Igor gets a special present

Last week we received an unexpected package addressed to Shirley—and Igor.

It turned out to be from one of his admirers, Cynthia, who had visited IPPL this past February.

On opening the box, we found a cute little primate-printed pouch, and inside that was a “junior” brush and comb set just for Igor.

She also wrote him a sweet little note on the back of a photo that a friend had taken of Cynthia with Igor inside his house.

Cynthia knows that one of Igor’s favorite activities is being groomed by his friends. Grooming is a universally appreciated primate pastime, but because Igor lives alone due to his psychological problems, it’s especially important that his caregivers spend extra time grooming him. So this week they’ve been giving the new “equipment” a good workout, grooming his forearms, shins, sides, and lower back, as well as his head.

With the increase in humidity around here, as we warm up toward summer, Igor sometimes wakes up with a serious case of the frizzies, so this brush couldn’t have come at a better time. 

We’ve found that Igor prefers the softer brush over the comb. But he loves his new brush so much that he is letting people groom him who don’t normally engage with Igor this way—including our caregiver Brandon (whom Igor can be wary of, as he is of some males) and a new volunteer who gave our caregiver Meg a hand a few days ago. Sometimes he gets so relaxed he starts to snooze!

So from Igor and all the staff at the Gibbon House #3 beauty salon, “Thank you, Cynthia!”

(And, by the way, Shirley very much enjoyed the delicious cookies that Cynthia included in the package, so she says thank you, too!)