First up, here is your Honey B update! Despite our best attempts to keep her attention away from her healing eyelid and occupy her time with other activities, she did open up her incision slightly yesterday. Dr. Erin assessed her and for now, we are waiting to see how it continues to heal and consulting with other experts to be sure we have the best plan in place for her. We continue to provide her with extra enrichment, and today one of her enrichment devices doubled as enrichment for the humans who created it.
We have had a large cardboard tube in the Chimp House for the past several weeks without a use for it. Today it found its purpose! We drilled some holes in the tube, added chain through the tube, and clipped it to the caging of Honey B’s room. We added some of her favorite things to the inside of the tube (popcorn, shelled peanuts, raisins) and raspberries to some of the holes to peak her interest. We gave her a bamboo stick as a tool and sat back to see what she did with it.
The idea was that the small snacks would fall through the drilled holes when the tube rolled around the chain, and Honey B would use her bamboo stick to pull the snacks to her. Well…that’s not exactly what happened. To no one’s surprise, Honey B outsmarted our plan! She was able to tap and tip the tube in such a way that the majority of the snacks fell out of either end, so it did not take as long as I had thought it would to finish the puzzle. I would like to create a reusable version of this for everyone with PVC one day, and Honey B has helped me to identify some flaws in my plan! Thank you for the design assistance, BeeBee!
It was a very good day around the sanctuary today. It is warmer here today (not warm…but warmer!). Negra enjoyed a nap in her nest in the greenhouse which was quite cozy with the heater going. Her group enjoyed eating some of the remaining snow, which is now a perfect snow cone texture. Burrito loved looking at himself on my phone and was especially fascinated by his own tongue.
I feel so fortunate to be able to share in these moments with the chimps, and to get to share them with you all. I hope your Saturday has been just as good as ours!
Honey B is as brilliant as ever and Burrito is as silly as ever! You can definitely count on the two of them to live up to their expected behaviors!
Is there anyone cuter than Burrito ?
That Honey B is just too dang smart.
Thank you for the entertaining video today !:slight_smile:
Honey B is so smart!!
Oh, Beezus! That lady is so sharp, of course she’s going to find the most efficient way to do things!
Of course, Bubby enjoying the camera is just the cutest thing. He’s just got the sweetest, most handsome face!
Early this morning, I dreamed that I went shopping at a produce market with my cousin… Burrito. Aside from having to remind him that we were expected to pay for our fruits and vegetables before consuming, Burrito made for a most helpful companion, pointing and nodding at which pineapples and lettuces he wanted me to put in our cart. Certainly Mr. B made for a better shopper than the two-year-old who screamed her disapproval of his presence in the market.
All the same, I am glad that, in real life Bubs spent the day admiring his beautiful face in his friend’s camera. Unlike the charges that I incurred in our shopping spree, the reflections in the camera didn’t cost Bubba a cent.
yes, Bubba…still lookin’ good!
Do they still have the hanging mirror in their enclosure?
Ahhhhh Honey B. What is it like to be that smart?! Such a clever, clever girl. I love the idea of your big tube enrichment toy! Very cool. I see you are just as clever as Honey B! 🙂 How about this tweak—PVC, cap the ends, slightly bigger holes but mix the size of the holes—some big-ish, some smaller. In shelters, dogs are fed kibble dinner this way (only small tubes, obviously, that they push and roll with their nose). I am always intrigued by the way different creatures approach and interact with their enrichment toys. There’s often one or two who totally surprise and outsmart you….like Honey B.
Please tell Burrito that I adore his youthful heart. May he never change! Seeing his silliness is my enrichment!!