Chad and I had just said goodnight to the chimpanzees and turned their lights out when I told him, “All these poor people are going to wait so long for a blog post about nothing!” And yep, here you are, and here’s me with nothing much to share. It was just one of those days. Cleaning ran smooth so I was able to spend quite a bit of time with the chimpanzees and take quite a few photos. Did any turn out? Nope!
Of course, all kinds of things contributed to that. Honey B was front and center, but all her photos turned out as a blur (because she’s busy!). Willy B had to approve all photos taken of himself by insisting the camera was in selfie mode. And Mave was just lying around looking cute, but the second I even thought about bringing out the camera, Willy B seemed to use some kind of psychic chimp ability to appear before I even had the camera raised. And I’m going to be honest here – I swear the chimpanzees know exactly what they’re doing when they do this. I cannot tell you the times someone is looking cute and I ask to take a photo and they say, “Sure, go ahead” and then just as I snap the photo they do something that no one wants a photo of, like picking their nose. I’m not kidding. I admit, it’s a good paparazzi deterrent.
As for the seven, being that it was a dark, foggy day – the perfect kind to stay in your cozy nest and nap, read or just lie around with friends – that is exactly what they did. They did spend quite a bit of time outside (remember, they’re Pacific Northwest Mountain Chimpanzees). At one point while we were cleaning Chad and I looked out of the windows and couldn’t even see the fence around the hill. Mere moments later, the chimps were coming back inside so it didn’t deter them much. But once inside, they were quick to head upstairs and get comfortable. So photo opportunities were non-existent on that side.
Willy B and I spent a lot of time checking out how things are going with the addition to their home. It’s really amazing! This is upstairs and Willy B looks like such a tiny guy back there, looking out the mezzanine window. We are all so excited for them to have so much new space to explore!
Willy B seemed to be waiting for one meal after the next, all day long. Chad and I wondered if the dark day put dinner on his mind, haha, and here he is enjoying his second ear of corn for the evening.
I guess about the most exciting thing to happen all day was smack in the middle of everyone snoozing after lunch (except Burrito who was taking Chad on a loopity loop of the hill), Honey B let out a screech. This woke everyone up and I figured she was just yelling at the neighbors, but her screaming was quickly echoed by Mave and Willy B and then they began to alarm call. The second I walked into Phase 1 to see what was happening, poor Honey B ran to me screaming and asking for reassurance, while Mave and Willy B had gotten as high off the ground as they could get, looking confused, but nonetheless believing Honey B when she said something terrible was outside, near their chute.
Honey B seemed to suddenly remember her nest was out there and I guess she figured it needed rescuing because she bravely raced to the doorway, reached out, alarm calling the entire time, and dragged it inside where she wrapped herself up in the corner. Every few minutes, she’d stick her head out of the door flaps to alarm call before running back to the security of her nest. Normally, I would think “snake” and Honey B’s not a fan, but it’s winter, everyone is tucked into their winter beds for the season. Chad and I looked high and low and couldn’t find whatever, or whomever, it was that had frightened her so. She continued to stick her head out of the door and alarm call once in awhile as we searched the area, but eventually she believed us when we told her she was safe and settled down.
Even the seven had been frightened by the ruckus and asked for reassurance when I went to check on them. A haint on the hill? A foggy apparition? A strange noise? It’s a mystery. But if that’s the most alarming thing to happen all day, we’ll gladly take it!
I will say I heard loud and clear as day, a woman laughing behind me in the chimp house the other day while I was playing with Jamie, who was being super silly. I had no idea who it was because Chad and Anthony and I were the only humans in the chimp house and they were both in another area (and as far as I’ve heard don’t sound like girls when they laugh). I figured even though it didn’t sound like her, Diana must have popped up to visit. Jamie was trying to see over my head and I turned around to say hello to whomever was laughing at Jamie’s antics, and that’s right…no one was there. 😉
Ooooh…..spooky!
No chance of ghosts, though, since you guys built the place. Unless a donor *really really* loved those chimps so much….
Railings in the new playhouse loft! No more balancing on the catwalk as you clean!
Hope nothing else creepy happens! The boys wouldn’t prank you, would they? Would you, Anthony?
Linda, we have railings on the catwalk (though originally there weren’t). But yes, it’s super nice over there and we can’t wait for the three to check things out! Plus six more chimp people! 🙂
Ooooh, I love a good ghost story, and, I think a laughing ghost is better than other alternatives. Maybe it’s a snake ghost! 🙂
There are supposedly ghosts in my building at work. After midnight there are sounds of a cocktail party:people talking, silverware, glaes clinking. I figure if there is such a thing as ghosts, at least they’re having a party/good time!
Ahaha! Lordy, don’t tell Annie about snake ghosts! 🙂
That was an old homestead property…there most likely is a grave or grave yard in the area…and they never really leave……….
Let’s not forget that this land is Native American land and it belongs to the Kittitas band of the Yakama Tribe. Perhaps their ancestors come to visit with The Ten as their people hold great respect for all living creatures.
Maybe this is why Jamie has always patrolled Young’s Hill, she wants to be sure only these good spirits come inside the fence line. ; )
Yes! Thank you for acknowledging the history of the original people of these beautiful lands, Kathleen.
Tom, it’s an interesting property, as most are. We have an amazing old barn where we held summer educational visits (pre-Covid) and there are still remnants of the old bunkhouses across from the chimp house. We had the opportunity to see historical property maps at the start of the expansion and there was a dance hall noted on the neighboring property during the mining boom. And of course, as Native American land, the Yakama tribe lived all along this beautiful river valley. Cle Elum, which we are located outside of, means Swift River in their language.
Didn’t Mave have a ghostly visitor stop by for a play-date back on December 3rd?
Those were my exact thoughts Tobin….that scary white ghost Mave was laughing with.
Who needs photos with stories like these?! Ghosts in and around the chimp house! Wowee! Thank goodness you heard laughter Katelyn, at least we can assume it’s a happy ghost . : )
Very mysterious indeed…..
I know what you’re going through when you say the chimps do not cooperate when you hold up the camera trying to capture that perfect moment. The dogs in the shelter where I volunteer often do the exact some thing to me. They will be doing something so incredibly adorable or funny and I’ll swipe my phone to camera mode, choose a setting, tap to focus and boom, without fail, the dogs stop what they are doing, turn away from the camera and just sit there. Or they blast right up to the phone for a nose bonk on the screen. I end up with a blur of movement, the back of a dogs head or a big blurry nose shot. Sigh. And yes, they most definitely know exactly what they are doing. Jeepers, they are all so sneaky and smart aren’t they? : )
Kathleen,
As someone who isn’t a fan of having my photo taken, I think these would be clever tactics to employ! 😉
Could it have been a mouse??
It could have been! I don’t know that she is scared of them, but maybe was startled. Who knows? 🙂
Wow, spooky! My guess is that these dark foggy days of winter bring out the anxieties in all of us. The new building is also so empty, and empty places are a little unsettling. But.. very soon those places will be full, and there won’t be any room for ghosts. You simply will not have time for that sort of thing, you’ll be so preoccupied with feeding and cleaning and making enrichment that the ghosts will have to move along. So hang in there, good things are going to happen!
Well Katelyn, for a photo-less blog it was really an exiting story; I could see it all in my mindseye.
And if you mix it with the few words and many photo’s from Anthony yesterday, you end up with 2 great blogs, so there…….
Ya’ll got ghosts there if you hear women laughing! I have one where I work that smokes. You can smell it for a few minutes then it’s gone smoke stays this doesn’t. Plus it rides the elevator in the evenings. I saw it twice in the mirror which both times was when I was stressed.
Wonder if the chimps experience them too…..
Oooh, creepy!
I’ve never seen anything at work, though I’m no longer working in the office past 9 or 10pm, as I did in the old days before getting internet at home. But a couple of staff people have told me things….