| Latest Video Updates: 6 June 2008 | |
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Go-Yogurt! Oliver was enjoying a cup of yogurt; we were told he might eat the plastic and not to give him the container (although he's had them before and has always given them back when asked), so I was letting him get the yogurt without giving him the container. This clip shows how resourceful Oliver is, using his tongue and fingers to almost wipe the cup clean. At the end, I helped, by filling the cup with water and swishing it around, so he got every last bit! |
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Dainty Joe. We dropped a box with watermelon outside to Joe. Any other gorilla would have shredded that box to pieces, but not our sweet Joe, who patiently tries to get the watermelon out without ruining the box! |
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An Apple A Day! Oliver is too cute for his own good, as he enjoys his morning feed - especially the apples, which sound so good. This is an odd clip, since a couple of times it looks like Oliver stops because he hears something. But he's deaf, so it's just that he's thinking, perhaps? Still, anything showing how adorable Oliver is, is worth sharing with the world! |
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Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work Oliver goes! After appropriating the goat's chalet, Oliver now goes inside the main enclosed section, remaining there for indefinite periods of time. This clip that Kelly shot today (June 6, 2008) shows him going in and remaining almost a minute before coming out with empty treat tubes, Kelly had put in earlier, while Oliver watched, in our attempt to capture this on video. Usually Oliver does this when no camera is around! |
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Joe's 5th Anniversary Party at Gorilla Haven - celebrated March 27th, instead of the actual anniversary of March 30th. Joe enjoyed a lot of extra treats for this special occasion. Note Joe regurgitates during his eating of the food - now part of his daily life, due to the stricture in his esophagus. Still, it doesn't slow him down or keep him from enjoying himself. |
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Critters Soakie and Bari playing - Both dogs recently had medical problems (Bari's ruptured disk in his neck and Soakie's bladder stones), but clearly they are still having fun. |
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Critters Julicat and Rosemary - kitten showing the dog who's the boss. A nice memory of our Julicat who passed away recently. |
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Video clip 1 of 3: Joe procedure 12Jan08: Moving Joe once he's anesthetized is a tricky maneuver! |
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Video clip 2 of 3: Joe procedure 12Jan08: Vets Dr. Rita and Dr. Francis with project manager, Pete, stand by as Joe begins to recover from the anesthesia. |
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Video clip 3 of 3: Joe procedure 12Jan08: Groggy Joe, slowly coming back to consciousness. |
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Scratchy Oliver ... is he really itchy or just nervous? |
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Stratton, the
younger goat is fearless and often goes into Oliver's cage to
snatch a few of Oliver's tasty foods. Oliver seems bemused and only
occasionally gestures when Stratton gets a bit too close... 23 Nov 2007 |
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On his first
anniversary at Gorilla Haven, Oliver rockets out
of his villa and runs to see all the treats laid out for him for his
celebration. 15 May 2007 |
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Finding a
watermelon in a box,
Oliver decides to
eat it in the shade of under the platform, so he pushes the box over, and
it rolls down the hill. Later the watermelon rolled to the bottom of the
hill and under some hotwire, but Oliver didn't care ... see video below... 15 May 2007 |
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... Oliver didn't
care,
since he
found a big ice bucket with fruit and goodies in it, which took him some
time to devour, as this video shows him hitting the ice, trying to break
off pieces to enjoy in the shade. 15 May 2007 |
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If you've ever
tried to get the crumbs of a really great cake
or cookie, you'll relate to this video clip of Oliver using his finger
tips to get bits of granola off the ground. 15 May 2007 |
| Our All Time Favorites | |
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Joe's First Day Out: This remains one of my all time favorite video clips to watch, as Joe went outside for the first time in a decade in April 2004. |
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Oliver's first day out ... The initial departure from the villa was slow and is shown in 2 video clips. |
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Oliver's first day out, Part Deux: Walking thru habitat. |
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Upright Oliver - bipedal display. |
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Belly up to the Bar: We lined Joe's stairs in the D cage with small paper cups filled with organic cranberry apple tea, and watched amused as Joe entered the cage and tasted one cup of the new beverage, and then proceeded to climb the stairs, knocking back each small cup, like a drunk on a bender, going down the bar lined up with shots of his favorite booze! |
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Everybody's Doing It: Gorillas aren't ruled by the same manners humans have, so picking their nose and sampling the contents isn't uncommon. I wanted to get some good video of Oliver, when he just cracked me up, and we had to share it here. |
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Tricks for Treats. To keep their minds active, instead of putting treats where they can easily get them, we use all different ideas to challenge them. Here Joe shows how smart he is by using patience and some dexterity to get the treats from his split pipe feeder. |
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Treats for Tricks. After finishing some yogurt covered raisins, Joe wants more and slides the empty cup back under the mesh, "asking" for a refill. |
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What a Life. A great snippet of Joe relaxing after his lunch in the sunshine outside Silverback Villa. |
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Birthday Boy Oliver. On his 18th birthday, Oliver enters his decorated villa, taking in all the goodies and treats surrounding him. |
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Birthday Boy & the Pinata. Oliver discovers treats inside the pinata! |
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Birthday Boy & the Trousers. Instead of untying the knotted up trousers, Oliver uses brut strength to rip through the material to discover the goodies, including a piece of pineapple. |
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Birthday Boy & the Bread Tree. Watch Oliver as he scopes out his birthday environment and discovers yummy breads hanging from the tree branches! |
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Joe Opening Presents. Christmas 2005, Joe found a Christmas tree and a whole lot of goodies to look at. |
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Oliver-blanket. Oliver loves his blankets and makes amazing nests for naps and sleeping, with great concentration and care, as this video snippet shows. |
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Demolition Joe (Christmas 2006). Joe charged in and ran straight for the tree and smashed it to smithereens, as fruit went flying everywhere and we all sat with our jaws on the floor, totally stunned that "gentle Joe" had reacted like a real gorilla for a change! |
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Joe noshing. After demolishing the tree, Joe soon settled down and realized the tree was indeed the source of a lot of his favorite foods. |
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Oliver and the glove (Christmas 2006). When Oliver gets access to his holiday treats, you'll see he goes straight for the glove, ripping it to shreds, but gets a little side-tracked when he realized it contained some of his favorite treats. |
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Open Wide, Oliver! In this video clip, you'll see Kelly asking Oliver to present various body parts, using a stick and gently touching, then rewarding Oliver with a sip of his favorite pineapple juice. Oliver was trained before arriving at Gorilla Haven, so we're continuing that process, and adding new things to keep him from getting bored, including brushing his teeth, even the back molars! Periodontal disease, like Joe has, is a serious problem in both gorillas and humans. We wanted to add this video so parents could explain to their kids how important brushing ones teeth is - even for the mighty silverback Oliver! |
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Oliver Training...Not. Sometimes Oliver just decides he has other things on his mind, and prefers not to train, which is always fine with us. He always has the option to go anywhere in his villa or habitat, but more often than not, he enjoys training. In this clip, you see Kelly trying to get him to show her his foot, but Oliver wasn't cooperating! |
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Soakie sees Oliver. Our little puppy Soakie catches her first sight of Oliver through the Habitat window and does a double-take. Dogs aren't allowed in the facility, but I brought Soakie in with me one day as enrichment for Oliver, who enjoyed watching her, even though Soakie thought he was the biggest "dog" she'd ever seen! |