There’s something so sweet about chimpanzees making nests.
In the wild, chimpanzees use branches and leaves to create their beds. In captivity, blankets are a favorite of everyone who nests.
Watching the cameras over these last several weeks, I’ve learned that some chimpanzees are more creatures of habit than others. Gordo, for example, definitely has “his spot” on the catwalk in the Lupine Playroom. He’s not much of a nest-maker, so he usually has just a couple of blankets and some paper, but he also pulls up a fire hose hanging down near his spot and sometimes incorporates that into his nest. Some of the other chimps, on the other hand, stake out different nest sites on different nights. Rayne made a big nest in the Oakwood Greenhouse last night and stayed out there for quite a while before coming in and nesting on one of the “leaves” of the “tree” in Marmot Mountain Playroom.
Mave, Honey B and Willy B, from day one of the integration, claimed the Front Rooms as their bedroom. Just in the last couple of weeks, though, Mave has, once in a while, opted to sleep in the Lupine Playroom in the mix with her new group-mates. And sometimes Honey B will begin her nesting in the Mezzanine and later move down into the Front Rooms, like you see Mave doing in this video.
It will be so interesting to see how their chosen nesting sites evolve as time goes on!
I know you all likely want an update on Jamie, given J.B.’s blog post yesterday. Right now she is nesting in the front rooms on her side of the building. She’ll probably be isolated for another day or so as we monitor her surgical site, but she’s doing great! She rested a lot today, but clearly was interested in getting back with her group soon.
I think this video is one of my favorites, they look so sweet! Mave is turning out to be quite entertaining.
Aw. I felt so bad for Cy!
He looked so deflated :neutral_face:
And Mave just carried on:joy:
I’m enjoying the videos from the security cameras. Keep them coming! The one with Mave and Rayne the other day was great.
It was really wet here in Florida today so I curled up and put YouTube on the telly and watched CSNW videos. It was awesome. A good nap day.
Hugs and kisses to dear Jamie.
Love and thanks to you all.
I love that your version of a nap day includes watching CSNW videos, Paulette! Thanks for helping Cy out 😉
Thank you, Diana, for sharing this video. The time above the footage seemed to read about 4:15 p.m.: Do the chimpanzees go to bed that early, especially in June when the daylight in Washington makes for late sunsets?
And, I also want to thank you so very, very much for sending me the photograph of my beloved Jody enjoying a snack of lilacs in the (very informally-attired) company of Strawberry Shortcake and a couple of trolls. I plan to make copies of the photograph which I can laminate and carry in my wallet. When someone shows me a picture of her grandchild’s birthday party, I can match them with a picture of Jody at her birthday party.
Say hello to JoJo for me, and give her my best…8).
I was wondering if anyone would coment on the time! This video was from Thursday, which was the day we had the planned procedure for Jamie. We wanted to get started early, so the chimp house day got rolling a full hour and a half ahead of the usual schedule. That’s why their nest making was on the early side.
I’m so glad you liked the photo of Jody! I posted on yesterday on our Instagram that I know you will appreciate: https://www.instagram.com/chimpsanctuary/
Aw, that big ol’ wolf blanket seems to be pretty popular! Good job to whomever gifted that!
Thanks, Diana! Happy Sunday!
Those wolf blankets are hugely popular with most of the chimps! Thanks for the shout-out to those who follow our wish list.
I often say what I would give to be a fly on the wall. This was wonderful! Big Cy looks slightly disappointed walking away with the little pink blanket while Mave sneaks off with largest blanket. And Mave walking over Honey B while dragging that big blanket killed me. Also loved the soft Good Night hoots.
Thanks for the Jamie update. I am pleased she’s resting. I hope she embraces her special recovery room like Negra did. Jamie deserves a little extra pampering.
Oh yeah, I meant to mention those low good night hoots as well. I remember hearing them in the wild in the Chimpanzee movie. It was so nice to hear our chimps saying good night.
Their version of “Good night John Boy.” “Good night, Mary Ellen”. I love it whenever we get video of that!
“Good night, Cy Boy”, “Good night, Maeve Bernadette”, and so forth. For further reference, please refer to the videos posted on December 1, 2017 and July 10,2022. Annie’s goodnight cooing to Foxie is the very sound of beauty.
You’re a whiz at finding old posts, Tobin!
But how do you see into the future? 😉
Thank you, Tobin! I had forgotten about that sweet 2017 video that J.B. put together (https://chimpsnw.org/2017/12/01/). There’s this classic video too from 2010: https://chimpsnw.org/2010/10/nest-grunts/.
I was so surprised at Jamie’s cooperation with her procedures before she had to have surgery. Good job Diana! she was the last one I would have guessed would do that, but given her intelligence and your training, it should have been more obvious. So glad to hear that she’s doing well.
The blanket gathering was wonderful…..Mave stole the show….not only the best blanket. What’s the update on the number of blankets that you use in a day now? Has the phantom blanket ripper given up that hobby?
RE: The phantom blanket deconstructionist:
Err…as mentioned above, I refer you the video from 7.10.2020. As for the number employed by the afore-mentioned blanket deconstructionist, I believe that tally equals the number of days in this month.
Wow! She’s an expensive lady to keep then…..we know what’s on the Christmas list already then, Tobin!
Carol – When we first started our PRT program, Jamie was not very keen on it, but she quickly warmed up to the idea. As you mentioned, she’s a smart cookie, so I think she enjoys the process of figuring out what we are asking for, and the extra one-on-one attention and food rewards are equally motivating for her. I always try to assure her that she is the one in control during PRT sessions, because, in reality, she is, and I think it’s important for her to know that her authority is respected at all times, even if she is doing something that we request of her.
We now use around 150 blankets a day for the whole of the chimp house! We do keep clean blankets in their enclosures so we don’t necessarily wash that many every day, but sometimes, like when we have someone in isolation and they have 30+ blankets to themselves, our laundry certainly piles up.
I don’t want to jinx it, but it seems that the blanket ripper (we can squarely but some of that behavior on both Jody and Missy) has slowed their habit for the time being 😉
Archives aren’t working?
nm