Archives for March 2024

Presenting the Winner of the Easter Egg Hunt

March 31, 2024 by Diana

It was an exhilarating day (if you are really impatient, scroll down to find out exactly why).

To tell the truth, it didn’t really dawn on me until yesterday that today is Easter, so I was felt lucky to be able to help with the festivities of the day.

I did know there were some party plans in store for the chimps for Easter, including non-commercial eggs from happy chickens that Dr. Erin knows that were dyed using natural dyes (like blueberries and yellow beets) by volunteer Nancy yesterday.

and SO MANY paper eggs filled will all sorts of fruits and veggies that were hidden i both outdoor habitats by volunteer Patti and staff member Ellen for an Easter egg hunt.

It was a gorgeous day, and all the chimps appreciated the forages and the dyed eggs. We actually got quite a bit of footage, but I wasn’t able to get it all put together for a proper video, so look for that tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some photo highlights:

Jamie watching the set-up in the greenhouse from the playroom:

Annie on one of the new structures on Young’s Hill:

Burrito chomping down on a “baby” iceberg lettuce:

Foxie with a tomato she found in one of the paper eggs:

Negra even climbed a structure in search of more lettuce:

The true winner of today’s Easter egg hunt was, hands down, our very own Cy. He marched right outside and went to the new structures on The Bray. Structures that he had never climbed before this afternoon!!!

He deserved today.

Cy’s sister Lucky also was feeling adventurous and climbed the crow’s nest structures that are connected to Ryan’s Lookout:

Thank you to everyone who supports the sanctuary and who donated at year-end to make these structures possible. Look for the Easter video tomorrow!

Easter Eve

March 30, 2024 by Anna

It’s Easter Eve and just like so many of you probably are, we’re busy filling and dying eggs, prepping baskets and finalizing the menu for tomorrow’s festivities:

Meanwhile, it seems that the chimpanzees are without a care in the world and are busy soaking up the warm spring sun on this glorious day.

Exhibit A: Foxie and her shortcake doll

It’s not all lounging with dolls though, supervising the humans is an important duty that still needs to get done. This morning, Burrito and Jamie kept a close eye on Facilities Technician Jake as he did some work in Playroom 1.

Whether you’re prepping, working, supervising or just lounging today, wishing you all a beautiful holiday weekend!

Friday Festivities

March 29, 2024 by Ellen Brady-McGaughey

I am usually lead caregiver on Fridays, and part-time caregiver Krissy and I have come to love celebrating Fridays, or Fri-YAYs as we call them. It is a lovely reminder each week of how lucky we are to be here, and to celebrate the little moments we get to share in each day with the chimps. Today was no exception, and we celebrated with some gatorade pools for the chimps, as well as a forage on Young’s Hill at lunch.

The weather was perfect today, with the sun shining and a slight breeze. The chimps were all in a great mood, and there was lots of chimp laughter that could be heard throughout the chimp house.

Enjoy today’s video from our Fri-YAY celebrations, and some bonus photos included below. I hope you all have enjoyed just as lovely of a day as we have!

Negra at the gatorade pool

Jamie at the gatorade pool

Handsome Cy relaxing

Gordo to the Rescue

March 28, 2024 by Sabrina

One thing we know about Cy is he loves to look at his books and magazines. He also tends to alarm bark when he see’s certain animals, especially cows, rhinos, etc. Even when he alarm barks at things in his reading material he tends to continue looking at them. My theory is that he likes to get a little scared, like people who love horror movies. Well, in today’s video Gordo came to Cy’s aid when he started to alarm call at his new book of African wildlife.

As a bonus I’ve included photos of Cy the other evening while he relaxed in his nest to enjoy a movie.

Playful Spirit

March 27, 2024 by Kelsi

The thing about Burrito is… everyone loves him, chimps and humans alike. Burrito’s light-hearted nature and playful energy is hard not to be contagious. Though at times his group does need him to settle down, they all love to play and interact with him. I mean who wouldn’t, just look at him!

A bonus photo of Jamie the fashionista:

An Intro to Smush Face

March 26, 2024 by Grace

Chimpanzees have many different facial expressions. From play faces to fear grimaces (often mistaken for a smile, but it’s not), their expressions vary depending on a variety of factors. One of my favorites, though, is affectionately (and scientifically, I’m pretty sure) known as ‘smush face’.

There are many different iterations of smush face, but one thing is consistent- once it’s been noticed, you will hear a caregiver give a little squeal. Smush face is one of the small, amazing part of our days here, but it can be elusive since it can be tricky to capture on camera. You have to be quick and nimble, so you catch it before they move, while also not giving them (or any sneaky bystanders) the opportunity to poke your phone out of your hand.

One version of smush face is when a chimp smushes their lips into the caging to give their caregiver a kiss (safely, of course, on the back of our hands). Here, we see Lucky with a 10/10 smush face:

Another version of smush face is when a chimp reaches maximum comfort by laying down and resting their face on something that causes their capacious lower lip to smush out. This is one of the best versions of smush face, in my opinion, because they just look so darn cozy. Here we have Cy and Terry showing us how it’s done.