Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

alarm call

Snake Season!

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It’s officially snake season at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest!

Last week, we had to recall Jamie’s group off of Young’s Hill 5 times by 10:30am!  Whoa!

Luckily, most of our snake encounters are with non-venomous snakes, like the one we caught in the greenhouse, which you’ll see in today’s video.

Caregiver Ellen identified this snake as a Western yellow-bellied racer, Coluber constrictor mormon!  That’s quite a mouthful!

According to Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, the Western racer (Coluber constrictor) is one of 11 subspecies of the North American racer.  Racers occur in warm, dry open or brushy country.  They are often observed streaking across roads.  The racer holds its head and neck above the ground when hunting, and it may climb into shrubs (we found it sitting in the middle of a bamboo bush!).  The diet of racers includes small mammals, reptiles, and insects.

We try our darndest to keep the chimps safe from venomous snakes.  Our 4 acre outdoor enclosures are surrounded by snake fencing that extends several inches into the ground.  Every day, before letting the chimps out onto Young’s Hill and the Bray, we do a perimeter check to ensure that the snake fencing is still in place.  But there are certain types of snakes that have the ability to get around the snake fencing because they’re so tiny, so it’s up to us to catch them and remove them from the property – luckily they are usually non-venomous.

For more stories about our snake encounters, check out the following blog posts:

The many ways to kill a snake

Snake!!!

Snake patrol

 

Terry to Cy’s Rescue

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Despite Cy being the tough, alpha male that he is, he is easily frightened by random things. As you all know, Cy loves to “read” and consumes probably 5-10 magazines every day. Due to his reading obsession, we have discovered a decent number of things that frighten Cy and cause him to alarm call. Chimpanzees naturally alarm call to warn their group members of danger.

On the list of things that frighten Cy, is cows. Doesn’t matter the kind of cow, the look of the cow, any cow is enough to make him jump back and drop his magazine. Kelsi captured this exact scenario on video last year if you haven’t seen it already (click here)!

A few days ago, Cy was flipping through a farm magazine when he suddenly stumbled upon some photos of cows. We quickly knew what was happening as Cy began to loudly alarm call. Cy’s group members are used to this behavior from Cy, but they still always come to investigate in case it is more than a scary magazine. After several minutes of Cy alarm calling, Terry decided to save the day (or maybe he was annoyed with the endless alarm calls) and attempted to destroy the magazine that was causing Cy to be upset. He began ripping it apart with his teeth and even passed pages to me (who was sitting on the other side of the caging) because he knew I could throw them out.

We now have a theory that Cy must love the thrill of a scary magazine because Cy then reclaims the magazine scraps and tried to still look through them, while continuing to alarm call.

This isn’t the first time I have seen Terry try to save the day. Last October, I posted a blog about Cy alarm calling because of a giraffe in his magazine and Terry attempted to rip the pages apart for Cy but ultimately just threw them down the stairs. I will link that video here!

Mave’s Menace

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Something spooked Mave in the Oakwood Greenhouse yesterday. Can you guess what it was?

Here are some bonus photos from today! Today’s was absolutely gorgeous with the weather in the 50s! So Negra’s group had a nice lunch forage on Young’s Hill!

Annie!

Jody!

And Queen Negra!

And Nutmeg for good measure!

Priorities

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The rain pounds the metal roof above in a deafening roar. Bolts of lightning streak across an ominous sky. Thunder cracks just overhead, shaking the building to its very foundation. This could be how it all ends.

Mmmmm, but this night bag…

Mave’s certainly got her priorities straight. There’s some interesting research dating back to the ’70s showing that primates often overreact to perceived dangers when they are young, and only with the help of those around them do they learn to narrow their alarm calls to specific threats such as predators. Perhaps Mave never got that lesson, as she is the only chimp at CSNW that reacts in such a sustained and exaggerated fashion to thunder. But I can’t blame her. Fortunately for Mave (and our poor dogs), thunderstorms are relatively uncommon here in Central Washington.

A snake in the garden

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The intensity of a snake alarm call is usually proportional to the snake’s size and proximity to the chimps. Basic alarm calls mean a snake has been spotted. Screams mean it is an imminent threat. But you have to recalibrate your understanding of snake calls when Annie is involved because to her, every snake is an imminent threat.

Even if it is a tiny garter snake, taking a nap on a grape vine well outside of the chimps’ greenhouse enclosure.

Snake!!!

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The chimps follow one simple rule: ALL SNAKES, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, POSE AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT AND MUST BE REMOVED BY ANY AND ALL MEANS AVAILABLE. Sometimes this means enlisting the help of their caregivers.

(In case you are wondering, the sanctuary is surrounded by 1,500 feet of rattlesnake barrier, but smaller, less harmful snakes live within the chimps’ two-acre enclosure and occasionally get into the indoor enclosures).

In this video, you can see and hear Annie alarm calling, while she and Burrito stay safely out of harm’s way. Jody, Foxie, and Jamie mustered the courage to force the snake out from its hiding spot and hand it over to the proper authorities, who in this case was Co-Director Diana.