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“ Willie B. loved the sweet

taste of gum. If he noticed

someone was chewing gum,
he would sit directly

in front of that person.”

7 Day after day, Willie watched the people who were watching him. He
particularly liked the gum chewers, because Willie B. loved the sweet taste
of gum. If he noticed someone was chewing gum, he would sit directly in
front of that person. Holding a steel bar of the cage in each hand, he’d
push his nose in between the bars and stare. While he stared, he pretended
to be chewing gum himself. The zoo visitors often asked zookeeper Charles
Horton if Willie had gum in his mouth. As soon as Charles explained that it
was Willie’s way of communicating that he would like some gum, the
visitors almost always began to search through their pockets or purses to

find a piece for Willie B. Charles always removed the wrapper and handed
the gum to Willie, and then everyone watched the gum-chewing gorilla.
8 Although Charles never went into the cage with Willie, the two still
played many games together. One activity they both enjoyed was a kind of
a game of “boo.” When Charles walked down the aisle between the glass
and the bars, Willie would sit in the back corner of his cage, looking up and
down, and acting generally uninterested. Then, once the keeper got closer,
Willie B. would jump up and charge him, as silverbacks do in the wild, but in
a playful way. Charles always ran away, acting more afraid than he really
was. As Charles ran, he could hear Willie B. chuckling with satisfaction.
Willie B. and Charles also liked to play chasing games and tug-of-war.
They even pretended to wrestle by mimicking each other’s actions
through the glass partition.

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