Smiling?

For me, going to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video to look for a movie is always an interesting experience. It never fails- I will see a movie with a chimp on the cover “smiling”. This facial expression that we, as humans, understand as a happy face is not a happy face for a chimpanzee. A “human…

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Fun with yarn

In many biomedical labs, chimps don’t get any enrichment (i.e. blankets, toys, etc.). It’s hard to imagine spending 30+ years without anything to pass the time, when something as simple as a ball of yarn can keep Burrito and Jamie busy for hours.

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A new grooming medium…

I bet you thought the only use for a crayon was to color… By the way, that sound you hear Jamie making is called Lip Smacking and is associated with grooming.

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Foxie and Jamie and the Giant Troll

In case you were wondering, yes, Foxie is still carrying and protecting her giant troll, whom we have since named “Doris”. Her bright pink hair may be missing, but a mother’s love will never fade… Today Jamie decided it would be funny to playfully ‘steal’ Doris from Foxie, but she made sure Foxie knew it…

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Foxie and the giant troll

Today, we gave Foxie the giant troll doll donated by supporter, Steve. Notice the mothering behavior. It makes me terribly sad that Foxie never got to mother a child of her own, even though she had several. This video makes it clear to me that she would have been an excellent mother.

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CSNW style

We have some pretty stylin’ chimps here at CSNW. Sometimes, we girls feel the need to change clothes three times a day…

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Lookin’ good, Jamie

Today, Jamie spent some time brushing her hair, brushing a troll doll’s hair, and checking herself out in a mirror. Seeing Jamie doing such ‘human-like’ things makes us wonder about her childhood (her records only describe her as a ‘circus chimp’). She definitely loves being a girl; that’s for sure!! The song, “I’m so pretty,…

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Rainy Day Enrichment

It is a rainy day today, so to entertain the chimps, we gave them toothbrushes. The activity may have been more appropriately called toothbrush sucking than toothbrushing, since most of the chimps were more interested in the toothpaste than in brushing their teeth. However, I was able to get a quick brush of Foxie’s teeth.…

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Jamie sews

Jamie is a better seamstress than me!!! I love the way she holds the needle (plastic, of course) in her mouth!!

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