Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
The staff will continue our positive reinforcement training this afternoon. But before we dive into our training, here are some photos of some chimpanzee adventures and naps.
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Today, the staff continued our PRT training. However, I was able to take a few photos from today of the Seven enjoying Young’s Hill!
The days have been getting warmer and the snow is disappearing quickly. Just like yesterday, the Seven (minus one) spent a lot of time today exploring Young’s Hill.
When the door leading to Young’s Hill first opened, the first order of business was to take in this warm morning.
Well, that was most everybody’s first agenda item. Burrito’s agenda item was to run around the hill.
Right behind us came Jamie and Missy, with Jody in tow.
Before Jody continued on the walk, she first tried to look for some ice treats in a hanging tire.
None found, she went for one of her other favorite foraging items, a pine branch.
Coming up behind Jody was Foxie, with two Orange Blossoms!
Annie waited at the bottom of the hill for everybody to return. Though she didn’t partake in the first patrol, she was seen out and about since.
Missy stopped for a snowy treat before making her way inside.
Along the way, Jamie decided she want to climb the Twister and take in the surroundings.
At this point, you may be wondering about the “minus one.”
She did poke her head out in the morning, but decided to stay under a pile of blankets in the Greenhouse.
Scrolling across social media, I came across a page that dives deep into Irish sayings, names, language, traditions, etc. I’m a huge fan of learning about different cultures and languages. I guess that’s how I developed my interest in studying chimpanzee communication and cultures. It was the perfect blend of learning about two things I am genuinely interested in: cultures, language, and primatology. I digress though. On this page, the woman explained the history of the Irish name Medb (pronounced May•ve). It reminded me of this post Kelsi made back in 2019.
Since then, we have gained a few more followers who may not have seen that post, so I thought I would share it again.
Medb is an Old Gaelic word, which was a word for a Celtic wine similar to today’s mead that was drunk during celebrations. When applied as a name, it meant “she who intoxicates,” but more on this in a little bit. As the language progressed, the spelling changed to Meadhbh, though still pronounced the same. Though the pronunciation stayed the same, the spelling changed again to make it easier for English speakers to pronounce: Maeve and Mave.
In Irish mythology, Queen Medb of Connacht was a warrior queen. It was said Queen Medb would rob men of two-thirds of their valor after seeing her because of her beauty. Queen Medb also demanded three things from her suitors: be free of fear, free of meanness, and free of jealousy towards her.
Though Mave is not Queen Medb of Connacht, she does have some of these qualities. She steals the hearts of those who meet her, chimpanzee and especially humans, with her beauty. She also demands others to be free of fear, free of meanness, and free of jealousy towards her. The difference would be Mave is not trying to conquer and rule land like Queen Medb.
It’s easier to see when you spend most of the day with her. Here are some photos I was able to capture of (Queen) Mave today.
She had some fun playing with toys:
She also had a very intense play session with Honey B filled with foot grabs, play bites, and a lot laughter:
After her play session with Honey B, she assumed her one of her classic “Mave” poses, grasping her feet in the air while laying down. One of the signs she is very relaxed:
Then it was dinner time:
Mave, she who intoxicates us all.
Bonus photo of Annie watching it beginning to snow on Young’s Hill again today.
As the snow continued to come down this morning as staff arrived, we were prepared for another snowy day.
We were anticipating a full day of snow as the forecast had predicted. Luckily enough, we caught a break! By early afternoon, the sun broke free of it’s clouded prison and started to warm the cold air outside.
The sun allowed staff the perfect opportunity to shovel pathways to the structures on Young’s Hill, to give the chimpanzees the option for easier access to the hill.
Though the option was presented to them, they all decided to stay indoors or in the Greenhouse.
Mave spent a lot of time playing with huge strips of paper.
Once she noticed me, she stopped playing and decided to play it cool as though nothing was happening.
We consider ourselves very fortunate our residents are currently in their nests and about to go to sleep during this cold snap. However, Primarily Primates located in Texas is in need of local, emergency help. They have lost power and are currently trying evacuate some of their residents while trying to care for those still in place. If you live in the San Antonio, TX area or know someone who is, who can safely deliver some of these much needed items, please do if you can. As caregivers of some amazing individuals, our thoughts and hearts go out to Primarily Primates’ caregivers and their amazing residents during this difficult time.
As staff training still continues, we didn’t want to leave the chimpanzees without much to do while we continue to progress our PRT program. So today we decided to throw them something fun. Today was “Let’s Go To The Movies Day.” We put out some ticket rolls and bags of popcorn to munch on.
Negra was really into the little bags of popcorn. She grabbed several bags all to herself.
Though Jamie grabbed several bags herself initially, something else caught her eye.
The Ticket Rolls!
Ticket rolls have been becoming a favorite with both groups. Honey B, Mave, and Willy B were given some earlier last year and almost became and instant hit. The Group of Seven were also given some during Christmas. If you look closely, you could see some. After Christmas, we there were several nests found with tickets, and some that seemed they were made entirely out of tickets. When the ticket rolls were spotted, Jamie immediately went to work to unroll them.
Honey B loved her bags of popcorn and grabbed as many as she could.
Willy B also wanted some.
Mave decided not to participate in today’s activities. But here are some photos of her eating lunch on her makeshift table from Sunday.
Today, staff will be under going training this afternoon. We are hoping to analyze and enhance our positive reinforcement training program since we are always trying to find ways to better ourselves as caregivers to provide the best care we can for the chimpanzees and cattle. Positive reinforcement training (PRT) is a cooperative health monitoring program which the chimpanzees present different body parts for caregivers to inspect and track. More recently, PRT has helped us with daily temperature checks with all the residents during times of a pandemic. With training scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for the next few weeks, it may be difficult for us to develop a blog, though we will try within the best of our abilities!
For today though, please enjoy these photos from Sunday of the grooming party Mave, Honey B, and Willy B had!
And a bonus photo of Jody during breakfast this morning.
It began snowing on Sunday and hasn’t really stopped since. Though it hasn’t been a heavy snowfall, it’s enough for it to start to feel like winter finally is here after several bouts of warm weather. When the caregivers began to arrive at the sanctuary in the morning, they were greeted by something to remind them it is indeed near to end of January and still winter.
This is one of the Christmas trees that has been adorning the outside of the Chimp House. As some of you know, it’s somewhat of a tradition to plant the trees that decorate the enclosures for the chimpanzees’ Christmas celebration on Young’s Hill when the weather is better. Until then, it sits right outside the door.
While the conditions outside thwarted any ambitions of going outside today (though they did have access to go outside), they seemed pretty content inside the warm indoor enclosures.
After cleaning was done, Willy B, Mave, and Honey B were treated to some cabbage that was spread out in their enclosure.
After lunch, Mave and Willy B spent most of their afternoon grooming.
Honey B was busy supervising the construction workers and couldn’t be bothered with grooming or most photos today.
Meanwhile on the other side, while most of the Seven were cozy in their nests all day, there was one individual who had a lot of energy he had to burn through.
There was a good game of chase between him and I from the Greenhouse doors to the door that leads to Young’s Hill. If you’ve seen J.B.’s post a couple of weeks ago, then you know this route. A common question we get is why does Burrito ask for snow from caregivers when we can just grab it himself during winter? We don’t really know why, but let’s be honest, who wouldn’t like a hand delivered caregiver made, artisan snowball?
Plus, we, as caregivers, have a hard time deflecting Burrito’s charm when he asks for his zero-calorie treat.
With the weather seemingly on different ends of the spectrum lately, who knows what tomorrow may hold. Though Burrito may hope it holds more hands full of snow.
Stay warm, friends!
