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Thanks to the generous donations from both the Groves Conference 2010 and FOW member Evelyn Tulloss the party in honor of Washoe's birthday this year was quite a success.  The funds were used to purchase decorations and treats for the playrooms as well as a Dairy Queen dinner later that evening. 

While filming the festivities I was witness to much chimpanzee excitement, expressed in food-grunts, squeaks and even a pant hoot or two, and what seemed to be general contentment in a well orchestrated party.  Two events stand out in memory that I'd like to share. 

First, Loulis, in his quest for treats, happened upon a large plastic mirror hung on one of the rungs in EAST playroom. Often Loulis pulls things down or off of the walls and platforms during his food forages and I expected to see much the same on this day. Instead, Loulis used the mirror to watch Dar who was engaged with a frozen juice bottle across the enclosure. Loulis appeared to be entertained in this way for a short while as he enjoyed his own treats at leisure.
 
Second, Tatu encountered a new and different toy in the shape of a large syringe-like squirt gun filled with water.  What I found so interesting about this encounter is that it slowly unfolded throughout the mornings activities.  When they first entered the EAST playroom Tatu found the squirt gun lying across a large tractor tire. She picked it up at this time, examined it briefly, and then laid it back in the same spot.  Following this introduction she came back to it again and again as she foraged for treats, each time touching it or picking it up but subsequently replacing it on the tire.  Once the foraged treats were consumed and the "party" portion of the morning was winding down, Tatu casually approached the tire, picked up the squirt gun, and continued on to a safe spot in WEST from which to thoroughly examine this new object. After initial defeat, having first tried to bite the end off, Tatu quickly figured out the real mechanics of this toy and squirted the water out onto the floor. This sudden pool was quite a surprise to Loulis who had been closely food-peering as Tatu finished her treats!
Unfortunately, I don't have pictures to show you of these events. However, I hope you enjoy the ones that did turn out.  Thanks again for helping us to enrich the lives of Washoe's family in so many ways!

On Wednesday, Cinco de Mayo, we created a fiesta for our chimpanzee friends in celebration of the day.  Although this holiday has limited significance in Mexico, it is currently widely observed in the United States as a day to celebrate and honor Mexican heritage in much a similar fashion as St. Patrick's Day honors Irish heritage. For those of us at the Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute it offered a good opportunity for enriching the lives of the chimpanzees that live here by getting creative with the dinner options!  The caregivers made an enviable spread that included vegetarian tacos, home-made Spanish rice, Rosie's secret recipe guacamole, and stuffed bell peppers.    The feast was well received by Tatu, Dar & Loulis who appeared to appreciate our efforts! 

Here's the majority of the feast.

And the delicious looking tacos.

Dar enjoyed  the lime seltzer forage.

And he shared his tacos with Loulis up in the tunnel.

March fourteen is International Pi day! (Get it? 3.14?) To celebrate, I decided to make the chimpanzees a delicious pit-fruit pie. We had plenty of frozen pitted fruit from the summer (thank you to everyone who donated the fruit from their fruiting trees), so all I needed to make was the crust.

No sweat, I thought. I surfed the Internet, and found a great vegan recipe (since we had no eggs or milk in the fridge). Flour, baking powder, oil, salt, water. No problem. We always have those ingredients, I thought to myself. Well, I was a little "iffy" on the baking powder, but on checking the cupboard, I found a canister almost half full. Great! Next, off to the pantry for some flour and oil. I found the oil all right, but no flour!

Oh no, I thought, no flour. But I so want to make a pie for Pi day! I spied the pancake mix next to where the flour should be. I read the ingredients on the pancake box. Flour, baking powder, oil solids, and salt! Awesome, I thought, now I can make pie crust!

I left out the baking powder and salt, and just added the oil and water, mixed it together, and had something quite close to pie crust. Then I defrosted the apricots and peaches and boiled them down a bit in a pot with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Into the bottom crust it went (in a cast-iron skillet), and then into the oven. For the top I flattened small bits of dough and floated them on the fruit.

The finished product was beautiful. All the chimpanzees were very excited about the pie while I was baking it. Tatu requested repeatedly that I take the pie out of the oven so that she could smell it. However, only Dar and Loulis came in for dinner, and Loulis ended up eating Dar's serving of pie.

There are plenty of leftovers to serve on another day. Oh well; perhaps next time I will make a pie that everyone enjoys.

This year the Chinese (Lunar) New Year and Valentine's Day fell on the same day, so we celebrated the New Year a little early. In the East Room, interns hung paper dragons, dragon masks, red decorations for luck, pictures of tigers and fish, and a huge sign that said "Happy New Year" in English and Mandarin. There were also raisins, an exciting favorite.


When the doors opened, there were lots of pant-hoots, and excitement as the chimpanzees raced around, picking up raisins all over the playroom, and playing chase. After all of the raisins were gone, Loulis made another loop around the room, pulling down all of the decorations, red sheets and clothes, streamers, the paper dragon hanging over the wooden platform, and finally the red "Happy New Year" sign.



For dinner, all three of the chimpanzees attended a special order Chinese take-out party sponsored by Kathy Gee.  We ordered the following items from Panda Garden for the feast: Egg Flower Soup, Crab Cheese Won Tons; Almond Chicken; Garlic Chicken; Vegetable Fried Rice and extra Fortune Cookies (3 each).  Prior to the start of the meal the interns were drooling over the smell and we took bets on which items might be favored.


The meal offered a number of surprises.  First, the Egg Flower Soup was served as a forage in paper cups hidden in the night-time enclosures.  Although Dar tasted the soup, the forage was primarily commandeered by Tatu, who drank almost every cupful while Dar and Loulis looked on.  Crackers were a bust so Dani, the evening's server, moved onto the main courses.  In the second surprise of the evening Dar took a shining to the Crab Cheese Won Tons and managed to eat all eight!! Tatu picked through the offerings for bits and pieces while Loulis tasted everything on the plate.  Interestingly, no one was very taken with the chicken.


The fortune cookies were served for desert and enjoyed by all, once we told them they were cookies!   Prior to that explanation the chimpanzees merely looked askance at this seemingly ridiculous looking offering.  At least, that's what I imagine they were thinking considering their initial facial expressions and general lack of excitement.  Overall the meal was quite a success but maybe next time we should try some pork? 

Tonight, while conducting hierarchy observations in the area where the chimpanzees come in for dinner, I experienced firsthand a lesson in chimpanzee gastronomy. A bit of background:

First of all, preparing dinner for the chimpanzees can turn into quite an event, with lots of careful planning and creativity going into some of the meals. It's a fair bet to say that the chimpanzees eat better than I do. And I know I speak for more people than just me when I say that it's not uncommon to covet the chimpanzees' dinners. Here's the thing though...you might think that the chimpanzees will like something, given that it has all of their favorite ingredients (read: veggies, etc), and with the added bonus of an artful and creative presentation, you'd think that certain fare would be a sure success with the diners. Au contraire. For example, within the past two weeks, among the things that have shown up on the menu have been: homemade veggie pate, created and slaved over by Emily; and a full-out vegetable and noodle lasagna. I was particularly covetous of that lasagna. However, both items were pretty much fully snubbed by all of the chimpanzees. Dar, upon receiving his bowl of lasagna, promptly turned it upside down and deposited it on the floor. Talk about insulting the chef.

So back to the story: today, I was observing while the chimpanzees were being served their dinner. Tonight's special was rice with veggies. Boy, was that ever a hit. Granted, I haven't observed many dinners, but of the ones I have seen, this was  by far the biggest blowout success. Tatu in particular was a true fan. She pounded down the first bowl, and then asked for, and received, a second, then a third, then a fourth helping. Then, apparently she wasn't getting service from the human caretakers fast enough, so she walked over to Dar and ever so casually swiped the bowl out of his hands, and walkd away, whereupon she continued finishing Dar's meal. Now you might say, aw, poor Dar! Well, don't feel too badly for him. Like the good-natured guy he is, he just walked over to where Tatu had abandoned her own still-half-full bowl, and polished off the rest of hers. But Tatu wasn't done. Then she asked for, and received, a 5th serving. Upon deciding she was done with that, she then walked over and swiped Loulis's bowl from him! In total, I definitely saw her go through 6 bowls of rice. Granted, she wasn't fully consuming all the contents of the bowls. Rather, she picked out her favorite things, but still, I've never seen her eat so much. And she wasn't finished. Upon finishing up the first course, what does she ask for but MILK. The girl is a bottomless pit!

To get a snack after lunch the chimpanzees have to eat a bowl of soup. The soup has beans in it and we want to make sure they are getting enough protein. Tatu asked me for a carrot before eating any soup. I signed, "NEED EAT THAT, YOU KNOW." Tatu picked up the bowl and started eating the soup very slowly. There are four rooms in the Night Enclosure Area (NEA) where the chimpanzees are served their meals. Tatu was in room 4 eating when Loulis called me over to room 2 for a second helping of soup. I was serving Lou his soup when Tatu came over into room 3 and showed me her empty bowl. She looked at me and signed, "CARROT?" I replied, "YES, CARROT." Tatu was clearly pleased with my response. Dar was ready for more soup too so I went back to room 4 where he was waiting. I looked down and saw Tatu's soup all over the floor! She poured it out when I walked away! She has been keeping me on my toes... 

January 26, 2009 marked the Chinese New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Ox. In the traditional Chinese zodiac, the Ox is thought to represent success, through hard work and strength of mind. We've certainly lots of strong minds and hard workers at CHCI, so we're hoping for a particularly successful year!

One way we are hoping to make 2009 a success is by offering our friends and supporters a chance to sponsor a party for the chimpanzees.To kick off the new program, two familiar faces from CHCI sponsored this year's Chinese New Year party. Shannon Wallin is the lead caregiver at CHCI and has been working for the chimpanzees since 2000. Jason Wallin is Shannon's husband and a second year graduate student at CHCI. He's been working for the chimpanzees since 2003.

On most party days, CHCI students and interns decorate the chimpanzees' indoor areas (the East or West Rooms). Today, however, the celebration centered on dinner, so we decorated the chimpanzees' Night Enclosure Area.

Jason had printed out short signs with the Han characters for gong hei fat choi, which translate as "congratulations and be prosperous," a traditional greeting for the holiday. He also printed out drawings of Zao Jun, the Chinese kitchen god. Traditionally, Chinese families hang a paper effigy of the kitchen god above their fireplaces during the New Year season. These decorated the rooms, along with red clothing, red blankets, and some plastic oxen (okay, really they were cows).

After we put up the decorations, but before we invited the chimpanzees into the Night Enclosures, we put out some fresh oranges to begin the meal. Citrus is also a traditional food around New Year. Shannon and Jason purchased Cha Sui Bao (steamed pork buns) and spring rolls for the occasion and CHCI volunteers steamed a big pot of rice. These were all arranged on a platter, atop a pile of shredded cabbage.

The chimpanzees entered the Night Enclosures and immediately started in on their orange forage, with excited squeaks and food grunts. Austin, who was serving that night, offered CRACKERS (protein biscuits) as an added appetizer. Then he brought out the feast! Tatu watched with interest as Austin served up the rice, Cha Sui Bao, and spring rolls.

Everybody enjoyed the oranges and rice and each picked a bit at the spring rolls. No one, though, seemed to think much of the steamed buns--even after we broke one open to show her the meat inside. Tatu loves meat, but was apparently unconvinced by the slightly gelatinous, purple mass at the heart of the buns. All in all, though, it was a fun and different evening meal.

While we've learned that Cha Sui Bao might not be the chimpanzees' favorite food, our Chinese New Year party certainly was a success! Jason and Shannon we happy to help make it possible, and we all look forward to celebrating more parties with the Tatu, Dar, Loulis (and you!) this year.

Here at CHCI, we receive produce donations from one of our local grocery stores to supplement our food budget. This can lead to piles and piles of a particular type of seasonal produce, so much that we don't know what to do with it all! It's up to the interns' ingenuity and creativity with food to make the monotonous piles of produce into fun and interesting meals. With that in mind, the chimpanzees also have their own ideas on what they would like to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Combining available produce with chimpanzee wishes can be both a challenge and a reward. This afternoon, while on an interaction with the chimpanzees, Tatu requested cereal for dinner, a chimpanzee favorite. Since I was scheduled to make dinner, I decided to see what seasonal produce we had that I could use with the desired cereal. This week's grocery run produced a large pile of avocadoes (which Dar and Loulis in particular enjoy), bell peppers in four exciting colors, and onions (which everyone in particular enjoy). I decided to make farina for Tatu, and began digging around in the refrigerator for something to put in it. I found some string cheese in the door, along with a large pile of tomatoes. I grabbed both, along with an onion, and a pepper of each color, and began chopping. Soon I had a large bowl full of colorful pico de gallo, and four avocadoes on the cutting board. I halved the avocadoes, and mashed them up into a thick, green paste, then I mixed a little of the pico de gallo into the mashed avocadoes, and voila! Guacamole! Next I prepared the farina and, while it was sitting, cut up three sticks of string cheese. I mixed the string cheese into the farina, making a very sticky, gloppy, white mess. In went the pico de gallo to make it bright and colorful. Mexican Farina! Serve immediately to keep veggies crisp, with guacamole on the side.

For those people who celebrate Christmas it is true what the song by Eddie Money says, "Everybody loves Christmas, everybody has fun. That time of the year, that holiday cheer, a good time for everyone!"

Here at CHCI we try to celebrate every major holiday with the chimpanzees. This year, like every other, Deborah and Roger Fouts, Mary Lee Jensvold, and several CHCI graduate students and volunteers celebrated Christmas with the chimpanzees on December 24th. The song is also appropriate for the chimpanzees as well.

Right after Thanksgiving we put up the tree for the chimpanzees to see and covered it with decorations and sweet treats (strings of various cereal and candies). From this moment on, the requests for sweet treats did not stop, and the excitement of Christmas day, when they finally get to have the sweet treats, began.

Their Christmas started out early in the morning with friends and family greeting them with a cornucopia of food and gifts. Their enclosures were decorated with streamers, gift bags filled with meat and cheese, presents, and a picnic set up with plates filled with cookies and cups filled with apple-grape cider. Breakfast was put on hold that morning in anticipation of the goodies to fill the enclosures. Besides meat, cheese, and cookies, they also had lunchables, nuts, pomegranates, pineapple, Clementine oranges, cranberries, and sweet treats. Their Christmas forage was enough to keep them satisfied through lunch and dinner until the following morning.

There were many gifts from Dr. R. Allen Gardner of which included a train whistle, a Christmas wine bag (of which we filled with treats and Tatu gladly ripped into, literally), and a fancy feather duster. They don't sound very exciting but indeed all gifts were much appreciated.

Rather than an overly excited day of crazily ripping open gifts and stuffing faces full of food, Christmas this year was more of a mellow get together to enjoy what was given. Loulis was excited to see the yearly gingerbread house and quietly took it into a corner where he slowly had at it, first eating the hard candies followed by the icing and then some cookie.

The mellowness was broken for just a moment though when Tatu decided she wanted some of the gingerbread house and politely stole it from Loulis. Dar was happy to have some lunchables, complete with juice and a candy bar. He also went around the enclosures finding all the cups filled with cider and drinking them in a very sophisticated manner, pinky finger up! Tatu was a bit more active, searching out all the bags (even the ones taped up high on the walls and in the climbing structure) filled with meat, cheese, fruit, and nuts. It seemed like a never-ending party, until the next morning that is.

The holidays have always been a time for eating to excess, and around here, it's no different. The chimpanzees have the ability to splurge, however, because during the other parts of the year they eat a balanced, healthy diet. When it comes time to make those New Years' resolutions, why not make a resolution to switch to the "chimpanzee diet"?

The chimpanzees here at CHCI eat three well-balanced meals during each day, supplemented with a number of healthy snacks in between. Before each meal, the chimpanzees are served an appetizer of what we call CRACKERS in ASL. The crackers are protein-based biscuits that contain all the nutrients a chimpanzee might need. The chimpanzees are also served vitamins in the morning before their breakfast. The chimpanzees take one multi-vitamin and two calcium supplements each day.

 

In the morning, interns at CHCI serve a fruit-based meal: on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays that consists of a bowl of sliced fruit, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays it consists of a fruit smoothie. Based on the season, our current supply, or the chimpanzees' own likes and dislikes, interns can select from a wide variety of fruit ingredients. Dar and Loulis are currently enjoying pomegranate arils in the fruit bowls, while Tatu seems to enjoy smoothies made with apples.

At noon each day, the chimpanzees at CHCI are served a bean-based soup. To make the soup, interns chop up various vegetables (particular favorites include onions, broccoli, and potatoes) and put them into a large pot with one and one-half cup of beans. The type of bean used for the soup changes each day, and includes kidney beans, black beans, navy beans, and even garbanzo beans. The beans are soaked overnight and placed in the pot with the vegetables and a little added water. The soup cooks from eight in the morning until noon when it is served. Before the soup is served to chimpanzees, it is ground up to ensure that the chimpanzees eat all of the nutritious vegetables and beans in the soup. Otherwise, they would pick out the vegetables they dislike! If the chimpanzees eat enough soup, they are served one or two fresh vegetables.

In the afternoon, the chimpanzees are served a carbohydrate-based dinner. This can include basic carbohydrates such as rice, oatmeal, or farina, but can also be more elaborate. Some dinners have included multigrain breads, pancakes, tortillas, or pasta as their carbohydrate base. Dinner is a time for interns to be creative with the chimpanzees' meal, adding fruits, vegetables, or other items.

 

A balanced diet allows the chimpanzees at CHCI to live happily and healthily!