Yesterday, Keri shared some photos from the chimpanzees’ Easter party. We didn’t get a ton of video footage of the party, but I thought I’d share a few clips. Enjoy!
The Art of Grooming
Grooming is a standard activity here at the sanctuary. Usually, the chimpanzees groom one another. Some of the chimps enjoy being groomed by their caregivers. Jamie, though, likes to be the one doing the grooming. For safety reasons, the chimps don’t have the same level of physical access to their caregivers as they do to one another, so when Jamie wants to groom a caregiver she grabs a tool.
Jamie is fascinated by humans and often uses her tool to explore as much of us as she can. She removes dirt from the bottom of our shoes, checks our fingernails, and tries to remove buttons from our clothes or undo zippers or velcro. She pays special attention to any wounds, scars, or tattoos.
Jamie’s Weakness
Jamie does not exhibit vulnerability often. She is in complete command of herself and everyone else at all times, and what she sometimes lacks in confidence she makes up for in bluster. In her relationships with humans and other chimps, she rarely lets her guard down.
But Jamie has one weakness: men. Men make Jamie as close to googly-eyed as she ever gets. Our personnel at the sanctuary have always skewed heavily female. Out of our six staff members, one is male. Out of our 42 current chimp house volunteers, five are male (which is the most we’ve ever had at one time). Jamie’s behavior around these male volunteers would be recognizable to anyone who’s ever had a crush.
This morning volunteer Yuri was here and Jamie split her time between staring at him and trying to get his attention. Here she is trying to catch a glimpse of him working in the kitchen:
The Luck o’ the Cle Elum Seven
The Cle Elum Seven may not head to the pubs on St. Patrick’s Day, but they still know how to have a good time. We had a breakfast party in the greenhouse this morning with fruit smoothie in plastic shot glasses with lime garnishes, peanuts, and chow. The main event, though, was undoubtedly the whole green apples. The chimpanzees find whole fruit infinitely more exciting than the same amount of fruit cut into pieces. We put this morning’s apples inside socks and hung them around the greenhouse. The chimps were beside themselves. Here are a few highlights from the celebration.
Jamie went after the “apple socks” with a laser focus. She had some trouble carrying all her treasures, so she made good use of her opposable toes.
Foxie with a lime wedge:
and getting the last drops from a cup of smoothie:
Negra held onto her apple for awhile before eating it:
Burrito with an apple and searching for more:
and enjoying smoothie:
and more smoothie:
Annie thought there must be food inside this big green plastic egg that volunteer Alex brought:
Alas, there wasn’t.
But she consoled herself with some smoothie.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
A Chat Between Friends
Chimpanzees spend a lot of time grooming one another. You might think they have a pressing interest in cleanliness, but grooming is less about hygiene and more about strengthening social ties. Chimpanzees groom to make up after a fight, to build new relationships, or just to catch up with old friends. One evolutionary psychologist has hypothesized that chimpanzee grooming is the equivalent of human gossip. It allows individuals to build and reinforce social networks, and gain social capital. And of course, it just feels good to spend time with friends.
The Best Laid Plans
Jamie is religious about her Young’s Hill perimeter walks. As the boss, maybe she feels some responsibility to make sure the sanctuary is safe from intruders. But she doesn’t like to go alone. Her preferred walking partners are her caregivers. I can only think of a handful of times we’ve seen her walk by herself or with only other chimps as company. But today, she was desperate to go and couldn’t wait for us caregivers to get our act together, so she tried to recruit Foxie.
Stickin’ Around
Burrito doesn’t need much to have fun. Just a good friend and a good stick.
