Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Annie

New adventures for Negra and mouthfuls for everyone

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It’s been another beautiful day in Cle Elum today so I set out a huge lunch forage on Young’s Hill. Everyone went right out, which is always a treat, but not only that – Negra was first! I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as she marched right out and walked over to one of the climbing structures that is a bit further away than her usual spots close to the raceway.

web Negra walk fast mouthful of greens hammock YH IMG_1373

She grabbed a ton of greens along the way and found herself under the shaky bridge, which I am almost certain is an area she hasn’t explored yet.

web Negra forage under shaky bridge walk YH IMG_1386

web Negra walk through bamboo forage lettuce YH IMG_1385

Then, she just sat right down and enjoyed her lunch there.
web Negra smile forage hid behind post YH IMG_1387

web Negre eat lettuce forage sit in bamboo YH IMG_1389

web Negra eat lettuce forage sit in bamboo YH IMG_1393

This may not seem like a big deal, but Negra hasn’t adventured around the hill too much so we celebrate every step she takes in seeming more comfortable sitting in the grass with no bars overhead. And I’ve never seen her that confident out there! She didn’t ask for reassurance or seem concerned or nervous at all. That’s pretty amazing!

Oh and by the way, there were other chimps out enjoying the forage too. 😉

Foxie and Jody had a little picnic on one of the platforms today. That’s Foxie with the mouthful of lettuce – something she used to absolutely loath.
web Foxie and Jody lunch on platform climbing structure Foxie with mouthful of greens (!) YH IMG_1403

Missy loaded up on greens:
web Missy mouthful of greens forage YH IMG_1407

Annie with her mouthful:
web Annie tomato mouth forage YH IMG_1394

Jody and Burrito seemed pretty happy about all the limes!
web Jody mouthful of food forage limes greens tangerine Burrito in background YH IMG_1414

Burrito:
web Burrito mouthful of limes forage YH IMG_1416

Jamie grabbed a huge handful of lettuce, potatoes, avocados, and limes and happily took her loot to the raceway, so I wasn’t able to get a photo of her mouthful, but rest assured, she had one!

Everyone seemed really happy and foraged out there for a pretty long time. I was thrilled to see all seven chimps out there for so long! And I just couldn’t take my eyes off of beautiful and amazingly confident Negra. After she’d munched on all the good stuff she could find in the bamboo, she moved over to the hammock area.
web Negra mouthful of greens by hammock forage YH IMG_1419

and sat where she could watch what was happening over at the house, probably for the first time taking in all that she can see from that side of the hill.

web Negra sit mouthful of greens forage look toward house YH IMG_1420

It was certainly a big day for Ms. Negra.
web Negra sit by hammock forage greens YH IMG_1422

Peering

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Peering is an interesting part of chimpanzee culture. One chimp will get uncomfortably close to another and stare at them intently, usually with hopes to convince them to share whatever it is that they are eating or drinking. Occasionally the chimp being stared at will share, but sometimes they are excellent at just pretending not to notice that someone is 2″ from their face and will either completely ignore them or calmly turn away. It is so intense and makes me feel uneasy just watching it! Check out this video of a couple of older clips of peering that I found:

Annie peering at Negra munching on some cabbage leaves:
web Annie peer Negra eat cabbage leaves chew face forage PR IMG_4606

Foxie peering at Annie:
web Annie groom self Foxie peer gh IMG_9902

The reason I wanted to share a little insight into this behavior is because during the St. Patrick’s Day party, I caught an interesting interaction between Foxie and Annie. As part of their forage, I put out cups of yellow Gatorade and filled up a large bucket we have with diluted Gatorade for fun. Foxie immediately went over to sit by it, obviously in hopes to sneak a drink. But Jamie was foraging nearby, so Foxie seemed a bit uneasy taking a drink from the one and only giant tub of Gatorade without getting some sort of permission from the boss that it was okay (check out this video for how Foxie would normally do that). She sat there for a really long time with Jamie foraging nearby, and seemed very nervous, though Jamie seemed completely content without the bucket.

web foxie bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4869

Then, Annie (surprisingly enough) confidently walked right over, picked up the bucket, and took a big gulp with Jamie and Foxie watching the whole time.

web annie drink foxie peer bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4872

Foxie then intently peered at Annie, maybe in hopes that Annie would share her Gatorade or perhaps to see what the consequences were of taking a drink without permission.
web annie foxie peer bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4873

Once Annie walked away, Foxie had gained the courage to take a drink for herself.
web foxie drink bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4888

Happy St. Patty’s!

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Top o’ the afternoon to ya’, laddy! Happy St. Patty’s Day! We set up a big party forage in the Playroom this morning. Last week, volunteer Stephanie brought us some non-toxic window paint, and since she couldn’t be here today, I thought I would try to get creative and decorate the windows instead (that would normally be a Stephanie-type job). Okay- so I’m no artist like Stephanie, but at least I gave it a try!!

And so what if there is something terribly wrong with my troll doll’s belly, head, hands, eyes, nose and feet! His hair looks good and the rest just adds character!
web Window decorations troll doll st patrick's day party PR IMG_4847

web Window decorations clover st patrick's day party PR IMG_4848

But, thankfully, to make up for my pitiful excuse for art, volunteer Patti brought lots of decorations, making it a true party. She made these cute little boxes with clovers on them and we stuffed them with chow and grapes. The chimps loved them!

Foxie was particularly happy with them!
web Foxie forage boxes made by Patti st patrick's day party PR IMG_4908

Annie:
web Annie cube made by Patti forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4867

Jamie:
web Jamie cube made by Patti forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4858

Burrito:
web Burrito cube made by patti forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4897

We also made “salad plates” consisting of cabbage that Patti brought and a variety of lettuce that volunteer Jennifer brought over yesterday from Seattle’s Metropolitan Market, topped with a few raspberries.

Jamie:
web Jamie forage lettuce cabbage salad plate party st patrick's day PR IMG_4849

I love the look of adoration on Burrito’s face in this one:
web Burrito loves lettuce and cabbage forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4877

Jody:
web Jody mouthful of lettuce party st patrick's day forage PR IMG_4850

Negra with some cabbage:
web Negra profile eat cabbage forage st patrick's day party PR IMG_4911

Burrito:

web Burrito lettuce forage party sweet face st patrick's day PR IMG_4902

Missy with a mouthful:

web Missy munch on lettuce forage party st patrick's day PR IMG_4898

…and another mouthful…
web Missy munch of lettuce mouthful st patrick's day party PR IMG_4899

…and another mouthful…
web Missy shove lettuce in mouth party st patrick's day party forage PR IMG_4885

Patti also brought some St. Patrick’s Day theme cups that we filled with Gatorade and coconut water.

Missy:
web Missy drink juice look at cup party decorations st. patrick's day hat PR IMG_4922

You regular blog readers may have noticed an odd theme here – lots of photos of Missy!? That’s rare for a party, since Missy usually goes upstairs and is out of sight for much of the party. But today, she stayed right in the middle of it and enjoyed tons of goodies. I was able to get some good photos, but I have to be honest about this next one: Missy wasn’t actually smiling, she was actually just using her tongue to pick some cabbage out of her teeth and this is how I caught her, but it’s so funny, I had to share! It was a happy day!
web Missy (not real) playface cup juice party st. patrick's day PR IMG_4921

Thanks so much to Patti, Stephanie, and Jennifer and the Metropolitan Market for their generous donations! It was an awesome party!

Breakfast in the rain

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Negra was enjoying this morning’s breakfast forage on the hill:

web negra forage YH IMG_4717

But she soon found herself caught in a spring rain shower, so she headed for the greenhouse and grabbed as much food as she could along the way:

web Negra in rain YH IMG_4730

Jody and Annie took their sweet time, since they were already hanging out in the cabin:

web Jody Annie in Negra's Cabin YH rain IMG_4731

Even though the rain didn’t last very long, most of the chimps spent the day in the greenhouse, where they knew they would remain warm and dry. Burrito was kind enough to let me take some close up photos:

web Burrito reflection in eyes GH IMG_4758

web Burrito foot GH IMG_4783

web Burrito laying down GH IMG_4779

web Burrito upside down finger in mouth GH IMG_4794

Jamie can’t sit still all day so she ventured out and made Diana walk a few laps around the perimeter of Young’s Hill with her. Every time Diana got back down to the building and thought she was done, there was Jamie waiting for her to go again. How could you say no to Jamie?

web Jamie look at camera YH IMG_4773

Face washing

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Annie has so many endearing habits and pastimes. Some of my favorites are seen in the video of this blog, including her “bird noises” and the way she lays on her back and claps her feet. I also love to see her in her “yoga poses”. As if all of that wasn’t adorable enough, she has recently found yet another adorable habit. Over the last few months (especially when we were regularly giving the chimps bottled water due to the Taylor Bridge Fire) I’ve seen her occasionally fill her mouth with water, lay on her back and spit the water into the air or in her hand so she can rub it all over her face. Today I caught her lounging in the greenhouse “cleaning her face” after running around on Young’s Hill with Missy. Seems like the perfect refresher.

Annie

Annie

Annie

Annie

Annie

Chimps’ Choice- “Once Again” Peanut Butter

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The Cle Elum Seven absolutely love peanut butter. We have traditionally purchased large containers of Adam’s Peanut Butter at Costco, however we are trying to steer clear of salt, especially with Burrito’s heart condition. So, we found a new (to me) brand that comes in 9lb tubs on Amazon called “Once Again”. I’ve added it to our wishlist. Even though we use peanut butter for all sorts of things, I think 9lbs will last us a pretty long time so we only need one tub for now but I thought I would make it a challenge for you! The first person to purchase it will receive a special package from me, which will include a photo of the chimp of your choice. Check out our wishlist (http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=wish_list) and be sure to email me ([email protected]) to let me know your chimp preference!

Annie licking peanut butter out of a kong, one of the Cle Elum Seven’s favorite activities:
Annie

Jamie licking the peanut butter off of a celery stick:
Jamie

Missy using a tool to fish peanut butter out of the tubes in the treat rock:
Missy

Jody cleaning the last bit out of a plastic peanut butter jar:
Jody

In Memory of Rita Yardley

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Annie Norris has also sponsored today in memory of her mother, Rita.  Here’s what Annie had to say:

“I’m sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of my mom, Rita Yardley.  We lost her this past November and today would have been her 75th birthday.  She loved all animals, but had a special place in her heart for gorillas and chimpanzees.  We miss her dearly.”

Annie has recently started volunteering in the chimp house, and we couldn’t be happier to have her.  Thanks, Annie!

web Annie lie on bridge sunshine big ears playroom PR IMG_3206