Keri

Foxie and her troll dolls

September 6, 2015 by Keri

If you have been following the blog, you may already know that Foxie has a deep fascination with troll and dora the explorer dolls. Most days she can be seen carrying at least one in her hands, feet, mouth or on her back. It’s not very often that she is without at least one doll. This morning she actually had three different troll dolls in her mouth and hands, two with red hair and one with bright pink hair.

Sometimes she has a hard time keeping track of that many when other chimpanzees are trying to play with her. That was the case this morning. Burrito and her laughed while playing in the Front Room area of their enclosure and she lost track of all three. After they were finished playing, she picked them up again and carried them into the Playroom. It wasn’t long after that I heard laughter again and when I went to see who was playing this time, it was her and Jamie. Jamie had both of the red-haired dolls and Foxie had the one with pink hair. After their play session was over, both red haired dolls were left on the ground and Foxie carried her pink-haired doll out to the Greenhouse. And she carried that same troll doll around for the rest of the day.

Foxie foraging for lunch on Young’s Hill.

Here is another moment with Foxie and her pink-haired troll doll from this morning. Jamie is in the background eating lettuce.

Rainy day activities

August 30, 2015 by Keri

Today’s forecast called for rain and cooler temperatures, so we thought about what sorts of rainy day activities we could set up for the chimpanzees. The enrichment theme for the day was Fort Day, which seemed more than appropriate, so staff and volunteer caregiver Lizz set about building forts in the Greenhouse and Playroom with blankets.

Jody is usually the one to take the forts apart in order to gather blankets for her nest, which is exactly what she did.

Jamie took it upon herself to find the perfect rainy day activity in one of the Front Rooms. Notice the boot and magazines within her nest.

Grooming is another perfect rainy day activity.
Jody

But, it didn’t take long before the weather changed. Instead of more rain, the skies cleared up and the sun came out. So much for rainy day activities; the chimps moved on to foraging and spending time on Young’s Hill instead.

Burrito

Foxie

Jamie

Don’t forget to check out the Summer Biddin’ online auction, which ends on September 1st. Bid on your favorite items and donate to help us exceed our fundraising goal!!

Jamie’s latest project

August 24, 2015 by Keri

Chimpanzees use a variety of tools for a variety of different projects. In the wild, they have been seen using sticks to fish for termites, stones for breaking open hard shells to get at nuts inside, and have even been seen using mashed up leaves as sponges to soak up water.

Here at the sanctuary, Jamie chimpanzee is no stranger to using tools to get what she wants. For example, we often put pieces of food outside of the caging and just out of finger reach to give the chimps a project to work on. Jamie will often use long plastic straws, pieces of cardboard or even sticks that she brings in from Young’s Hill to get the food items. But, sometimes she seems to love using tools just for the sake of using them. Today she took the enrichment tools we set out to work on one of the doors in her indoor enclosure. After some initial inspection, she got right to work.

Maybe she was just making sure the door was properly maintained.

Morning greetings and breakfast forage

August 16, 2015 by Keri

One of the first things I do after arriving at the chimp house is to walk around the various enclosures to see where all of the chimpanzees are at and to greet them. Sometimes the chimps are still in their blanket nests that they made the previous night. Sometimes, they are wide awake; chasing one another along the upstairs catwalk or through the Front Rooms. At other times, they may be lined up along the caging to give morning kisses, head nods (a typical chimpanzee greeting) or to elicit games of chase with staff and volunteer caregivers.

This morning, Jamie was the first one I saw in the Playroom area of their home. I gave her a couple of quick head nods, which she reciprocated before gesturing to see my shoes. Burrito sat down next to her and slapped the floor a few times to elicit a quick game of chase. Foxie was busy getting drinks from the fountain, while holding onto her dora doll. Jody came up to where I was standing and extended her lips through the caging to offer me a kiss on the back of my hand. Annie and Missy were busy playing chase with one another. I looked into the pile of blankets on the catwalk where Negra typically makes her nightly nest, but it was empty. So, I went out to the Greenhouse portion of their home and found her on the top platform (another favorite spot of hers).

I gave her a quick verbal “Good morning Neggie.” She turned around to look at me momentarily before going back to what she was doing.

Oh, how I love this lady. I’ll take her quick glance toward me as a morning greeting and be forever thankful.

And, I just couldn’t resist sharing the following photos on today’s blog, as well. I think you’ll understand why when you see them. They were taken during this morning’s breakfast forage in the Greenhouse.

Annie

Burrito

Foxie

Jody

Foraging for food and a doll

August 9, 2015 by Keri

While setting up a lunch forage on Young’s Hill, the chimpanzees’ 2 acre outdoor enclosure, volunteer caregiver Patti spotted an “abandoned” French Dora doll. After some deliberation, we decided to leave the doll on the hill and see who would rescue her. Hint: the answer is in the video below.

Burrito had a hard time deciding between which to grab more of, small bell peppers or primate chow.

Jamie and Annie shared time on the treat rock foraging for cherry tomatoes (straight out of the garden), eggplant pieces, peppers and primate chow.

Negra spent time in her cabin on the hill before making her way back to the Greenhouse.

Missy never misses a chance to climb the various structures in search of food.

Don’t worry, Foxie (who has an obsession with dora and troll dolls) had her own stash of dora dolls from her birthday party yesterday!

Enjoying ice on a hot day

August 2, 2015 by Keri

Volunteer caregiver Sandra came up with the idea to fill small water balloons with water (with a few blueberries) and then freeze them as enrichment for the chimpanzees. After they were frozen, we removed the balloon portion, leaving behind balls of ice with frozen berries inside. Ice provides a lot of enrichment for the chimps. And ice with frozen blueberries inside seems to be even more enjoyable when temperatures exceed 100 degrees like they did today.

I can’t decide which part I love more; Jamie’s use of a tool or Foxie rubbing her toes together…which is your favorite?

Jody to the rescue

July 27, 2015 by Keri

In order to help Burrito’s recovery from his recent dental procedure, we have been giving him and all of the chimpanzees soft foods. So, today we roasted a variety of fruits and vegetables for all of their meals. And to take advantage of the cooler temperatures we’ve been having, we put out a forage on Young’s Hill for lunch. Let me just tell you, there has been a ton of food squeaking going on over these roasted treats!

As soon as we opened the door to give the chimps access to Young’s Hill at lunch, all seven of them quickly made their way outside, gathering everything they could find. I watched Jody gather roasted onions and beets and quickly put them in her mouth. She went after roasted carrots next and had her mouth completely full before making her way back to the Greenhouse with her treats. Then she stopped, paused for a minute and looked behind her, then turned around and went back up the hill a few steps. I thought maybe she spotted another tasty morsel, but no, she saw something else and quickly snatched it up and practically ran back to the Greenhouse. Can you guess what it was? Hint, take a look at the photos below.