The video says it all. It was a relief to see Honey B with Rayne and Lucky today and with Dora yesterday. She was different with each one of them, and of course it wasn’t non-stop play, but the play was definitely the highlight!
Archives for August 2021
In honor of Terry Stockdale, Foxie and Missy!
Thanks so much to Michael Stockdale for sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of his wife, Terry, and Foxie and Missy, in celebration of their August birthdays! (Foxie’s birthday was August 8th and Missy’s is August 23rd!).
“I would like to wish my wife a wonderful birthday. She loves all the chimpanzees at CSNW and eagerly awaits the daily blogs.”
Happy Birthday, Terry! Thank you for sharing your special day with the chimpanzees – we’re so happy to celebrate with you! You picked a good month to be born. 🙂 We hope your day is a magical one!
Missy:
Foxie:
Ups and Downs
We did a number of dyadic intros today – some great, some disappointing. Honey B and Terry did not hit it off despite Terry’s best efforts, so that relationship will take some time to develop. Neither was injured but Honey B did end up with a souvenir from their encounter – a mouthful of Terry’s hair. And much to our dismay, Willy B would not even give Dora the time of day! She was heartbroken. But there were some promising signs near the end of their meeting and they will certainly meet again, perhaps when Willy B is less distracted. Thankfully, Mave – as she always does! – put on a masterclass in chimp introductions when she met an anxious Dora and tailored her behavior perfectly so as to engage Dora without upsetting her.
But the greatest story of the day by far was when Honey B met Dora. These two had lived together in the past. As we saw with Terry, this doesn’t guarantee a happy reunion. This, however, was the happiest of reunions and it took us completely by surprise.
They met at the mesh and instantly started breathy panting and grooming. When the door opened, they hugged and then launched into a game of chase. We’ve never seen Dora smile so much! Honey B doesn’t know how to dial it back like Mave does and we were afraid that Honey B would overwhelm Dora with her rambunctiousness but Dora loved every minute of it. They wrestled, tickled, ran, and laughed, and then did it all again. Here you can see Honey B playfully dragging Dora across the floor by the feet.
And here’s a still from a short video I took. The look on Dora’s face says it all. There’s nothing like reuniting with an old friend.
I spy, an I.D. challenge
We took a timeout from intros today and enjoyed a relatively ordinary day at the sanctuary. This afternoon I went to take some photos of Cy’s group who were mostly all posted up in the higher levels of Greenhouse 2. I took a few photos of them hanging out on the platforms:
Then I spotted a mysterious dark silhouette through the caging…. This chimpanzee spy was posted at the bottom of Young’s Hill and was ogling the greenhouse residents…I snapped a photo that I’m about to show you. Can you identify this person, just from a blurry outline? I’ll post the answer to my pop quiz at the bottom of this blog.
Bonus photos! While you think about the answer to my ID test.
Ok! Drumroll please…… The spy’s identity is:
Exhilarating Day
Today was a pretty exhilarating day. Burrito is doing really well, so well he got to go back with this group! Burrito is truly inspiring, he never gives up and through his struggles he somehow finds a way to be more positive and goofy through it all.
Foxie greeted Burrito by giving him a hug.
Dr. Missy checking Burrito out.
This other amazing thing happened today! Willy B got to hang out with Terry and then later Willy B met Lucky! Terry and Willy B did so well! Willy B was having so much fun he almost didn’t want to leave. There was a moment when they were grooming so intensely I felt a little emotional watching because they seemed so happy and were breathy panting so loudly! Willy B and Lucky had great interactions too! They had a really nice grooming session. I mean who wouldn’t have a good time with Lucky!
Willy B and Terry!
Lucky and Willy B!
Bonus photos!
Negra looking out the window in the portrait studio.
Lucky in her new favorite spot.
Willy B looking at himself through the camera.
I love this picture. Jamie is playing keep away with Foxie’s France Dora. Foxie just peaking out behind Jamie.
Happy Birthday, Erin!
Many thanks to Maureen McHorney for sponsoring a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in honor of her daughter, Erin Yuhas, to wish her a Happy Birthday!
Erin is a long-time friend of the chimpanzees and has graciously shared her special day with them for years. She, along with her family, friends and colleagues, have made a lasting difference in the chimps’ lives and we’re so grateful for their kind hearts.
Happy Birthday, Erin, from all of the primates (and bovines) here at the sanctuary! We hope your day is full of the joy you help bring the chimps!
Annie:
Jody:
Jamie and Burrito:
Meredith and her momma, Honey:
Honey B:
and her momma, Missy:
Today’s Forecast: Rayne
So there wasn’t any rain in today’s forecast, though I think everyone would appreciate some in the state, but there is Rayne!
There are so many aspects about Rayne that remind us of Honey B. The stare she gives you. Her confidence in knowing what she wants and likes. And catch her at the right angle and you would be fooled on who is who. Let’s not forget they are biological sisters.
Though Rayne and her group have been here over a month and they have shown us a great deal of their personalities, we really are still finding new things out about them. One thing we are learning about Rayne, she seems to love food puzzles. Just like Honey B.
As Anthony has mentioned before, Rayne and Friends are a little bit more destructive than we had anticipated when it comes to their enrichment. So we have been slowly been introducing them to new things, one-by-one. Boomer Balls have been the latest.
Speaking of new things, we recently found one Burrito seems to absolutely love now: KONG Zoo! A gigantic Kong!
With Burrito still recovering from his recent incident, we decided to give him two of his favorite new thing he was introduced to before the incident. When he has these, he can be found dragging them along with him, throwing them up in the air, rolling them along, and bouncing on them like a hopper ball.
Here are some of the photos I took when he first got a hold of the gigantoids before the incident:
Jamie also seemed to really like them when they were first introduced.
As posted yesterday, the introduction process between Rayne and her group, and Mave and hers has begun. And please bear with us through this process as they can make for a long day. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we will most likely just be sharing some highlights of the process. We try to get photos and video if we can, but it’s important to give them the space they need to try to form a relationship without our interference or distraction.
The highlight for today was Mave met Rayne today.
They spent a lot of time grooming one another and reassuring each other when the neighbors were rowdy. Similar to yesterday’s meeting with Terry, Rayne didn’t seem to want to leave Mave, and Mave didn’t seem to want to leave Rayne when we thought they were ready to move on, so we gave them some more time until we knew they were ready. Overall it was a very positive meeting between the two.
Mave also met Cy today as well. Cy spent a lot of time grooming Mave and trying to get her to play with him. Just as with Terry, Mave was a tad hesitant to play with the big guy at first, though she did. But her preference was grooming, which Cy obliged. Overall a positive meeting between them as well.
After their meeting, Cy went back to perusing through his magazines.
It was an eventful day for all, so I hope you all have a great night!
Some bonus photos:
