J.B.

Jamie vs the snake

May 19, 2012 by J.B.

The chimps were going after a garter snake today. I think that Missy brought it in from outside and then lost her grip on it. The chimps chased it until it crawled into a small space in the caging. I laughed when I saw Jamie with the spaghetti spoon, but it was actually a pretty good choice of tools because she was trying to flush it out from its hiding spot.

The chimps never did get the snake, and Jamie seemed dissatisfied. She spent a good part of the afternoon walking around Young’s Hill, probably looking for more snakes.

Conquering fear

May 18, 2012 by J.B.

Last night there was a commotion on the hill. We didn’t see what happened, but there was a lot of screaming and Negra ran to the greenhouse to seek reassurance from the other chimpanzees. Was it a fight? Did Negra get stung by an insect? Did she touch the electric fence?

This morning, as I was getting ready to let the chimps out onto the hill, I wondered if Negra would choose to stay indoors where she felt safe. But before I could unlock the door, Negra was there, waiting. She was the first out the door, and she stayed out long after the other chimps had gone back inside. She looked so at ease, eating grass and soaking up the sun.

When it came time for her to get up and head back to the building, something happened – she panicked. I imagine that she didn’t realize how far it was back to the greenhouse, sort of like what happens when you climb a tall ladder and don’t experience fear until you look down and realize how high up you are. This is probably what happened to her last night as well.

She ran down the log bridge, trying to get back to the greenhouse as fast as she could (which, for Negra, is not very fast).

She showed a slight fear grimace…

…which turned into a pout or whimper face.

Being Negra, she managed to grab some dandelion greens along the way without breaking stride.

The panic was short-lived, thankfully, and within minutes she was back in the same spot, enjoying some more grass.

We never really know what the chimps are thinking, but it’s clear to me that Negra is determined to enjoy the great outdoors. It’s just going to take a while before she can truly relax. Each of the chimps does things in their own time, and in their own way.

Green grass

May 11, 2012 by J.B.

One of the many benefits of Young’s Hill is that it has given the chimps a bit more autonomy. The chimps love to eat grass, especially the tender and vibrant green grass of spring. But we were never able to get grass to grow in their old outdoor enclosure, so the chimps had to ask us to get it for them. Annie was especially persistent – in the spring, our staff and volunteers would become full-time grass fetchers (Negra would even demand that we fetch her grass by clapping impatiently – her servants are never fast enough for her).

The chimps’ love of grass is one of the main factors in helping them acclimate to their new, 2-acre enclosure. Last fall, after rushing out onto the hill on the very first day, a few of the chimps decided that once was enough. They would sit in the doorway and stare out at the wide open field, but their fear of the open space kept them from going any further. Then they noticed little clumps of green grass growing just a couple feet beyond the end of the tunnel. They mustered the courage to venture out that far, and then quickly picked a handful of grass and raced back to the safety of the old enclosure. Once that clump was picked clean, they went a little farther, and on and on it went like this until one day, they must have realized that they were 20 feet out into the enclosure and everything was OK.

Negra is going through that phase now, as we explained in a recent blog post, and she continues to spend more and more time outside each day. For the others that have already overcome their fears, spring is a time to relax and enjoy the benefits of having your very own 2-acre salad bowl right outside your back door.

Making the “chimp cam”

May 4, 2012 by J.B.

We’re so excited to finally be able to share the “chimp cam” videos with everyone and we’re grateful to King 5 News for introducing the chimps to some new people.

Many of you had questions about the new camera, so we put together this video (with some new footage of the chimps!) to show you how it was made. We were able to purchase the camera thanks to a fundraising drive launched by our wonderful blog readers, and volunteers Jakob, Jessy, Rachel, Adrienne, and Janna helped us install the cameras on Young’s Hill.

Unfortunately, the camera won’t allow us to stream live video on the internet. We are still limited by our poor internet connection (that’s life in the country) and, with the size of our enclosures, you wouldn’t see the chimps very often unless we had a lot of cameras (unlike the popular bird’s nest cameras). But we’re always looking for new ways to share the chimps’ lives with you, so we hope to have some more surprises in the future.

Enjoying the hill

April 13, 2012 by J.B.

Burrito soaking up the sun

Foxie with troll and sweet potato

Missy fishing for treats with a grape vine

Playfaces and acrobatics

April 6, 2012 by J.B.

Missy got Jody to play with her on the hill today.

After chasing each other and wrestling for a bit, they casually walked up to the tall bamboo grove.

While I was snapping some photos of Jody, Missy suddenly climbed one of the bamboo culms. By the time I could turn the camera on her, she had ridden it back down to the ground. She really seemed to enjoy letting it go and watching it snap back into form.