Here are some action shots of exciting stuff going on here this morning: Foxie making a (modest) nest! You can see her clapping – she does this as she’s going through her routine. Go Foxie!
Archives for September 2008
Dining al fresco
We’re having fabulous weather here in Cle Elum – perhaps the last before things turn chilly and snowy – so we served dinner outside this evening. Here are are few pics of the chimps enjoying the beautiful evening.
Jamie:
Foxie:
Our New Washer and Dryer
Good news…we’ve purchased the new washer and dryer! Thanks to a fundraising drive initiated by our blog readers, we’ve been able to upgrade our old residential machines to new commercial machines that will save us money and time. Can’t wait until they arrive!
J.B. on the radio
Right now! I meant to post this earlier, but messed it up. You should be able to access the archives soon. If you read this within the next few minutes, you’ll be able to catch the end of the interview. Link to Martha Norwalk’s Animal World: http://www.marthanorwalk.com/ and the link to the radio station is: http://www.newschannel1150.com/ (clicking on “listen live” will get you the live broadcast).
Update: to listen to the show, click on the marthanorwalk link above, then on “Visit the Animal World audio archive” J.B.’s interview is half way though Hour 3.
Jamie – Then and Now
In the lab, Jamie plucked the hair from her belly, possibly from stress or frustration, but more likely due to sheer boredom. She has such an active mind, and it is painful to imagine what she went through day after day such an impoverished environment. Here’s a photo of her on Day 2 of her new life in the sanctuary – if you look closely, you’ll notice the tattoo across her chest (522 – her lab I.D. number):
The moment she arrived at the sanctuary, the plucking stopped. The hair grew back in on her belly and became much thicker overall. Thankfully, the tattoo is getting harder to see. Here are a couple of photos taken this morning:
Changing Negra
Many of you have noticed that I recently changed the image of Negra on the homepage of our website. The photo that was up there I had titled “Negra perfect” because I thought that she looked absolutely beautiful in that photo. I still think that she looks beautiful, but, seeing her now that she has more color in her face and her skin has firmed up and her eyes are filled with curiosity and alertness, I can see she is pretty far from perfect in that image. I’m not sure why this surprises me… she was the subject of biomedical research for decades and had been living in a windowless basement with no sun, fresh air, or mental stimulation. Three months later she looks almost like a different chimpanzee. See for yourself below.
Scribbling
Yesterday, while we were cleaning the playroom, Jamie amused herself by scribbling with a pen. Even though she’s not drawing anything in particular, you can see that she really enjoys the process. She grips the pen with precision and puts tremendous concentration into her drawing. Diana caught it on video:
Here’s a photo of one of the pages she scribbled on:
And here’s a photo of Jamie drawing, taken by Diana:
Here’s the funniest thing: Last night, while I was doing closing rounds, I went around the building to say goodnight to each of the chimpanzees. Jamie was laying on a bench in one of the front rooms, with blankets pulled up to her chest. But she wasn’t sleeping – she was drawing in bed! I felt like a parent that discovers their kid reading comic books in bed with a flashlight. Of course, Jamie can draw anytime she likes!
