A couple weeks ago, we asked on our social media pages what questions you had for us caregivers. Today, I have chosen one question to answer!
How do we communicate with the chimps?
The short-answer is that we communicate with the chimps both verbally and non-verbally. I have a lot to say about each, so today I just want to focus on verbal communication. I will focus on non-verbal next time!
Many people I talk to about my job are surprised to hear that the chimps understand some spoken English. Keep in mind though, the chimps have spent decades if not their lives in captivity, so they have been exposed to the English language for many years. I am obviously not saying they know every word, but they do fully understand the words we use daily while speaking to them. They all know and respond to their names. We can call each of the chimps’ names to get their attention and they will look at us (unless they want to ignore us, that happens too). We can ask them to move to a different room and while they may not choose to do so, they know what we are asking of them. If a blanket is blocking a door from closing, we can ask, “will you grab the blanket from the door?” and they often times will move it for us (Jody and Honey B are so good with this).
As caregivers, one of our duties is to verbally communicate our actions and intentions while around the chimps. For example, if I am going to close a door behind Missy, I am going to tell Missy, “Missy, I’m going to shut the door behind you”. It is a courtesy we always try to give so 1) there are no surprises as to what we are doing and 2) Missy now has the choice to decide if she is comfortable with the door shutting behind her or not. If Missy were to then turn around and run back through the door, she is communicating with us that she does not want the door closed. During meal times, it can also be beneficial to communicate who you will be serving food to next. Just a quick, “Mave, you’ll be up next” helps Mave know her turn is soon. That is just two examples, but I want to convey how important it is to be transparent with our actions, and how it can simultaneously help keep the peace. If we just walked around silently closing doors, not talking to the chimps, they may feel uneasy and uncertain of what is to come. Obviously, we want to avoid that!
The chimps also communicate with us humans through their own vocalizations. While some of the vocalizations that the chimps use with conspecifics are also used while interacting with humans, such as breathy pants or blowing raspberries/bronx cheering, some of the chimps have created a sound specifically to communicate their needs to us caregivers. For example, there is a specific raspberry noise Foxie will make to communicate that she is ready for her Strawberry Shortcake doll back (she has us caregivers babysit regularly). Willy B makes a very specific noise to communicate that there is a peanut on the floor following breakfast, that is outside of his reach. Burrito also has a specific raspberry sequence he does to communicate when he is ready to play! The list goes on and on.
Next week sometime, I will switch to discussing non-verbal communication with the chimps!
Dora
