The other day, Jamie was quietly taking in the view from Young’s Hill.
As Jody passed by, the two of them noticed something in the grass.
Young’s Hill is home to many other critters besides chimpanzees. Bugs, birds, garter snakes, and squirrels all try lay claim to these two acres, but they often run into trouble with their seven noisy neighbors.
You wouldn’t normally expect chimpanzees to be scared of creepy crawlies. Wild chimpanzees hunt and eat a variety of animals, which can include birds, reptiles, insects, and small mammals (even other primates), depending on the community. But the Cle Elum Seven are not wild. Physically, they are the same as their wild cousins, and they share many of the same behavioral traits, but they lack the culture of a wild community. And given their histories, they haven’t had much personal experience with the great outdoors either. So what might be seen as food by a chimp in Gombe might be feared by a chimp in Cle Elum.
Jamie certainly likes to kill, which shouldn’t surprise those of you that have gotten to know her through this blog. However, she has a good instinct for self-preservation and she still hasn’t quite figured out which animals fight back, so she often approaches cautiously. In fact, we sometimes liken her to a pointer, because she will stop dead in her tracks with one arm and one leg up. But rather than directing someone else to the prey, I always feel like she’s thinking…If it gets me, at least I’ll still have two good limbs.
Thankfully, it usually ends up being a wild goose chase, as it did in this instance. The field mice quickly scurry back into their holes and the birds effortlessly fly away while the chimps are still trying to get up to speed.
This type of enrichment can’t be beat – especially when no animals are harmed in the process. Captive chimpanzees will always require some kind of artificial enrichment, but there’s nothing like the unpredictable and often exhilarating enrichment that exists in the natural world.
I love that photo of pointer Jamie. Has she done that every time you have seen her spot something? How long have you seen her hold that pose?
It’s a pretty common response – she usually holds it like that for 5-10 seconds.
Boy, are you gonna be surprised one day to see tiny bones scattered about the chimp house.
Or, maybe not.
Loved the story, and the photo’s. Jamie is quit the character…Love the pose, and the curiosity photo at the end. Knowing them, they were probably trying to figure out how to get that mouse out of it’s hole. I’m sure Jamie was pondering.
They stare and look so intensely,, curious,interested, uncertain, afraid,… yet very willing and open to learning, the outdoors certainly tweaks new interests,, very interesting, ..
I ve noted Negra tends to always be on ground level while the others climb all the elevated structures,
Is Negra physically able to climb on up to the structures that the others absolutely enjoy..
or is she limited in her agility as result of her age,?
If so JB have you ever considered building a solid structure that is closer to the ground so Negra can enjoy in some fun..
BTW,. JB you must thoroughly enjoyed your moment when you witnessed Negra hanging out in Negras fort.
Yes, Negra can climb and she regularly climbs the structures inside the greenhouse and playroom. One of the structures on the hill was built with logs on the uphill side that form a ramp, so that you can climb up from one side and walk on from the other. Negra often uses the log ramp to get on top of that platform.
I do love seeing them enjoy the new structures. Sometimes it takes a while, but they eventually figure it out.
Out of curiosity, which animals do fight back?
Ground squirrels. I’ve only seen the chimps catch a ground squirrel once. There was an unbelievable amount of screaming once they realized that it was biting and clawing back at them. The ground squirrels here are quite large, weighing up to 2 pounds and measuring up to a foot in length not including the tail.
Thankfully, the chimps are only able to catch animals like this when the animals find their way through a chimp door into the greenhouse or playroom, and this doesn’t happen very often. Outside, the squirrels definitely have the advantage.