What an interesting day!
We began early this morning with a quick follow-up exam on Willy B. A couple of weeks ago, Willy was treated in the clinic for swelling in his scrotum and given an echocardiogram. His echo showed some minor cardiac concerns and Dr. Erin is now working with the chimps’ cardiologist, Dr. Nelson, to formulate a long-term plan. The swelling was the result of a hydrocele, which was treated at the time with aspiration and sclerotherapy. This morning, Dr. Erin conducted a quick follow up to ensure that Willy was responding to the treatment appropriately. Most of the procedures we do take place in the clinic with the chimps on gas anesthesia but for brief, minimally-invasive exams, like this morning’s ultrasound, we will sometimes do them inside one of the front rooms so that the chimps can be more lightly anesthetized and get back to their routines more quickly. Thankfully, Willy B passed his follow-up exam and recovered promptly after the anesthetic was reversed. He is, however, demanding that his medications be administered inside cinnamon rolls. It’s amazing what they can get away with after a procedure when they realize how badly we need them to take their meds! Enjoy it while it lasts, buddy.
While Willy B was being examined, his group was involved in a soap opera with a scandalous sexually-themed plot line. Prior to the integration of the two Waystation groups, Terry would regularly copulate with Dora—especially around meal times. After the integration, when Mave discovered that her purpose in life was to protect her new best friend Dora, she put an end to those shenanigans (in what has become known around these parts as Mave’s Feminist Uprising). Well today, Terry though it was time to test the waters again. Sure enough, when Mave caught sight of Terry in action, she screamed at him. This time, however, Terry ran straight at Mave and thumped her on the back. Screaming and chasing naturally ensued. Upon hearing the commotion, Willy B even tried his best to return to consciousness so he could get in on the action…to no avail, of course. In the end, did Mave reassert herself as Dora’s ultimate protector or did Terry show Mave that he would no longer be bossed around? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s episode.
Later in the morning we had a visit from Friends of JACK Primate Sanctuary, a U.S. partner to JACK Primate Sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to share enrichment ideas and then held parties for each of our chimpanzee families in honor of Ryan Young, as shown in the video above. Many thanks again to Karen and Don for funding Ryan’s Lookout and sponsoring this special day. Chad placed a number of watermelon bowls on Ryan’s Lookout with the hope that several chimps would be able to enjoy them…but Rayne got to all of them first.
“You snooze, you lose.”
-Rayne
