for mom." it said "a trust for animals." >> but now what? the antiquated chimp farm is already on notice with authorities for its run-down enclosures. >> i already had planned on building a larger enclosure for the animals, because that was what my heart was. >> and if there's one thing i've learned about debbie, it's that the first thing

she inherited from her crazy family is heart. >> anybody who wants to help come to the chimp farm. it will change your life. it's changed mine dramatically. >> it takes nearly a decade, but her big plans become reality. >> in 2008, she reopens the animal shelter to the public as the gleaming suncoast primate sanctuary. [ ragtime music plays ] >> and to think this all started with a chance meeting on the vaudeville circuit, a boxing chimp named snookie, and a madcap bunch of bike riding apes. but not everything changes aboard old noell's ark. in fact, things come full circle when debbie marries and chooses to raise another generation... >> that's my daughter. say "hi," brandi. >> hi. >> hey, brandi. >> thank you, brandi. >> ...amidst the gorillas

and monkeys and birds and reptiles. it's a decision that affirms all that grandma anna mae worked for. >> good job. >> so, this is sort of a refuge -- hoping that our great-grandchildren will be able to see a live chimpanzee. >> this is the hardest journey i've ever been in in my life. all my blessings were restored by making sure i did the right thing for the right reason. you're my buddy. >> debbie tells me that parting with one of the primates is like losing an old friend. remember otto, the lowland gorilla from the luggage ads who would carry debbie around on his back? well, otto died shortly after his 42nd birthday party. but one of his fans couldn't bear never seeing him again, and so donated the funds to have him stuffed. debbie says if otto can go on display some day he'll continue the sanctuary's mission of wildlife conservation.

i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. on . have a great weekend. good night from new york. from the fox studios in new york city, this is maria bartiromo wall street. maria: welcome to the program that analyzes the week that was. thanks for joining us. coming up in just a moment, asset management's joel green blat, our exclusive guest this week. first let's get with jeri. she's standing by with the headlines impacting everything from wall street to main street. >> thanks. the red returned to wall street this week. the first hit came on wednesday when the new federal reserve chairman testified before the house for the first time and hints that