This post may reflect what I would like to be doing on this cold and damp day…
In any case, below are some photos – some oldish and some newish – of the chimpanzees getting snuggly with blankets. We give out at least 60 blankets a day. Sixty is a somewhat arbitrary number, but it’s based on the amount that we can successfully get washed in a normal day with our current washer. We (and the chimps) like fleece blankets, because they are very comfy and the wash and dry fast and easy.
As you probably know, Negra is never far from a blanket, and she often has one draped over her head and/or shoulders:
The photo above is on the holiday card available for purchase in our Zazzle merchandise store!
Missy sometimes “imitates” Negra’s blanket style, even nesting in Negra’s usual spots:
Always the athlete/acrobat, however, Missy incorporates interesting moves when she is nesting. For the full nesting sequence the photo below was taken from, see this post:
Jamie also occasionally sports a blanket over her head when nesting:
though she often chooses a sheet instead of a blanket for the job:
Jody is known for her nest making (she also likes straw nests – see this video from 2009 as an example):
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jody with a blanket over her head, but she still looks darn cozy when she’s curled up in her blanket nest:
Annie is also a nest builder, and can frequently be found gathering nesting material and moving it to another area:
Once she’s made her nest to her liking, she always strikes me as very satisfied:
Burrito and Foxie are not much into building nests. Though nesting has a strong instinctual component, it seems there is a period of learning involved. Both Burrito and Foxie do mostly what we call “phantom nesting.” Once in a while, Foxie will actively nest with blankets:
but more often than not, she has a more passive relationship with all of the blankets we give out:
Burrito is also more on the passive side of the spectrum when it comes to nesting, though he does like to snuggle up, particularly when someone else has done the work of making the nest:
Let us not forget, blankets are not just for nesting, but can also be great props when playing too:
I hope this inspires you to get snuggled up in your own nest tonight, or maybe play a game of ghost with a friend?
I just love seeing them all snuggled up and enjoying life. How they ever survived all those years before, I’ll never understand… Thank God for this sanctuary!
I was snuggled in blanket today too!
Diana, I was unaware about the “phantom nesting.” Fascinating! I watched all the videos of Foxie and I am very curious about Foxie and Burrito and their nesting behavior. In one of the older posts, I see you asked others to respond if they too had seen “phantom nesting” in sanctuaries. Did you get any replies? Anything more you can tell us about this? It is like watching a little ballet with the graceful arm movements when making the invisible nest.
We did get some replies that confirmed other captive setting have observed this phantom nesting behavior in chimpanzees, going back many years. I reached out to Dr. William McGrew, who studies wild chimpanzees, and he consulted with some of his colleagues. He has not personally seen the behavior in the wild but this was his guess as to it’s presence in captivity: “I suspect that it is incipient but undeveloped intention movements of the nest/bed-making behavioural complex. That is, with appropriate models (other nest-building chimpanzees) and raw materials, at the right (critical) stage of the lifespan, normal nesting emerges in chimpanzees, no problem. If some or all of these elements are missing, then it does not, but instead there may be these rudimentary ‘shadows’ of the real thing.”
J.B. and I have worked with other chimpanzees who do this – Chance at Fauna used to do it quite often, and Petra too.
We were hoping that we’d see Foxie and Burrito develop more “real” nesting behaviors over time, and they have to a certain extent, but certainly not creating big nests like the other chimps.
Thanks for your interest, as always, Kathleen!
Thank for the reply. I find the phantom nesting very intriguing. Dr. William McGrew’s comment “rudimentary ‘shadows’ of the real thing” describes the phantom-nesting-dance perfectly. It would seem that in almost all captive, chimps “…some or all of these [nest building] elements are missing” and yet many are excellent nest builders.
And it is interesting that both Chance and Petra do the same thing (I love these dear girls). Is it in any way connected to captive chimpanzee’s who have a harder time “coping” or are “more troubled”? Not even sure these are the right words but it is interesting that Foxie, Chance, Petra and in his own way Burrito, have all had a slower or more difficult time moving on/letting go of their past.
I love learning new information on the chimps. Thank you, thank you!
Good question. I guess I would not say that the phantom nesting is necessarily linked to more troubled chimps, though I wouldn’t throw that theory out completely (how’s that for vague). I think what it does indicate is that they did not grow up in an enriched environment that allowed them to fully learn and express all that it is to be a chimpanzee, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the same chimpanzees who phantom nest also have other “odd” or non-species typical, or ritualized behavior.
I also had missed the phantom nesting post and was quite interested in the replies you received about that post.
What would happen if a human built a nest (while the chimps were out of the room) and left it in a corner? Would another chimp come by and dismantle it? Would Foxie and/or Burrito take no interest in it? What if a little nest was made and a few of Foxie’s babies were left in it? Would she just get the dolls and ignore the nest?
I love Negra and the blankets over her head – very endearing, and quite different from the blanket-over-the-head play behavior, which is pretty funny.
Hi Sara!
Human-built nests in one of the enrichment themes that comes up once in a while, so we’ve done this a handful of times (for example: https://chimpsnw.org/2013/02/how-well-do-you-know-the-seven/). It’s pretty fun for the caregivers and volunteers, and has met with mixed reactions by the chimps. Foxie definitely is more interested in the objects, but having them laid out in nest formation can induce the “phantom nesting” behavior. We’ve also given Foxie blankets with trolls tied to them, which caused the same sort of reaction. I can’t recall if I’ve noticed Burrito pay attention to our pre-made nests. I’ve definitely seen Jody and Jamie embellish upon the nests that we’ve made – making them their own. For the most part, the chimps seem to get something out of the actual activity of making the nest – even if they don’t end up using it. I’ve seen Missy on more than one occasion spend 10 or 15 minutes building a nest, lay in for 20 seconds, then get up to do something else.