Annie

Purple boots and Missy’s stance

March 20, 2016 by Keri

It all started with Jamie insisting we go for a walk around Young’s Hill. For those of you new to the blog, Jamie chimpanzee loves for us humans to wear her favorite boots and join her on her perimeter patrols (humans on one side of the electric fences, Jamie on the other). I did the usual, trying to guess which ones she wanted me to put on. After a few failed attempts, Elizabeth and I figured it out. She wanted the purple pair, her newest and currently, most favorite boots (thanks Kimber!). So, I grabbed them from the sink where they were being cleaned and rinsed them off. Before I could even tell her they were too wet for me to put on, and that I would just be carrying them, she was gone. I walked out the door to the other side of the fence to join her. She’d already made it most of the way up one side of the hill by that time. She waited for me to catch up before continuing on her perimeter patrol.

When we got back to the Greenhouse, she made the gesture that she wanted to see the boots for a little grooming.

Meanwhile, Missy was busy, running back and forth from the top of the hill back down and then from one side to the other. She stopped every so often to look back over her shoulder, perhaps to see if there was something she missed while she was running. I watched her for a bit and caught her in the following stance and wondered what she was looking at. Perhaps, she was practicing her stance She looked pretty intent on something. What could it be?

Of course!!! It was her dear friend Annie running up the hill towards her.

A game of chase ensued, all the way back to the Greenhouse.

The Luck o’ the Cle Elum Seven

March 17, 2016 by Elizabeth

The Cle Elum Seven may not head to the pubs on St. Patrick’s Day, but they still know how to have a good time. We had a breakfast party in the greenhouse this morning with fruit smoothie in plastic shot glasses with lime garnishes, peanuts, and chow. The main event, though, was undoubtedly the whole green apples. The chimpanzees find whole fruit infinitely more exciting than the same amount of fruit cut into pieces. We put this morning’s apples inside socks and hung them around the greenhouse. The chimps were beside themselves. Here are a few highlights from the celebration.

Jamie went after the “apple socks” with a laser focus. She had some trouble carrying all her treasures, so she made good use of her opposable toes.

Foxie with a lime wedge:

and getting the last drops from a cup of smoothie:

Negra held onto her apple for awhile before eating it:

Burrito with an apple and searching for more:

and enjoying smoothie:

and more smoothie:

Annie thought there must be food inside this big green plastic egg that volunteer Alex brought:

Alas, there wasn’t.

But she consoled herself with some smoothie.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

A place in the sun

March 16, 2016 by Katelyn

It’s a beautiful bright blue sky kind of day at the sanctuary, but the wind is biting and cold. In between quick ventures onto Young’s Hill, the chimpanzees have each spent their day finding a variety of warm places in the sun to enjoy.

Annie running up the hill to check the tire swing for ice which she happily found and ran back to the greenhouse to enjoy – and that’s Foxie and Dora on the side:

Jody has been making daily trips up the hill to check for the wild greens which haven’t started to come up yet. She did come back with what looked suspiciusly like a young bamboo shoot though.

Here’s Foxie sporting a grimace in response to the cold wind as she quickly heads back inside with her Dora dolls:

Back in the south facing window of the greenhouse, Foxie warms up with the sun on her face:

Missy joins Foxie in the sunny spot:

Burrito having an after lunch rest in the greenhouse:

There are three levels in the greenhouse and with each one the heat increases significantly. The chimps often like to pile together at the very top where they can bake in the sun. Foxie and Dora are kicked back in the heat:

Beautiful Missy decided to make a nest on the catwalk in the playroom in the south-facing windows:

The chimpanzees weren’t the only ones looking for a warm spot in the sun today:

I wasn’t able to capture any photos of the Queen and the Boss, but Negra has spent most of the day in “happy baby” pose in her nest, holding her feet and luxuriating in the glaring sun. And in between brisk walks, Jamie has also spent most of the day in a warm nest out of view. 🙂

Serving

March 14, 2016 by Keri

I’ve been wanting to write a blog post about serving food for a while now in response to a question I am frequently asked. How do we give food to the chimpanzees if we never enter the enclosures with them or stick our fingers into the enclosures? There are a few different options, including serving the food through the openings in the caging to each of the chimps and setting up forages for the chimps to gather the food themselves.

Serving entails serving food to the chimps’ hand or mouth (or sometimes foot). We make sure to cut foods to a size that will easily fit through the squares in the caging or we can drop food into food chutes (located in the Front Rooms). Things like celery, carrots and cucumbers are easy to hand to the chimps through the openings. Roasted vegetables are softer and we use small paper plates or serving trays that can be rolled up and passed through the openings. Liquids, such as fruit smoothies, (which are served at breakfast) are poured into cups and caregivers hold the cups up to the chimps’ outstretched lips. Serving allows us to know exactly how much each chimp is getting of each food. Check out this link to see examples of meals we serve throughout the day.

The following photos were all taken during the chimps’ dinner from the top of the Greenhouse when the panels were off this past summer. As you can see in the photos, some of the chimps prefer to hang, while others prefer to sit on the ground or utilize the plastic chairs or barrels.

Foxie usually brings a friend with her to meals (hint, look at what is in her foot).

Burrito eating his night bag.

Annie

Some of the chimps prefer to stay and eat all of their food where it is served, while others tend to gather their portions and go to a different area to eat them.

Jamie prefers to open her night bag, pour out its contents and pick through the nuts, seeds, popcorn and dried fruit.

Here’s a closeup of Jody eating her celery.

Foraging allows the chimps to move around and gather the food themselves, which is what they would be doing in the wild. For forages, we cut the food into smaller pieces and scatter them throughout the various enclosures after we have cleaned (the chimps are locked out of the enclosure humans are in). Once we have locked up and done our safety checks, we give the chimps access to the enclosure and they gather the food themselves. Foraging gets the chimps moving (important for chimps in captivity) and gives the chimps choices over which foods they prefer to collect and eat first. Click on the link at the beginning of the paragraph for a great video of the chimps foraging on Young’s Hill.

Happy Birthday, Kirby!

March 10, 2016 by Katelyn

Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Jodi Watson in honor of Kirby Watson for his 50th birthday! Jodi shared this really special message about Kirby:

“He’s the love of my life, and I admire him, and I hope he has another 50 years with me on this earth.”

Jodi, reading your message we are even more touched that you would choose to sponsor a day for the chimpanzees in Kirby’s honor. Thank you so much for thinking of them as you celebrate today.

And Kirby, we hope this is the best birthday yet and that it’s full of all good things! Thanks for sharing your special day with these special chimps. Happy Birthday from all of the primates here at CSNW!!

Best friends, Annie and Missy:

The return of Ellie the elk

March 9, 2016 by Katelyn

Ellie (as we call her), our local neighborhood wild elk, spends her days roaming up and down the valley where she grew up after losing her mother. During the winter she tends to stay more frequently at the neighboring ranch, but she always makes her way back to the sanctuary in the springtime to hang out.

On one of her first days back after the snow melted she decided to accompany the chimpanzees (everyone except Negra!) and I on a walk around Young’s Hill. The chimpanzees, however, (specifically Jamie and Foxie) weren’t so welcoming of her return and wanted to remind her whose territory she was in. (Be sure to watch until the end when Jody and Missy offer Foxie and her Dora doll reassuring hugs for their bravery).

10 Minutes of Missy’s Day

March 2, 2016 by Katelyn

We woke up to a dusting of snow at the sanctuary but the rest of the day has remained cloudy, cool and dry. Perfect walking weather for chimps and humans – or if you’re Missy – perfect running weather. The following photos all took place within about a 10 minute span of Missy’s day.

First she chased after Jamie, Burrito and I around the perimeter.