Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for April 2012

Hoppy Easter!

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Today was a full day of mini-parties! First, we had a juice forage in the Playroom (something all the chimps love), then we set up a lunch forage in the greenhouse, followed by an Easter Egg Hunt on Young’s Hill! On the menu for lunch was Easter baskets of cut up fruits and veggies in a bed of lettuce, courtesy of volunteers Stephanie and Katelyn. The chimps were so excited!

Missy:

Foxie got a couple of new trolls, thanks to Katelyn and to Dick and Robbi Brown, who donated tons of new toys for the party:

Jody with her head in the game

Burrito always has his head in the game!

Jamie and her loot:

Negra and Jody enjoying their lunch together

Negra was so happy!

After lunch, the chimps went out on Young’s Hill for an Easter Egg Hunt! We were so excited to be able to see them search 2-acres for plastic Easter eggs filled with peanuts and berries. There were also carrots stuck in the ground, allowing them to “harvest” their own carrots! What a fun day!

rule #1 – make your boss happy

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We talk a lot about how Jamie is the boss not only of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees, but of the humans at the sanctuary too. People ask us what makes her the boss. I don’t know that I’ve ever explained it quite this way before, but I’d say a good 75% of the “why” behind Jamie’s leadership status is that she just knows she should be in charge. I don’t think there’s any question in her mind that she should have a privileged status among all of us.

This entitlement means that Jamie can be demanding. If she’s trying to get our attention in order for us to give her something, she’ll often stand in the loft of the playroom, look into the kitchen and stomp her feet or hit the caging. Today she did this after lunch. Volunteer caregiver Connie and I were the only humans in the building at the time. Connie did her best to try to figure out what Jamie wanted, bringing her out various favorite things like crayons, big container,s and a couple of pairs of boots.

But the boss was not satisfied.

So, we decided to get ALL of Jamie’s boots (even the extras that were in storage) and line them up outside of the front rooms. It’s something that I had tried over a year ago that worked (see that blog post), and we were out of options. I don’t know if this is exactly what Jamie wanted, but she was definitely pleased with our solution. She would point to certain boots and we would hold them up for her. Some of them she seemed to just want to look at, some she wanted to touch, and others she asked us to give her by standing near the chute with her hand in the position to grab a boot that we dropped in (you can see the rectangular hole and the wire mesh chute below in this photo).

boots on display

 

jamie face

Playfaces and acrobatics

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Missy got Jody to play with her on the hill today.

After chasing each other and wrestling for a bit, they casually walked up to the tall bamboo grove.

While I was snapping some photos of Jody, Missy suddenly climbed one of the bamboo culms. By the time I could turn the camera on her, she had ridden it back down to the ground. She really seemed to enjoy letting it go and watching it snap back into form.

New troll

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Foxie has hundreds of troll dolls, but she still loves getting new ones.

When she gets a new one, she usually cuddles it or holds it to her belly.

Sometimes she will take the troll for a stroll, putting it on her back the way a chimp mother might carry her child (that’s Jody on the left).

When she’s really excited about a new troll, she will play games with it, like balancing it on the rung of a ladder until it falls onto her belly.

This troll got to tour most of Young’s Hill today.

Jamie’s current boot friend

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Jamie never tires of boots, but her favorite bounces around (just like most of us shoe-lovers!). Her current favorite in her collection is this red pair, donated by new volunteer Carrie Parker (thanks again, Carrie!). She has several pairs that are relatively new and that are exciting to her, but today these were the only pair that satisfied her. She had me pull out her entire collection until I finally picked up the red pair, and she immediately jumped up and ran towards the food chute so I could give it to her. The girl knows what she wants!

Visits from old friends

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The chimps have gotten a few visits from old friends lately. Founder Keith LaChappelle was here last week for Sippin’ for the Seven. The chimps are always so excited when Keith comes to visit, especially his pal Burrito! But this time, Negra was especially affectionate:

And today, former volunteer caregiver Kim visited. The chimps were so excited to see her! While we were cleaning the Greenhouse, she got to spend some quality time with Jamie and Foxie through the chimp-proof glass window.

Photos from Sippin’

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If you purchased tickets for last week’s Sippin’ for the Seven, you should have received an email today with a link to a survey about the event (Did you attend the event but didn’t get an email with a link? The survey is here).

Enjoy the photo montage below with photos of the event by Jonathan Houser and music by Lenny Price. I think the photos show what a great evening it was and what a great success both Sippin’and Biddin’ were for the chimpanzees!