Posts by Ellen Brady-McGaughey
A Little Peace of Spring
Today has been quite the perfect spring day at the sanctuary. The day started with Negra at the front of the line for the door to Young’s Hill, ready to lead her group to forage for grass on the hill, so I had a feeling today was going to be a great day. Annie and…
Read MoreAnother Day, Another Food Puzzle
As I have taken on more responsibilities as a part of the CSNW team after my initial training, I have taken on the role of Enrichment Coordinator from Chad as he moves into a new position within the team. I started out by working to add new food puzzles to our existing enrichment, which has…
Read MoreGordo, the PRT Superstar!
Gordo has a routine physical exam in his future, as he has not yet had a physical exam in his time at CSNW and it doing so will allow us to have a better understanding of both his heart health and overall health. Because Gordo has not experienced an exam here before, we have made…
Read MoreTraining with Rayne
Someone recently asked for an update on Rayne’s forehead, and here it is! As many of you who follow the blog already know, Rayne has a chronically dry forehead. It is a distinguishing feature that makes her easy to identify within her group, but can also be itchy and we assume somewhat uncomfortable for her.…
Read MoreA Special Game of Tug
One of the most special parts of my job as a caregiver is being able to build relationships with the chimpanzees. This can be a slow process, with most of the first steps being them testing you and seeing how you react to things they do. Sometimes these things are not so pleasant for you,…
Read MoreFriday Festivities
I am usually lead caregiver on Fridays, and part-time caregiver Krissy and I have come to love celebrating Fridays, or Fri-YAYs as we call them. It is a lovely reminder each week of how lucky we are to be here, and to celebrate the little moments we get to share in each day with the…
Read MoreTraining with Gordo
One of my favorite parts of this job, besides building and maintaining relationships with my chimpanzee friends, is getting to participate in our Positive Reinforcement Training Program. Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) means we use rewards (food, praise, play, etc) to reinforce and encourage desirable behavior. We do this to provide the chimps and cattle with…
Read MoreInternational Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day, so it seems only appropriate to recognize and celebrate some of the influential women in our field, and in our lives. If you missed Tuesday’s post by Amanda focused on women in primatology, go check it out! I think it is safe to say that Dr. Jane Goodall is an…
Read MoreCatching Up
Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the Be Mine series. I loved getting to share more with you all about each individual in our care, but was also eager for the series to end as I have been saving up some special moments from around the sanctuary to share with you all! If you…
Read MoreBe Mine, Dora
How could you not ALREADY be in love with Dora?!? Okay, I guess I’ll forgive you if you need some convincing, but buckle in and prepare yourself to fall hard for the wonderful, sometimes spicy, silly lady that is Dora. Dora Dora was born at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP)…
Read MoreBe Mine, Willy B
Willy B is a very unique person. He is aloof a lot of the time with the humans around him, but sometimes surprises us with the gift of a game of chase! Most of the time he is busy keeping track of Cy and spending time grooming with him. This makes sense, as Cy is…
Read MoreRemembering and Cherishing Friends
If you missed Grace’s blog yesterday, you should go read it. It was a beautiful tribute to Jody and how her memory lives on here, through everyone who knew and loved her and continues to share her story. It was also about processing the grief of losing a dear friend. While I never had the…
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