Katelyn

I never tire of watching, or receiving, chimpanzee greetings. Just as humans do, chimpanzees greet each other after a separation, and since we are fortunate enough to be considered part of the chimps’ family, we are often included in that. Here at CSNW we greet the chimpanzees using the same behaviors and vocalizations that they do with one another. Greetings can include many different behaviors and be quite complex, often communicating a lot of information. Typically as two individuals approach each other they have their hair standing on end, bounce, bob or stand bipedally, and utter panting sounds (all indicative of high arousal and excitement). They can throw in a head nod, offer an outstretched arm or extended hand, and even kiss. And each of the chimpanzees greet others in different ways.

Jody is an independent woman. She isn’t one to show much interest in interacting with her caregivers throughout the day, but when we arrive to the chimp house in the morning she is often one of the first chimpanzees to greet us. The mornings are usually the only time Jody is interested in interacting with us physically (we never penetrate the caging but can offer a bent wrist if she wants to touch or kiss the back of our hand). And though she is fairly uninterested in the humans for the rest of the day after her morning ablutions,  if we are lucky (and the mood strikes her) she will often greet us from afar as we pass by. Especially if it doesn’t involve getting up out of her cozy nest. Which to me, actually makes it more special somehow.

Jody has a particular greeting that we endearingly refer to as her “bouncy greeting.” The minute she sees us, her hair stands on end and she walks quickly toward us, and with eyes widened and eyebrows raised, she holds our gaze and bounces her bottom up and down for several seconds. Then quietly goes on her way. The complete earnestness with which she does this is quite endearing (and of course, we mimic her greeting and bounce back!).

While heading out with Jamie for a walk around the hill, I spotted Jody off in the distance, headed up the hill with a huge mouthful of bamboo, on her own mission. I called a greeting to her, fully expecting her to ignore me and then suddenly she turned toward me, dropped her bamboo, gazed earnestly across the hill at me and the bouncy greeting ensued! It never grows old, never ceases to amaze me, those moments when you connect with another species, especially in their language. A simple interaction yet so profound. Jody’s unique greeting always brings a smile to my face and while I can’t seem to get the humans at the sanctuary to greet me that way, I’m pretty happy that Jody does.

Birthdays aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. Do you ever find that sometimes you just need a birthday do-over? In light of that, we thought today would be the perfect Happy Un-birthday celebration. So today is for everyone who needs an very merry un-birthday, and especially for all the chimpanzees in captivity who aren’t given the opportunity to celebrate their birthdays.

The wacky day at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest began with upside down Jamie on a barrel:

Wednesdays here at CSNW are “tumbleweed harvest” days (we remove any that have blown against the electric fencing).  So we decided to add to the crazy day by making a tumbleweed nest for the chimpanzees to investigate.  Caregiver Debbie even did a comfort test for the chimps. While it looks pretty pokey, Debbie claims it was fairly comfy.

Just to be on the safe side we covered it with blankets. The chimpanzees were not impressed with the tumbleweed nest but ran through it on the way to Young’s Hill, briefly stopping to see if there was any forage in it. And then Jody promptly collected all of the blankets and carried them in a huge armload back to the warm front rooms.  Clearly, where they belonged in the first place!

Volunteer caregivers Stephanie and Keri showed up for the festivities and Stephanie brought unicorn, mermaid and cupcake pinatas!  Very apropos for an un-birthday party! Here’s Jamie with the mermaid:

And the unicorn:

Burrito checking out the kooky party favors and looking pretty excited with his hair standing on end (pilo-erect):

Jamie dismantling the kooky party favors:

And don’t worry, even Negra got in on the unicorn pinata:

A very Happy Un-birthday to all of you who need it! And to all the amazing beings awaiting their sanctuary and days to celebrate how special they are.

Last week you may have seen on Jamie’s Facebook page, that she walked around the hill with me during a complete downpour! We’ve been wondering if she will still want to walk when it begins to snow and today she took it a step further. While much of the light snow we had is gone in this photo, it was only around 20 degrees. You can just see Jamie in the upper right corner of the photo. She kept stopping and looking back at me impatiently, un-interested in my plight of trying to trek up a slippery hill in a cowgirl boot (I even had to outfit the boot with Yaktrax!) Jamie said we were still walking! Two laps! I so admire Jamie, and each of the chimpanzees, for the courage they exhibit every day in pushing past their comfort zones. Last summer I recall Jamie running inside at the slightest ruffle of her hair from the wind. And just look at her now.

Once in from the bitter cold, Jamie was especially excited to see her boot and inspected it closely after it’s tromp through the elements. Then she ran into the next room and started wrapping herself in cozy blankets while motioning for me to give her the boot. I found her in the greenhouse with the boot a little while later, perhaps also in admiration for its snow and ice trekking abilities.

Much to my surprise all the chimpanzees spent time walking around the hill, enjoying the cold, sunny day. Well, everyone except for Negra that is…

And I don’t blame her one bit.