I had a lot of thoughts as I was watching Missy climbing on top of the roof of the tower structure today while I was also enjoying the gorgeousness of the day, so I made this video.
Animal Welfare
On Duty
Boss Jamie has a long list of (mostly) self-imposed duties, including (but not limited to) monitoring the whereabouts and activity of all living beings on her domain. No matter where she is, she always knows where you are.
She’s also responsible for ensuring strict compliance with all rules and protocols. She oversees all volunteer training. This afternoon she showed Level III trainee Caroline how we groom.
Constant vigilance can be tiring, so she allows herself short breaks before resuming her work.
A history of Foxie
Today I went waayy back into the blog archives and found this post from Diana about visiting Foxie while she still lived at Buckshire:
“Foxie is a small chimpanzee with a dark, inquisitive face and a somewhat mischievous charm. She was born into captivity in 1976, fated to be used by humans for their purposes. Her caregiver at Buckshire has described her as shy, but everyone from CSNW who has visited her has found her initial shyness to be short-lived.
For the first hour or so during my visit, Foxie remained mostly out-of-view in a corner of a cage farthest from the door. But I could tell she was paying attention to everything and was curiously assessing the situation. I think she felt safer remaining near Negra, who also occupied the farthest of the four small cages. Foxie warmed up to me once I began to give out peanuts. She put her hand behind her to catch the peanuts that I dropped into the food chute of the cage, and she was very pleased that I made a point to return frequently to ensure she got her share.
When I had given out all of the peanuts, Foxie ventured into the next cage, climbed up as high as possible (which is only about six feet), pressed her belly to the caging and looked down. I had a rolled-up newspaper in my hand and I reached up with this and tickled her belly. She was thrilled. She came down to the floor, bobbed her head (a chimpanzee gesture communicating play) and put her belly up to the caging again. For the rest of my visit, she was very active and wanting to play, and I indulged her as much as possible. By the end of the visit, Foxie was sitting in the first cage near her friend Burrito. I am looking forward to seeing Foxie and Burrito romping in the playroom at the sanctuary and I expect she will take advantage of every inch of her much expanded world.”
Foxie’s personality was apparent, even in cramped and extremely stressful living conditions, which is a true testament to her resiliency. Here is where Diana found Foxie almost 10 years ago:
In sanctuary, Foxie’s world has truly expanded, just as Diana knew it would:
Relax!
A year ago yesterday we posted this video of Jamie exploring a sandbox. Jamie takes her job as boss very seriously, and she doesn’t often sit back and kick her feet up, so to speak. But something about sifting through the sand seemed to captivate and relax her. And watching this video captivates and relaxes us.
And here’s a bonus portrait of the Zen master herself.
Adventure Interrupted
Jamie may be the leader of the Cle Elum Seven, but Jody is the den mother. She always looks out for the other chimps – making sure they’re safe and accounted for – and sometimes this means “collecting” them if they venture too far outside.
This morning Negra seemed in the mood for a little outdoor adventure, but “mama” Jody wasn’t so sure.
Happy Birthday, Sherry!
The chimpanzees’ good friend, Sherry Berman, is celebrating her birthday today by sponsoring a day of sanctuary for them! Sherry has been a long-time supporter of the chimps and has made a lasting difference in their lives and we’re so happy to share in her special day. Sherry shared this message about her lovely gift:
“It is a double duty day…my birthday and Superbowl. Time for some celebrating for the fabulous 7. They bring me such joy on a daily basis from across the country so I would like them to celebrate along with me.”
Happiest of birthdays to you, Sherry! We couldn’t be happier than to share in your celebration and hope you have a wonderful day! Thank you so much for always holding the chimps in your heart and for all you do to help us care for them. We’re so grateful to you.
I think Missy plays in her own Superbowl every day:
You never know what the day will bring
Wednesday was an eventful day. The drain for the front rooms was clogged, so J.B. rented a plumbing snake to try to clear it. Jamie is always interested when there’s equipment around, so she was watching J.B. as he worked on the drain. Maybe she felt a little left out, or maybe she had been thinking about this for a while, but, for whatever reason, she decided to do some surface destruction to part of the wall in the playroom.
And there went J.B.’s plan for the day.
Volunteer Kailie was serving lunch in the front rooms when Jamie was doing her redecorating. With the added incentive of a few grapes, I was able to convince Jamie to come into the front rooms along with everyone else so that I could close off the playroom for J.B. to patch the wall. He wasn’t sure how long it was going to take to patch things up, but it was likely going to be a few hours.
They still had plenty of places to be – the front rooms, the greenhouse, and Young’s Hill (it was a mild, sunny day). But there had been some tension in the group lately, so I immediately started thinking about activities that might keep them busy and maybe out of each other’s way. I had a couple of things in mind and decided to see what they were up to so I could assess the situation.
Lo and behold, I found all seven chimpanzees occupying just a few square feet on the top of the structure of the green house! Negra was in her spot on the corner napping (she’s the only one you can’t see in the photo below), and the rest were huddled up in pairs grooming.
Perhaps Jamie had some sort of master plan to cause an incident so everyone would bond and work out the tensions they were having with one another. Probably not, but isn’t that a nice interpretation?
The chimps were not bothered at all by being locked out of the playroom. At one point, Annie and Negra were in the front rooms playing. Luckily, I was able to grab a camera and get some of their play session, which is one of the funniest things I’ve filmed in a long time. Be prepared to laugh out loud.
J.B. got the wall patched up in a few short hours and the playroom was ready for the chimpanzees to go back into after their dinner. They weren’t the least bit anxious to get back to that space – even Jamie, who I would have thought would want to inspect J.B.’s handiwork asap.
It just goes to show that the chimpanzees are not predictable, and sometimes an unexpected change to the routine can result in wanting to playfully push all of the air out of your friend (see video above).
