Posts by J.B.
The Eternal Moment
Negra was kind enough to let me take photos of her while she thought about lunch, got impatient about lunch, shouted at the kitchen staff about lunch, became overwhelmed at the sight of lunch, turned giddy in anticipation of eating lunch, and – at long last – ate lunch. It was a harrowing 2 minutes…
Read MoreProfiles in Courage
Annie had a big day today. When her walking partners scattered in different directions halfway through their trek around the hill, she found herself alone at the bottom of the Twister. Rather than turn around to head home, she decided to head to the top of the tallest structure on the highest point of Young’s…
Read MoreJamie is not “most chimpanzees”
This morning, I was sweeping paper and other garbage into a pile in the playroom when Jamie started gesturing towards to me. It’s typical of her to ask for drinks from the hose while we clean but we hadn’t pulled the hose out yet. I soon realized that she was gesturing towards the pile of…
Read MoreThe Peanut Puzzle
It took Honey B a few attempts to find the right strategy for this puzzle but she got there. The most clever – but ultimately unsuccessful – strategy was to hand everything through the food chute to a human. “Humans are good at this stuff,” she seemed to be saying. Either that or “You put…
Read MoreDouble the Drama
Annie, Missy, and Jody passed the early part of the afternoon in the greenhouse, grooming quietly. Annie gently passed her fingers through Jody’s hair as Jody basked in the attention. Suddenly, there was a scream. Nothing for the girls to worry about, as it came from the other group. But they were compelled to see…
Read MoreUnlikely Friends
Testosterone is a funny thing. We tend to think of it as being responsible for the aggressive and antisocial behavior displayed by males, and in a way this is true. But it’s only part of the story. While testosterone appears to be central to status-seeking, it also correlates with prosocial behaviors such as generosity when…
Read MoreGrooming, planning, playing, napping
While we cleaned the playroom this morning, the Seven spent some time bonding on the Greenhouse platform. The chimps probably came together up top because it was warmer up there, but they may have realized that if they wanted to groom as a group they’d better gather around the immovable lump that is Negra. She’s…
Read MoreTo Do List
Negra’s To Do List – Friday, February 19 Take a nap Take a nap ✅
Read MoreScooter Chase
Why run when you can scoot? All three of the Californians were keeping their caregivers busy after lunch today with games of chase, but only Honey B managed to play without ever getting off her butt. This week, construction began on the first of two climbing structures in the new playrooms. These “trees” – made…
Read MoreA Good Day
Not to brag, but according to Negra I’m a pretty good tap dancer. And can you believe I’ve never had a single lesson? If I try to stop, she claps and stomps and demands encore after encore. It’s exhausting but who am I to withhold such a gift? Jamie is a person of many moods.…
Read MoreDoll Thief
Jamie and Foxie had a pretty epic play session while we were cleaning the playroom this morning. A few things to note about this video: Everyone was playing all morning – this is just a small slice of all the craziness. I love how Jamie shows Foxie how to get this game started – “Here,…
Read MoreHuman Problems
Earlier, Diana and I were discussing how serving meals to the Seven has changed over the years. It used to be that you would grab the first course – tomatoes, for example – and serve each chimp his or her portion until that course was done. Then you’d move on to the next course. It’s…
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