Chimpanzees spend a lot of time in their nests. In the wild, they tend to bed down at dusk and remain there for about 12 hours until the sun rises again. On average, they sleep for 9 to 10 hours, waking now and again throughout the night and even calling to group members in other trees but rarely leaving their nests.
Here at the sanctuary, most of the chimps follow a similar 12-hour nesting pattern, even though the length of each day here in Central Washington changes drastically with the seasons. On a typical day, the chimps eat dinner at 4:30 and get their evening food puzzles at 5:00. When they are done eating, they begin to make their nests indoors, and almost everyone is in bed by the time we’re wrapping up our workday at 5:30. This is true even in the summer when it stays light outside until 10:00!
Once the chimps are inside for the night, we close off Young’s Hill for security reasons. But if any of the chimps choose to stay outside, two staff members stay at the chimp house until the chimps choose to come back in.
Jamie, as you may have heard, is not like the other chimps. She needs very little sleep, and she has no interest in lying awake in her nest for hours counting sheep. So, being the clever chimp that she is, she figured out that all she has to do is stay outside after dinner or even sit in the doorway to Young’s Hill and, just like that, she has two companions for the rest of the evening.
When she keeps her caregivers here late, she usually does three of four purposeful walks around Young’s Hill, much like her daytime patrols. But eventually, even she grows tired of the walks and it becomes obvious that she’s just killing time to keep her human friends around a bit longer.
On our last walk last night at 8pm, she made a point of climbing every structure on the hill.
She crossed every fire hose bridge.
Finally, she sat quietly at the highest point on the hill and took in the view.
When she decided that she’d had enough, she climbed down and returned to the chimp house.
Even Jamie needs to sleep eventually. Which is good, because her caregivers do too.
How do you decide who gets to stay late ? Do you take turns or are you and Diana
the lucky ones because you live so close ? Jamie is a very lucky lady as are all of the
7 chimps. Thank you for all that you guys do for them.
Hi Kathy – We have an evening on-call schedule, so the whole staff takes turns hanging out with Jamie after hours.
Independent Jamie. It’s so great that she feels so comfortable in her environment that she can express herself in this way.
A fabulous post filled with educational tidbits combined with Jamie stories. What could be better? The hill has saved her sanity and even though she is still anxious about counting sheep and filled with energy when the other six are ready to wind down the day, that she can make her own decision on when she wants to retire from the hill to bed is a beautiful thing. Bravo on this wonderful post!
“The hill has saved her sanity” – yes! so happy that she has CHOICE. <3
Is this new or did Jamie do this when it was dark and the stars were out? I just wondered if she was a star gazer. Do the caregivers ever try to bribe her to get her to come in sooner or does Jamie get to decide? She is one fascinating lady that is to be greatly admired. Thanks for your post JB.
There were a few times this past winter that we hiked around the hill with Jamie by moonlight, but she doesn’t seem to want to be outside when it is pitch black. And while we don’t bribe her to come in per se, we do provide incentives for the whole group like the after dinner food puzzles. And there are certainly times when we do what we can to nudge her inside for the night, especially after a few late nights in a row. Ultimately, however, it is her choice, so if she is set on staying out late, there’s not much we can do about it.
One of the many things that impresses me about CSNW is the staff, a group of highly educated, experienced people who have studied at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute at Central Washington University (among other impressive experiences). And yet, little ol’ Jamie outsmarts all of you!! She is one sharp cookie! Not only does she get to stay outside on Young’s Hill, she gets to stay up late and have 2 caring friends who tend to her desires. Are you sure Jamie didn’t study psychology and behavior too?!?! ; )
She looks so cozy and peaceful in that last photo. Great post J.B., thank you. And thank you all for taking such good care of this very special gal.
Just read this post and am so impressed with all the volunteers who stay at night to put Jamie at ease. Thank you for giving Jamie what she needs to feel secure each day and night.