Jamie is still completely charmed by every cowgirl boot she meets. They don’t always fit her extra-wide feet, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.
Greenhouse time
The chimpanzees were closed out of their outdoor area for most of the morning while J.B. and volunteers Dakotta and Jonathan put the greenhouse panels on for the winter.
First side:
Second side:
Third side:
The weather has been a little chilly lately, so the chimps haven’t been spending as much time outside as usual. It was nice to see everybody flood out of the building as soon as they were given the opportunity. As I write this, most of the chimps are out in the greenhouse, lying on the top platform of the climbing structure in a big grooming huddle.
A new doll for Foxie
When Foxie gets a new doll that she really loves, she often engages in what I’ll call “ritualistic adoration behavior” (don’t quote me on that — I just made it up). You’ll see what I mean when you watch this video that Jackie put together:
The first bamboo
Here are some photos of the first planted bamboo grove on Young’s Hill.
The view looking down the hill toward the chimp house:
The view looking up the hill away from the chimp house:
The bamboo will allow the chimps to hide pretty well. Here’s the perspective of a hypothetical chimp who may want to spy on the chimp house without being seen:
Getting comfortable
This is one of my favorite sights: Jody gathering blankets for one of her huge, elaborate nests.
Old projects and new projects
Life with chimpanzees is wonderful, but it is far from predictable. Sometimes things don’t happen when you plan (and vice versa). Awhile back, we did a fundraising drive to raise money for a new door in the chimps’ enclosure. In exchange for donations, we promised to paint donors’ names on a new mural in the outdoor area. Well, we may be slow, but we do keep our promises! Today, volunteer Kim McAndrews (who is our volunteer graphic designer from Peach Design who designed the Out of the Box auction logo, among many other things) is working hard on that mural. Here are a couple of shots of a work in progress:
As if that isn’t enough excitement for one day, David Binczewski (of Booshoot Gardens fame) and volunteer Ken Mikkelsen are here helping J.B. plant the first round of bamboo on Young’s Hill.
We’ll be sure to share more photos when the projects are completed!
Intruder
While no match for equatorial Africa, living in rural Cle Elum does afford the chimpanzees some interesting experiences. The other day a garter snake made its way into the chimp house, and the chimps let their feelings on the matter be known.
