“Go away, Mitch,” said Kimu, with just the right amount of menace in his voice.

“C’mon. Just a little howling. Pretend there’s a moon. Pretend you’re free. Pretend—”

Kimu growled, and so did I. His was pretty impressive. Guttural, deep. It spoke of death and dismemberment and all kinds of unpleasant bird nightmares.

I growled too. It spoke of . . . me being mildly peeved.

Still, Mitch got the message. He disappeared, a blur of wings.

“Actually, I’ve never howled at the moon,” I admitted.

“Me, neither,” said Kimu. “I’d feel kind of silly, doing it here.”

enrichment

We’re almost to my favorite spot in the park.

The great thing for me is that one corner of Gorilla World juts up against Elephant Odyssey, the area where Ruby lives. A low stone wall separates the two spaces, and there’s a moat on the elephant side. The sections connect like two slices of pie, and my secret spot is right at the center, where I can hang out with my crew. Ivan and Ruby both have access to indoor habitats, which is great when the weather isn’t cooperating.

The indoor space for gorillas ain’t bad. I call it the “gorilla villa.” It has tons of ropes and hammocks and branches to climb. Humans watch through a thick wall of glass while the young gorillas run around like kids at recess.

But whenever Julia and I visit, we can almost always find Ivan and Ruby outside.

We trudge up a little rise, though it isn’t much of a hill. We live in a pretty flat part of the world. From there I can see just about everything: the park, the parking lot, the creek. Far beyond that, every now and then, I can even catch a glimpse of the ocean.

My secret place is a little hard to get to, right near the keepers’ shed, nicely hidden by trees and bushes. Under a big magnolia tree there’s a bench shaped like a gorilla holding out his arms. Julia likes to sit there and draw.

Sometimes she does her homework, which smells like frustration with a hint of eraser.

Whenever I visit, Julia props me up on the stone wall that separates Ruby’s world from Ivan’s. Visitors can’t see me, and the keepers pretend not to see me.

If they caught any other dog there, he’d be out in a heartbeat. But Ivan and Ruby and I have a history. I make them happy.

I’m what you might call “enrichment.”

At the park, they try to keep the animals engaged with surprises and challenges and changes to their environment. That’s what enrichment is all about. The gorillas get watermelons to demolish and boxes to hide in and markers for drawing. The elephants get sprinklers and flavored water and elephant-sized rubber balls.