Anna

Ok so first a little bit of background for my story…

Every morning we usually start the daily cleaning by closing off the part of the chimpanzees’ enclosure we call the greenhouse. To do this we usually have a trained caregiver serve a little snack in the front rooms to make sure everyone is out of the greenhouse. The lead caregiver closes two doors remotely using levers and locks located on the wall of the human area. Once the chimpanzees no longer have access to the greenhouse (we do a series of checks to ensure this to be true), we can safely enter the area for cleaning. After the greenhouse is cleaned and locked up, the lead caregiver gives the chimpanzees access to the area again and the rest of breakfast can be served in the front rooms or greenhouse (if it’s not too cold). We generally ask the chimpanzees to shift out of the playroom at this time so we can clean this next.

Today staff member Elizabeth was the snack and breakfast server and I was the lead caregiver in charge of moving the chimpanzee’s doors (we rotate so all staff is the lead at least once a week). Elizabeth took the snack in (banana slices and peanuts) first thing in the morning and we set about gathering our cleaning supplies after the greenhouse was closed off. Burrito, as you probably know, is all about food, especially in the morning. This morning was no different except he seemed entirely unsatisfied by the snack and set about bronx cheering (a raspberry sound made with his lips) and bouncing up and down for more breakfast. We quickly cleaned the greenhouse and then Elizabeth served the rest of breakfast.

After the playroom was also cleaned, we put out a forage of kale and snow buckets so the chimpanzees would be motivated to shift into the playroom and I could close off the front rooms for the next round of cleaning. Much to my surprise, Burrito would not leave the front rooms. He never misses out on a forage! Instead of going into the playroom to collect the food, he was bouncing up and down with his hair standing on end looking at the shelf behind me. I finally discovered what Burrito was trying to tell us all morning! We had forgotten to serve the bowl of peanuts! Poor Burrito, Elizabeth quickly rectified the situation and all was right with the world again.

Yesterday we got about 6 more inches of snow at the sanctuary and staff and volunteers spent the day battling the weather with car chains, snow shovels and the tractor. Today was one of those beautiful winter days where the sun and blue sky makes the new fallen snow blindingly white. The weather has warmed considerably, causing snow to fall in massive piles off the roof of the chimp house. J.B. took the opportunity of clear, warm weather to dig the chimps a pathway out on Young’s Hill to one of the climbing structures.

Annie was first on the hill and she sat in the new pathway for probably 10 minutes. I watched her enjoy a quiet moment with the warm sun on her face and back.

This photo should give you a good idea on how deep the snow is getting.

The snow bank around her provided easy access for a cold snack.

When she decided she’d had enough fresh air, Annie took some snow back inside with her.

A special thanks to J.B. for all his snow removal efforts and to all the volunteers who have braved the snowy drive to the sanctuary!

Last Wednesday, I took some photos of Jamie as she stood on the bench in front room 4 (aka the portrait studio). What came out of the photo session was a series of pictures where she had what looks like a pretty sarcastic smirk on her face.

One of the most intriguing things about chimpanzees is that they look so much like humans. It’s so easy to read too much into photos we see of the chimps and invent a complicated dialogue of what they must be thinking or feeling at the time. This is not to say that they don’t have complicated emotions, but each photo we take is just a quick snapshot of the moment. And the truth is, these photos just caught Jamie with a little bit of lunch leftover in her lips.

This afternoon, while Negra was getting as cozy as possible in the playroom..

Jamie and I took a brisk walk around Young’s Hill.

We were briefly joined by Missy who took the opportunity to stretch her runners legs.

The last couple of days we’ve had some pretty chilly weather, but today Jamie saw her chance to do a perimeter check and she took it (despite the pretty ominous looking frost on the surrounding hill). Her determination to keep patrolling her sanctuary is pretty admirable.

Don’t forget! Today is Giving Tuesday, and there are no better people to give to than Jamie and her family. Check out this page to see how you can help!