We sometimes refer to Missy as “Dr Missy” because she is the go to groomer for keeping any wounds open and draining. She is quick to investigate any scab or stitch her friends might have and remove them (stat!). While having a doctor on hand is a valuable asset, we also need a nurse to perform the daily care and keep our patients’ spirits up. Jody would definitely more than qualify for this position. She has been spending her afternoons with Burrito grooming and playing with him as he finishes his recovery from his rattlesnake bite. As you might be able to tell from the video, Burrito is back to his usual silly self and will hopefully be getting a clean bill of health this weekend.
Annie’s 46th birthday party
Today we celebrate Annie and all that makes her special! We often seem to celebrate Annie’s September big day with a forage of sunflowers. After a quick search, I found this information about the sunflower, “to receive or give sunflowers as a token of love is to symbolize adoration, longevity, loyalty, joy, and happiness.”
Adoration, longevity, loyalty, joy and happiness. Can you think of anything in the world than that to better describe the beautiful Annie?
Annie scored a massive sunflower head today. You can watch her rip into it on our Instagram page.
Speaking of Annie. Have you checked out the AMAZING painting of her in our online auction? Leslie Bell did the absolute best job capturing her essence. You can bid on that painting and more right now! Also, don’t forget to tune into our virtual Hoot! event live on September 12th at 6:00 pm PT.
Here’s a few more moments from today’s festivities.
Annie’s BFF, Missy:
Negra:
The Amazing Jody:
Jamie:
Honey B:
Burrito update: He seems to be almost back to his old self! We do need to continue to monitor him in isolation for the next week or so to make sure no complications arise from his rattlesnake bite. All things considered, it’s been lovely to see him playing and eating treats like normal.
Negra and her night bag
Negra is a no-nonsense, dessert comes first kind of chimpanzee. Dinner is usually served in the order of fruits/veggies first, but Negra has no patience for this standard operating procedure. She impatiently waits through the whole meal, often collecting a pile of produce along the way. When we FINALLY get around to night bags, she impatiently rips into the bag and settles down for her favorite evening ritual, the slow tedious consumption of her night bag. The rest of dinner can wait.
Mmmm larvae
Most of us have probably seen the many photos of chimpanzees in the wild using tools to fish for termites. As a general rule, chimpanzees that have grown up in captivity don’t have the same taste for insects that you see in wild chimpanzees. I would bet lots of money if you tried to serve Honey B a termite she would be totally disgusted with you. The chimps seem to find fishing for peanut butter to be a more ideal situation.
Here’s Jamie fishing for peanut butter in a PVC tube attached to the outside the caging:
I think we all have a tendency to forget that some of the chimps at the sanctuary actually do occasionally eat insects (but only wasp larvae, so far as we’ve seen). The wasps are most prevalent this time of year and we try to remove any nests we find near the chimp enclosures to prevent both humans and chimps from the almost inevitable summer stings. Since the outdoor space is so large, we sometimes miss the ones being built on Young’s Hill. If you watch the above video you will get up close and personal with Jamie as she dissects a wasp nest she found on the hill.
Watching Jamie reminded me of a blog Diana wrote 5 years ago on the topic. In the blog she wrote: “Watching her, it wasn’t entirely clear to me how much of the larvae she was eating, because she seemed to be selectively eating some parts and not others, but she was clearly enjoying the experience.” After seeing Jamie’s careful deconstruction of the nest from a much closer vantage point (through a window), I’ve deduced that she seems to eat only the squishy larva stage of the wasp and not the older, more developed pupa stage. Don’t worry though, Missy was right behind her to finish off the rest of it.
Evening enrichment with Negra
Did you know we have an Enrichment Database? We love sharing enrichment ideas like these Firehose Cubes with our fellow caregivers around the world. Feel free to spread the word about our database and know that we are always looking for any new chimp enrichment inspiration from other organizations!
Find your pineapple wadge
Taking these photos of Annie reminded me that her birthday is quickly approaching on September 10th. It also sent me reeling on a slightly mournful tangent thinking about how 2020 (especially this summer) has melted away like a Popsicle we never got to enjoy.
To me, Annie’s birthday feels like our farewell summer party and often features bouquets of glorious sunflowers. As this year ticks by at a maddening speed, I try to grasp on to familiar landmarks in time (like her day filled with sunflowers) to remind myself that some things on this earth haven’t changed. COVID-19 won’t stop the mountain huckleberries above my home from turning purple or the eddies in the Yakima river from being the best places to spend a 90 degree day. Many an enjoyable evening can still be spent in the comfort of one’s own breakfast nook, watching the chickens forage before the sun completely abandons the backyard.
There will still be mountains of tomatoes for Missy’s birthday (August 23rd) and carved pumpkins on Jamieween (October 31st). There are still so many days to look forward to this year. We humans just need to be a little creative in how we can safely spend these special days.
For now, take the lead from Annie herself and lean into the small things. Relax on a good blanket, put your feet up and spend some quality time with a favorite food. Find your own version of a pineapple wadge and truly make the best of it.
Mave in the mirror
The chimps are endlessly observant of things that us lowly humans fail to notice. Today, as I took a few photos of Mave using the sanctuary’s cell phone, she got that certain look in her eye and i realized she was examining her own reflection in the back of our new transparent phone case.
The lovely and eagle-eyed Mave:
