Oliver peeks at the birthday
goodies awaiting him. |
October 7, 2006 was Oliver’s 18th birthday and his first birthday at
Gorilla Haven, so we had to make sure it was as special as he is …Look
closely on the photo on the left, and you can see Oliver's silhouette, as he
tries to peek at the birthday decorations awaiting him on the stairs in the
D cage, including flavored cherries and pistachio nuts!
Oliver loves sheets, towels and
blankets, and builds the most amazing nests with them and the hay bedding he
gets daily. More often than not, Oliver
carries one blanket with
him as he tours his villa, reminding us all of the Peanuts’ cartoon
character, Linus. Oliver also uses blankets as part of his displays, running
by with sheets flying in the wind like he’s Super Gorilla (which, of course,
he is!).
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I cut down one of these banana trees by my
writing cottage as part of Oliver's birthday surprise. |
For months I’ve been gathering old sheets, towels, and clothing for this
occasion. When I accidentally left red lipstick in my pants pockets and ran
it thru the washer and dryer, instead of being miffed with myself for the
ruined items, I just laughed and figured it was more for Oliver! We
took two pair of old trousers and tied the legs, filling them with food
items and treats, and hung a lipstick stained table cloth and tiger blouse
around the huge banana plants and maple, oak and pear browse we’d decorated
2 of his cages with. Kelly brought a strawberry piñata and we filled it with
what would have normally have been Oliver’s lunchtime scatter feed (primate
biscuits, peanuts and grapes). A pineapple, mini bananas, pistachio nuts,
lime/orange/passion fruit-flavored cherries in paper cupcake cups, whole
wheat raisin/granola-cranberry/apple-streusel bread and pomegranate vitamin
water completed the treats, scattered around the two cages.
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Cage D with the piñata
and
browse as decorations.
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Yummy breads were hanging in the browse for
Oliver to discover.
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Oliver was in the C cage watching
us, as much as he could, as Kelly and I decorated. Kelly and I agreed we’d
never heard him as rumbly as we did that day, purring his pleasure as we worked
setting up party headquarters. At one point I was up on his top
platform hanging some treats, when he went to the adjoining outside cage as
part of his patrolling. He began to climb up to peek through the window to
get a better look at what we were doing, when he saw me waving at him from
his upstairs platform. He was startled and jumped back and did a
magnificent display across the outside cages. I hung one of his new
blankets in front of the window so he couldn’t peek and we all agreed it
looked like one of those tacky motel window curtains, with the sunshine
coming through it.
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A fan named Hazel from England had sent Oliver a
birthday e-card, which I printed off for him and hung up near one of his
presents. |
Video of Oliver first arriving at his
party in the E cage. |
Steuart joined us and it was time
to let Oliver come into the D and E cages to have a look at our birthday
offerings. After first coming into E cage and carefully surveying the
wonders around him, it wasn’t long before Oliver did another magnificent
display knocking over the huge banana tree, before sitting down and noshing
on the leaves. Within 5 minutes the lush tropical garden we had created was
totally destroyed and we all agreed if we’d done this for Joe, everything
would still be in place the next day. Oliver is much more a “typical”
gorilla in that regard, and Joe remains a unique gorilla in so many ways.
We deliberately didn’t invite others to join Oliver’s party, since he does
not enjoy company of strangers like Joe does. Since he adores Kelly and me
(finally, a gorilla at Gorilla Haven who likes me!) and knows Steuart (he’s
not a fan of men, in general) and tolerates him, we decided that we’d take
photos and share the experience on this website.
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Video of Oliver as he discovers the strawberry piñata! |
Video of Oliver as he discovers the bread
hidden in the browse.
Video of Oliver ripping the food-filled
trousers and finding treats, including a piece of pineapple. |
Within 20 minutes, Oliver had
tasted and explored everything, pulling down the trousers and ripping open
the cloth, instead of reaching down the legs from the top, finding all the
treats. I’d put mini bananas in the banana trees, and slices of bread in
the maple browse, which he found right away. As he sat down to eat one
treat, his eyes were constantly looking around at what he’d tackle next.
Finally, he gathered a couple of his new sheets and blankets and went to the
transfer cage where he spread himself out a bed and laid down to digest all
the goodies. When Steuart came too close, Oliver got up to display with one
of the larger blankets, leaving it near the mesh, where I grabbed it and
pulled it out, as Oliver watched me, bemused. Oliver was still watching as
I put the blanket over my head and started to run down the length of the
villa, as Oliver charged along side of me, as Kelly and Steuart roared with
laughter. There’s always one person with a lampshade on their head at wild
parties, and I guess I was that person at Oliver’s 18th. |
Classic Oliver pose, peeking in the window to
see wait awaits him. |
Joe had fun too!
  
Video of Joe stripping the leaves of the
banana tree, then attempting to carry it inside his villa; Photo of Joe
taken by Kelly a few weeks earlier, showing a more pensive Joe;
video of Joe relaxing in the sun, enjoying Oliver's birthday too.
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Since Joe was born in the wild
and no one knows his birthday, we celebrate it on March 29th, the
day he arrived at Gorilla Haven. But we didn’t forget Joe on Oliver’s
birthday, and he got his own small banana tree, which he loved, enjoying it
in the sunshine of a cool autumn day warmed by the sun. He even rolled
over on his back and was relaxed and happy, except for the one time
he glared up at me when I started singing “happy birthday” to Oliver …. |
