Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Jackie

Bubbles and Paper Towels

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As mentioned earlier, today was sponsored by Sweethome Teacup and the North Portland Yoga Community, with the hopes that the chimps would be “at ease, curious and content” all day. The chimps have definitely been at ease and content! They’ve been doing a lot of relaxing today, and I even witnessed Jody doing her happy baby pose in the greenhouse this morning, much like the one in the photo in the previous post! So, it really has been a very mellow, zen-like day. Thanks, Sweethome!

Yesterday was pretty mellow too. We put out buckets of plant-based, chimp belly-friendly soapy water and a whole roll of paper towels. This resulted in quite a few different “projects” that kept the chimps pretty enriched and content all day long. If Jamie wasn’t cleaning a toy or a wall off, she was busy wiping her hands and nose.

New adventures for Negra and mouthfuls for everyone

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It’s been another beautiful day in Cle Elum today so I set out a huge lunch forage on Young’s Hill. Everyone went right out, which is always a treat, but not only that – Negra was first! I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as she marched right out and walked over to one of the climbing structures that is a bit further away than her usual spots close to the raceway.

web Negra walk fast mouthful of greens hammock YH IMG_1373

She grabbed a ton of greens along the way and found herself under the shaky bridge, which I am almost certain is an area she hasn’t explored yet.

web Negra forage under shaky bridge walk YH IMG_1386

web Negra walk through bamboo forage lettuce YH IMG_1385

Then, she just sat right down and enjoyed her lunch there.
web Negra smile forage hid behind post YH IMG_1387

web Negre eat lettuce forage sit in bamboo YH IMG_1389

web Negra eat lettuce forage sit in bamboo YH IMG_1393

This may not seem like a big deal, but Negra hasn’t adventured around the hill too much so we celebrate every step she takes in seeming more comfortable sitting in the grass with no bars overhead. And I’ve never seen her that confident out there! She didn’t ask for reassurance or seem concerned or nervous at all. That’s pretty amazing!

Oh and by the way, there were other chimps out enjoying the forage too. 😉

Foxie and Jody had a little picnic on one of the platforms today. That’s Foxie with the mouthful of lettuce – something she used to absolutely loath.
web Foxie and Jody lunch on platform climbing structure Foxie with mouthful of greens (!) YH IMG_1403

Missy loaded up on greens:
web Missy mouthful of greens forage YH IMG_1407

Annie with her mouthful:
web Annie tomato mouth forage YH IMG_1394

Jody and Burrito seemed pretty happy about all the limes!
web Jody mouthful of food forage limes greens tangerine Burrito in background YH IMG_1414

Burrito:
web Burrito mouthful of limes forage YH IMG_1416

Jamie grabbed a huge handful of lettuce, potatoes, avocados, and limes and happily took her loot to the raceway, so I wasn’t able to get a photo of her mouthful, but rest assured, she had one!

Everyone seemed really happy and foraged out there for a pretty long time. I was thrilled to see all seven chimps out there for so long! And I just couldn’t take my eyes off of beautiful and amazingly confident Negra. After she’d munched on all the good stuff she could find in the bamboo, she moved over to the hammock area.
web Negra mouthful of greens by hammock forage YH IMG_1419

and sat where she could watch what was happening over at the house, probably for the first time taking in all that she can see from that side of the hill.

web Negra sit mouthful of greens forage look toward house YH IMG_1420

It was certainly a big day for Ms. Negra.
web Negra sit by hammock forage greens YH IMG_1422

Distracted by the view

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The weather has been absolutely perfect today- warm sunshine, blue skies, and absolutely no wind (which is rare for spring in Cle Elum). As I was taking my afternoon walk around the hill with Jamie, all seven chimps came outside. Other than Jamie, who was fixated on making sure I kept up with her, the other chimps seemed pretty happy just relaxing in the sun and checking out the view. I was having a hard time not stopping to take photos of the other chimps without making Jamie impatient, but thankfully, she let me get a couple of Burrito.

web Burrito sunshine blue sky on beam YH IMG_1347

web Burrito on climbing structure yakima river in background YH IMG_1342

web Burrito on climbing structure look out over valley yakima river in background YH IMG_1340

web Burrito look out view of valley yakima river stand on beam YH IMG_1341

But it wasn’t long before I was summoned to keep going. Our boss certainly knows how to keep our priorities in check.

web Jamie play chase with caregiver look back perimeter YH IMG_1324

Peering

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Peering is an interesting part of chimpanzee culture. One chimp will get uncomfortably close to another and stare at them intently, usually with hopes to convince them to share whatever it is that they are eating or drinking. Occasionally the chimp being stared at will share, but sometimes they are excellent at just pretending not to notice that someone is 2″ from their face and will either completely ignore them or calmly turn away. It is so intense and makes me feel uneasy just watching it! Check out this video of a couple of older clips of peering that I found:

Annie peering at Negra munching on some cabbage leaves:
web Annie peer Negra eat cabbage leaves chew face forage PR IMG_4606

Foxie peering at Annie:
web Annie groom self Foxie peer gh IMG_9902

The reason I wanted to share a little insight into this behavior is because during the St. Patrick’s Day party, I caught an interesting interaction between Foxie and Annie. As part of their forage, I put out cups of yellow Gatorade and filled up a large bucket we have with diluted Gatorade for fun. Foxie immediately went over to sit by it, obviously in hopes to sneak a drink. But Jamie was foraging nearby, so Foxie seemed a bit uneasy taking a drink from the one and only giant tub of Gatorade without getting some sort of permission from the boss that it was okay (check out this video for how Foxie would normally do that). She sat there for a really long time with Jamie foraging nearby, and seemed very nervous, though Jamie seemed completely content without the bucket.

web foxie bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4869

Then, Annie (surprisingly enough) confidently walked right over, picked up the bucket, and took a big gulp with Jamie and Foxie watching the whole time.

web annie drink foxie peer bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4872

Foxie then intently peered at Annie, maybe in hopes that Annie would share her Gatorade or perhaps to see what the consequences were of taking a drink without permission.
web annie foxie peer bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4873

Once Annie walked away, Foxie had gained the courage to take a drink for herself.
web foxie drink bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4888

Happy St. Patty’s!

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Top o’ the afternoon to ya’, laddy! Happy St. Patty’s Day! We set up a big party forage in the Playroom this morning. Last week, volunteer Stephanie brought us some non-toxic window paint, and since she couldn’t be here today, I thought I would try to get creative and decorate the windows instead (that would normally be a Stephanie-type job). Okay- so I’m no artist like Stephanie, but at least I gave it a try!!

And so what if there is something terribly wrong with my troll doll’s belly, head, hands, eyes, nose and feet! His hair looks good and the rest just adds character!
web Window decorations troll doll st patrick's day party PR IMG_4847

web Window decorations clover st patrick's day party PR IMG_4848

But, thankfully, to make up for my pitiful excuse for art, volunteer Patti brought lots of decorations, making it a true party. She made these cute little boxes with clovers on them and we stuffed them with chow and grapes. The chimps loved them!

Foxie was particularly happy with them!
web Foxie forage boxes made by Patti st patrick's day party PR IMG_4908

Annie:
web Annie cube made by Patti forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4867

Jamie:
web Jamie cube made by Patti forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4858

Burrito:
web Burrito cube made by patti forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4897

We also made “salad plates” consisting of cabbage that Patti brought and a variety of lettuce that volunteer Jennifer brought over yesterday from Seattle’s Metropolitan Market, topped with a few raspberries.

Jamie:
web Jamie forage lettuce cabbage salad plate party st patrick's day PR IMG_4849

I love the look of adoration on Burrito’s face in this one:
web Burrito loves lettuce and cabbage forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4877

Jody:
web Jody mouthful of lettuce party st patrick's day forage PR IMG_4850

Negra with some cabbage:
web Negra profile eat cabbage forage st patrick's day party PR IMG_4911

Burrito:

web Burrito lettuce forage party sweet face st patrick's day PR IMG_4902

Missy with a mouthful:

web Missy munch on lettuce forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4898

…and another mouthful…
web Missy munch of lettuce mouthful st patrick's day party PR IMG_4899

…and another mouthful…
web Missy shove lettuce in mouth party st patrick's day party forage PR IMG_4885

Patti also brought some St. Patrick’s Day theme cups that we filled with Gatorade and coconut water.

Missy:
web Missy drink juice look at cup party decorations st. patrick's day hat PR IMG_4922

You regular blog readers may have noticed an odd theme here – lots of photos of Missy!? That’s rare for a party, since Missy usually goes upstairs and is out of sight for much of the party. But today, she stayed right in the middle of it and enjoyed tons of goodies. I was able to get some good photos, but I have to be honest about this next one: Missy wasn’t actually smiling, she was actually just using her tongue to pick some cabbage out of her teeth and this is how I caught her, but it’s so funny, I had to share! It was a happy day!
web Missy (not real) playface cup juice party st. patrick's day PR IMG_4921

Thanks so much to Patti, Stephanie, and Jennifer and the Metropolitan Market for their generous donations! It was an awesome party!

Face washing

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Annie has so many endearing habits and pastimes. Some of my favorites are seen in the video of this blog, including her “bird noises” and the way she lays on her back and claps her feet. I also love to see her in her “yoga poses”. As if all of that wasn’t adorable enough, she has recently found yet another adorable habit. Over the last few months (especially when we were regularly giving the chimps bottled water due to the Taylor Bridge Fire) I’ve seen her occasionally fill her mouth with water, lay on her back and spit the water into the air or in her hand so she can rub it all over her face. Today I caught her lounging in the greenhouse “cleaning her face” after running around on Young’s Hill with Missy. Seems like the perfect refresher.

Annie

Annie

Annie

Annie

Annie