As we were finishing up cleaning the playroom this morning, we caught two unusual suspects — Annie and Negra — in a pretty wacky game. For those of you just tuning in, Annie is the least dominant chimpanzee at CSNW. She is gentle and shy, and when she arrived here in 2008 she didn’t have the confidence to play with anyone except for her best friend Missy. And Negra is the oldest of the Cle Elum Seven, and prefers to spend the vast majority of her time under a blanket. So it was pretty special to see these two ladies letting loose this morning.
Archives for December 2012
Thank you, Phillippa Kassover!
Phillippa Kassover has sponsored today for the chimpanzees. Phillippa first learned of the Cle Elum Seven earlier this year from the media coverage on the Taylor Bridge wildfire, and she suggested that we take today to celebrate new beginnings! We’re running with Phillippa’s suggestion and setting up a New Year’s Eve dinner forage for the chimps in the playroom tonight. Here’s to a happy and safe 2013!
A good ol’ fashion head bonk
Missy has been a complete goofball today. Every time I make eye contact with her, she darts off and starts laughing – suggesting she wants me to chase her. I’ve seen her playing with almost everyone today – so if you’ve got some energy and you’re feeling playful and extremely goofy, I know who you need to call! Ok, so maybe you can’t actually play with her, but you can donate to her team. After weeks of being in the lead, she is now in LAST place! And if my little spill doesn’t convince you, check out this adorable scene I caught between her and Negra this morning:
Happy Birthday, Tracy Headley!
Today was sponsored by Elizabeth Porter as a gift to her daughter, Tracy Headley. Tracy is a fan of Foxie, so I found a few photos of Foxie to go with the blog post.
Tracy will be happy to know that Foxie had a really great day today. I put a big bucket of snow in one of the front rooms and Foxie snacked from the bucket all afternoon (troll dolls in hand, of course). At one point, Foxie noticed that the cover of the television was partially removed. When I asked her if she wanted to watch a movie and moved toward the t.v., Foxie became really excited. So I put in a dvd that included some Dora the Explorer episodes. She was so immersed in the cartoons, that she barely noticed lunch being served by volunteer caregiver Connie. Foxie also played chase with Jamie and Missy.
All in all, I’d say Foxie had a great day. We hope you did too, Tracy! Thank you and your mom for being such great supporters of Foxie and her friends. Happy Birthday!
Industrious Jamie
Jamie, as you probably know, is a very industrious chimpanzee person. Sometimes we create enrichment projects for her. Other times, like today, Jamie assesses the objects that we put out for the chimps and takes it upon herself to come up with a project of her own making (see video below).
Jamie took a well deserved rest this afternoon after all of her industrious work. Note the carefully placed boots in her nest:
Bubbles
Once and a while we put out buckets of soapy water, using plant-based soap, for the chimps’ enrichment. Jamie likes to use the soapy water to clean. Jody shoves handfuls of soapy foam into her mouth as she makes her “dinosaur noise” (actually a combination food grunt and low moan).
I don’t know if she did it intentionally, but the other day, Foxie was actually blowing bubbles.
Icicles
The chimpanzees really love snow, which is great because it just keeps falling and they never get sick of it! Check out the newsletter that was sent out today that also includes a video of the chimps enjoying snow.
Anyway, with snow comes icicles. Today J.B. noticed that there were quite a few on the building, and the sun is out now so they are melting fast.
I knocked down a few and passed them out to the chimps, but found that it was pretty tricky to pass them out AND get photos before either the chimps ran off to a hard-to-see spot with their icicle, or the icicles melted. My solution: I placed some icicles delicately on the caging so the chimpanzees would have to pull them through on their own. Missy was the first to come over, and she grabbed most of them before they melted. The other chimps were happily munching away on the ones I passed out earlier.
I know you can’t see her whole face in the picture below, but I just love how you can see her drooped lip, which means she’s relaxed and happy.
