Last week, I introduced you all to… uh… well… introductions.
You can read that blog post here if you need to catch up. Since then, we’ve posted the following updates related to social integrations: Chad’s Today’s Forecast: Rayne, Kelsi’s Exhilarating Day, J.B.’s Ups and Downs, Diana’s Play During Intros, and Sam’s The Introductions Continue!
Well, today was another exciting day…
Rayne met Willy B in a controlled introduction session!
They took a few minutes to warm up to each other, but they both behaved in a friendly and respectful manner. Eventually, they “broke the ice” and began to playfully stomp around and wrestle. It’s remarkable how two chimps who have never been together before can suddenly decide to inundate each other with goofy gestures of affection. Their exuberant facial expressions and thunderous chuckles lit up the indoor area where their meeting was staged.
We’ve learned that Willy B has a tendency to start introduction sessions with enthusiasm but quickly grows bored. In today’s meeting, the opposite happened; Willy wanted to keep playing but Rayne eventually grew tired and began to watch the humans expectantly.
Rayne and Willy B amicably separated shortly before dinner and voluntarily returned to their respective social groups in the new playrooms and greenhouse enclosures.
Tomorrow, we hope to continue the integration process by facilitating more introductions!
Bless Willy B. He does seem like he needs friends. Rayne is such a trooper. Such positive outcomes so far, and I think everyone deserves them.
Willy will definitely benefit from a richer, more complex social group! At the very least, he acts like he wants exactly that.
Well, if we weren’t able to identify Willy B by his backside, we definitely can now! :joy:
Love love love the wide open mouth play faces. Pure joy! huge smile on my own face right now. Thank you for bringing joy to not only them, but also me.
The best part is that my expensive camera equipped with machine learning technology repeatedly recognized Willy’s pink butt as a “face” and tried to focus on that instead of the actual chimp faces.
Fortunately, I was just barely able to manually keep them in focus long enough for everyone to see their epic play-faces. 😉
This is amazing! Willy’s smiles were off the charts and Rayne was extra “Rayne”:thumbsup::fingers_crossed::kissing_heart:
This entire play session was “off the charts”! I was so excited. I’m glad you enjoyed it too, Nancy!
Willy’s smile was off the charts and Rayne was extra “Rayne”:thumbsup::fingers_crossed::kissing_heart:
This entire session was “off the charts!” I’m glad you enjoyed it too, Nancy!
Why Rayne and not Dora? hmmmm
Maybe Willy B was just so dazzled by Dora that he just froze. Maybe he just went painfully shy! I mean, I can definitely freeze around a really handsome man – go totally Self-conscious! Utterly Tongue tied!
Have you ever heard of “shipping”? It’s a pop culture term used to describe when fans of a TV, book or film series really want two characters to have a romantic and/or physical relationship despite no actual in-text (or in-scene) evidence that they do.
Apparently the first influential “ship” was for Kirk and Spock (1970s Star Trek) and the actual term was first used for Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (1990s X-Files). (I had to look that up to be sure.)
I wouldn’t go as far as to say that we “shipped” Dora and Willy B because she definitely gave him a lot of attention, but our excitement at their mutual interest seemed to overlook a few facts.
First of all, Willy actually seems more attentive to the other males than to any of the females (which is normal for chimps since male-male friendships are very important). The main exceptions to this are when females are visibly swollen.
Furthermore, chimps aren’t monogamous so the idea of two chimps being in an exclusive relationship is unlikely at best. It seems like most of the introductions have been dominated by an urge to make friendship, not love, and that’s not too surprising given the histories and behavioral profiles of the individual chimps.
With all that being said, maybe Willy and Dora will hit it off during a second meeting? Maybe they need the influence of a more complex social group before their friendship (or more) is allowed to blossom? Perhaps things will change if/when Dora’s swelling inflates and she appears more attractive to males? We’ll find out soon. 🙂
Hi.
It’s great to see you doing these introductions.
When you put two chimps together are you nervous about what might happen?
I imagine the care givers are on hand if things start to go bad to try seperate the chimps and it must be agreat releif when the start to laugh and play together.
It was nice to hear the chimps laughing before we saw the video of them.
Well done CSNW team.
Hey, Keith!
Yes, we are always a bit nervous during introductions. The chance of them not getting along is higher than with their own familiar companions, so the tension is palpable. With that being said, the pair introductions are slow and controlled to minimize the chance of violence and injury. They almost always get to “howdy” at the mesh, with caging in between, before we open the door and let them actually share space. At that point, we’re usually confident that they want to be together or are at least giving each other some respect.
We are always prepared for things to “go south” instantly (which is rare but not unheard of). If reconciliation seems unlikely, we may try to break it up. You’re correct that our preferred option is to remotely close a door between them and keep them apart until they cool down or go back to their groups. We also keep noisemakers and a cleaning hose nearby in case we need to divert their attention away from each other.
That was een interesting angle Anthony…:flushed:
I guess it is as with people; you hit it off right away, or it takes a little time to warm up to someone….
This combo is obviously a great hit!
Haha, I worked with what the chimps gave me! It’s difficult to film chimps without getting some genitals or butts in the frame. 🙂
Excellent video to watch and listen to!! Ryne in profile, with her funny little bedhead hairdo, melted my heart. Every day is exciting. Thanks for your time spent sharing these updates. Can’t wait for tomorrow! What I would give to be a silent observer. 😉
Rayne’s hair style rocks! Thanks for following along as always, Kathleen!
to be included in the inteoductions is awesome. So fsr, so good so hopefully the 9 will enjoy going outsed one day to their own hill.
Thanks, Karen! And yes, we can’t wait for them to have that opportunity!
I’m really enjoying the evolution of the family happening with the new arrivals. Just love all the breathy panting sounds and the grooming. It’s so heartwarming to know they’re slowing increasing their social connections. I pray it continues to go well. Thanks for keeping us updated with all the latest goings-on!
Thanks, Marya!!!
I missed that there was a video!
poor L’il Dora….when your bestie moves in on your crush…maybe she could use some Telemundo soap opera tips
Oooof, that just brought back traumatic memories of being in the room while my parents watched “Days of Our Lives.” Someone needs to die for a season before being resurrected, cloned or dreamt back into existence? A pair of alien twins lands near town and is adopted by a struggling couple? Plans to execute a family vendetta go awry when the rivals find out they’re brothers? Maybe Dora can place a curse on the other females to make Willy fall in love with her, but she gets more than she bargained for when he’s actually a notorious crime boss? The possibilities are endless.
How do you separate the chimps from their groups to do the interdiction?
Good question, Andy! It depends. Mostly, we try to use their natural curiosity to get two eligible individuals into the preferred rooms by themselves. In our current setup, this means getting individual chimps to willingly return to the front rooms or mezzanine after we clean them. By doing so, the chimps are voluntarily leaving the playrooms and greenhouses behind, so it’s not always easy! Still, there are usually at least a couple of chimps who want to enter the intro areas and potentially make new friends. Sometimes they all rush in and we have to wait until they sort themselves out. We sometimes offer food as a reward for shifting into the preferred areas, but this isn’t always necessary (and can actually make them more suspicious in some instances).