I know all our regular blog readers have been waiting to see some more video of the chimps out on Young’s Hill. If you haven’t yet, watch this video from KOMO News that shows their first moments out (but have some tissue close by!) This montage is of highlights from the following days. Enjoy!
chimp enrichment
Raisin Boards
Raisin boards are blocks of wood with holes drilled in them that we put raisins or other dried fruit into and the chimps have to use tools or find other creative ways to get the food out. We have implemented an evening “enhanced enrichment” program, in which we present the chimpanzees with a puzzles or some other type of challenge at the end of the day to help keep them from getting bored. Tonight’s raisin boards had a peanut butter/banana paste in them, which the chimps really loved. Here’s Missy’s strategy.
She alternated between using her hand made tool
and just sucking the peanut butter out (which had solidified some in the fridge)
Whatever works, right?
Seriously Playful
In contrast to the Negra-style play mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, when Foxie and Jamie play, they are completely uninhibited and just down right goofy. I could watch them (and laugh with them) being silly all day long.
Contentment
I just read this quote: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” –Epicurus
I’m pretty sure Negra would agree:
A Fox in a Box
We tend to get a lot of empty boxes around here at the sanctuary, and the other day Denice thought the chimps might enjoy this especially giant box. She was right, it turned out to be a lot of fun. Who knew a plain old leftover box could be so entertaining!
Birthday Coconuts
Missy’s birthday party was today. First, in the playroom, Jackie and I put almost entirely SOCKS out for the enrichment (we also included some boots and trolls, which are essential for enriching Jamie and Foxie). After we cleaned the outdoor area, we set up a huge forage of watermelon, lychees, bananas, bell peppers, green beans, and of course everyone’s favorite—coconuts! We also put out amazing gift bags put together by Robbi and Dick with all sorts of new enrichment. As we were setting up the forage, the chimps watched from the windows and were food grunting and squeaking.
Jackie took dozens of pictures of the chimps foraging through Missy’s birthday party, but sadly, the camera “decided” to re-format the card! So we lost all the pictures. Luckily when we realized this, the chimps had brought their coconuts into the playroom, and I was able to get a few photos of that.
Here’s Missy opening her coconut (notice she’s holding it steady with her foot!)
Foxie:
Burrito:
Burrito had an interesting method of trying to open his coconut. First, he was dragging it across the ground, and started rolling it back and forth. When that didn’t work he tried tossing it around and around:
He still hasn’t gotten it open but he is keeping it close to him. Hopefully he’ll get it open at some point!
I didn’t get a picture of Jody with a coconut, but here she is enjoying some leeks from our garden at the end of the party forage.
Happy Birthday, Missy!
Jackie and Diana are going to be goofy in Missy’s honor in about 10 minutes, and I’m sure it will be quite the sight to see. I’ll be photographing the event, and hopefully we’ll get some good shots posted tomorrow. Thank you to everyone that has pledged or donated to today’s Missy Games!
Frozen treats for a hot day
I know I’ve said it before- we have some pretty amazing volunteers here at CSNW. Volunteers Katelyn and Stephanie came up with the idea to freeze juice, blueberries, and raspberries in water bottles for an afternoon forage and today was the perfect day for it. It’s been several hours since we put them out, and the chimps are still looking for bottles. Thanks for keeping everyone enriched- and cool- ladies!
