What happens at CSNW stays at CSNW.
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
by J.B. 15 Comments
What happens at CSNW stays at CSNW.
Jamie received a fresh pair of Doc Marten boots a few days ago and has been asking her caregivers to model them for her. Today was my first day back from my weekend and item #1 on Jamie’s agenda this morning was to very clearly request that I don this piece of footwear for her enjoyment. Well, what choice do I have? Jamie is the boss, after all.
Jamie takes her boot to the one spot she where it will fit through the caging as Burrito looks on
Watch out for footwear projectiles – sorry it’s so blurry :/
Once I put it on, Jamie came down and displayed with the blue barrel
Mission accomplished
by J.B.
When I stop by the chimp house, I am occasionally greeted by chimps excitedly waiting to play, groom, or go on walks, but the majority of the time, the overall vibe is one of indifference. I can pop into the foyer, grab a package or some receipts, and head back to the office without garnering much attention. The other day, however, as I stood in the foyer, I could hear Jamie stomping on the floor in the playroom. She often does this when she can see something she wants in the kitchen from her limited vantage point in the playroom loft.
I was pretty sure she wasn’t trying to get my attention. I never stepped foot in the kitchen, had no food on me, and was wearing the same old black rain boots that I always wear around the farm this time of year. Still, she kept stomping. As I walked into the chimp area to see if I could figure out what she wanted, she let out a low moan and raced down to the floor where I stood. She extended her fingers through the cage towards my boots. Then I remembered…I was actually wearing a different pair of black rain boots – ones that are, to my mind, very similar and virtually indistinguishable from a distance to most people. But Jamie is not most people.
There’s a lot going on here. First, there’s the fact that she can discern the subtle differences between plain black boots from a distance of 70 feet. Second, it’s clear that she has a pretty good memory of the boots she has seen me wear for these to be viewed as so novel and interesting. And finally, there’s the unanswerable question: Why does she care about boots so much?
As someone who owns two pairs of nearly identical boots, I’m not sure I’m in any position to question or criticize anyone else’s interest in footwear.
by Diana
They really did play for a good amount of time while Anna and I cleaned their playroom. I was very glad to get the clips I did!
As you can see from the video, the snow from yesterday was short-lived. I saw Annie walking up the stairs to the playroom loft with a big handful of snow. It’s good that they love to eat it!
by Kelsi
Jamie loves books. She enjoys flipping through anything from larger bodied apes, to architecture, to a national geographic about mummies, a classic cowboy boot book, and her new favorite Xtratuf boot book. It has all of her favorite boots in one book! The book idea came about when Jamie’s love for Xtratuf boots happened. As many of you know, the chimps can’t have our cleaning boots because they are made of rubber, which they will sometimes eat. At night we always offer Jamie a pair, or two, or three of her favorite boots or a book before we lock up and leave for the night. Every night instead she would need to groom her favorite Xtratuf boots before bed. These grooming sessions could last anywhere from 25-40 minutes or forever in Jamie’s mind :). Some nights grooming was never enough. As a caregiver, you never want to leave until all the chimps are content. It can be very distressing to see someone like Jamie knowing she wants something she can’t have and then having to say sorry but know she is unhappy when you leave, even if you leave her with another favorite pair of boots she can have. I decided maybe if we made a book off something like, Shutterfly with everyone wearing their Xtratuf boots, maybe that would help her at night!
Well, what I didn’t know was how much she would love it. I knew she would like it, but if you read Katelyn’s blog on Monday, it was very apparent she approved of the book. And that the book evolved into her being able to communicate which boots she wanted right in that moment! On Saturday when I gave Jamie the book, I barely got to page two before she was pilo and running over gesturing for the book! Jamie took the book into the Playroom with a low groan of approval and quietly started flipped through the book. It felt like Jamie was saying, finally!
I only purchased one book because I had no idea how she would respond to it. Sometimes we humans get so excited to give the chimps something. We think “oh Jamie is going to love this” or “Jody is definitely going to use this” and then it’s a flop. Chimps are funny that way. While Anna and I were cleaning the other day we were thinking of different ideas like making a blanket with the boot pictures, or a pillow, or a new book with current and old volunteers shoes that she loved! Now, of course these could all be flops too, but you have to try to find out! If anyone would like to find out, I have put a Shutterfly gift card on the wish list so we can get another 2 or 4 copies of this book for Jamie. Or so we can make a new book for her!
Jamie nesting with the book.
Today I found her book with some pages bookmarked. This could be by chance. But, if we know Jamie she was probably folding those piece over to come back too.
This photo was taken pre-Xtratuf boot book! The other night Diana and I could not figure out what boots Jamie wanted to look at. So we brought her collection out. It turned out later she wanted completely different boots, but she had fun looking.
This book is now always an arms reach away from her.
Jamie up close grooming.
Don’t forget about The Queen’s Brunch. The online auction is going on now! I have been bidding on the Negra painting and keep getting out bid and I am currently in a bidding war for a beautiful Jody colored pencil drawing. Look out for me 😉 Please join us live on Facebook, June 13th for the brunch, it’s going to be so much fun. We hope to see you there!
by Diana
If you are new to the blog, here are two things to know about the boss female chimpanzee Jamie: she loves boots, and she is constantly ordering the humans around.
You can see the force of her personality in these photos:
She’s also very particular about the things that she wants, and sometimes it takes the humans a while to understand what she’s asking for in a given moment.
Usually, when Jamie wants us to put on boots and walk around the outside of the outdoor habitat “with” her, she wants us to change into her favorite pair of boots du jour. We turn to the drying boots from the previous days enrichment or to her own personal boot and book closet to find the pair that she’s been most interested in lately.
Over the past twelve years, caregivers have worn various boot brands and styles. Right now, however, many of us are wearing XtraTuf boots. Kelsi, Anna, and Katelyn have a pair, as do I now. Chad and J.B. were the latest caregivers to upgrade to XtraTufs. Anthony still hasn’t succumbed to conformity. We have not received any funds from XtraTuf for this endorsement, but maybe they should send Anthony a pair so he will find out what he’s missing 😉
We female caregivers have the “Salmon Sisters” style that can be worn fully up or folded down to different lengths, revealing the unique fabric on the inside.
As with most fashion, there tends to be more variety for women’s styles, and Chad and J.B.’s boots are of the kind that don’t fold down to reveal fun patterns – they just wear them up.
A few days ago, Jamie got my attention and was gesturing for something. I assumed she wanted to go on a walk, so I pulled out all of the boots that I knew were favorites of hers, but she just continued to gesture empathically. After several minutes, I finally figured out that she wanted me to change into my cleaning boots, which I did, and we proceeded on our walk.
Today it was a similar routine, but both Kelsi and I were already wearing our cleaning boots, so we couldn’t immediately figure out what Jamie wanted.
Later in the afternoon Kelsi had a moment of insight and tried unrolling her boots to their full length.
That was it!
Jamie was off in a flash, with Kelsi happily catching up to her.
I wish I knew more about what goes on in Jamie’s head, but it’s always rewarding to figure out what she wants, even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense to us.
by J.B.
Yesterday, Diana and I returned to the sanctuary after a week away. I came up a little early for our afternoon positive reinforcement training session to say hello and was treated to some wonderful greetings by Annie and Negra, who were resting in the playroom. Annie’s was a grand submissive gesture – a series of pant-grunts delivered while bobbing up and down excitedly. Negra’s was gentle and sweet – a long kiss on the back of my hand accompanied by soft breathy pants.
Then Jamie approached. She walked up, slid a book under the caging, and walked away. If it were any other chimpanzee I might been a bit disappointed by her reaction, but I knew exactly what she was saying: No time to talk, let’s walk.
There really is no one else like her.
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Cle Elum, WA 98922
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509-699-0728
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