As many of our readers know, Jamie is the most dominant chimp of the Cle Elum Seven. That means that if food is nearby, whether she is interested in it at that moment or not, the other chimps respect it as hers and avoid grabbing anything that she might consider her own. You’ll see a couple interesting politics in the following video. Burrito knows that Jamie has left some chow on the floor and abandoned them to start wrestling with Foxie. He’s waiting for a point where he can take advantage of that distraction and get the chow pieces for himself. Once he eventually gets his opportunity, Foxie catches him in the act, and wants some for herself. Although Jamie still appears uninterested, Foxie asks for her permission to take some chow… but Jamie decides that she wants to keep the few pieces remaining for herself.
chimp sanctuary
Jamie helps clean up
As we’ve mentioned before, Jamie is particularly human-oriented. (Read this post from the first week Jamie was in sanctuary). She definitely watches us do things and will do them in her own style later. Jamie also likes to check up on any kind of work that’s been done and once she’s given access to a room that was previously closed off for maintenance, she will rush in to give her quality control tests.
In the first part of this video, you’ll see her cleaning up a recent paint job in one of the front rooms. We are replacing the benches, so you’ll see some primer on the wall in the spot where the bench used to be. In the second part of the video, Jamie is scrubbing a notably hard-to-reach spot. Clearly I did not do a good enough cleaning job! But I’m so glad to have Jamie’s help.
The case of the droopy lip
Jody almost always has a drooped lip when she’s out on the hill. We’ve been referring to it as her “Young’s Hill Face”
Today, her droopy lip seemed to be mixed in with a bit of a sneer. Sometimes I sneer when I’m cold!
She sure does have a beautiful face though…
Cleaning up
The chimps spent a little bit of time on the hill today, but it was really cold, so they were all warming up either in the greenhouse or inside. I was sitting in the greenhouse watching a nice peaceful grooming session between Annie and Missy…
…when all the sudden, I heard water spilling- a lot of water spilling. I looked over to find Jamie sitting at the water spigot in one of the front rooms, only she wasn’t getting a drink. Her feet were muddy from being on the hill, so she was pouring the water on her feet and wiping them off on the wall
I wasn’t able to get a very good photo, partly because of the angle, and partly because as soon as Jamie noticed I was taking pictures of her, she went back to just “getting a drink”
Cold toes!
It’s been an unusually mild winter so far. It’s been pretty cold, but we just haven’t had much snow. It’s been great in a way, because the chimps have been able to spend more time out on the hill (we can’t give them the hill if the snow gets too deep because it will drain the fence voltage). But we did get a little bit of snow last night, and since the chimps love to eat snow so much, I was eager to give them Young’s Hill as soon as possible today before it all melted.
Before we let the chimps out on the hill each day, the lead caregiver does a perimeter check by walking or driving the Gator all the way around to check for any issues with the electric fence. The chimps are very aware of this routine and usually get a little excited when we turn on the walkie-talkies and head out for our hike around the hill. Each morning, as I pass the east side of the building, I look into the picture windows to see what’s happening in the playroom. Usually I’ll see Negra curled up in her spot with a blanket over her head and maybe Missy and Foxie grooming and such, but today, I saw bouncy feet and an enthusiastic head nod. Annie (bouncy feet) and Missy (head nodding) were so excited to get out there! I looked at Missy and pointed towards the hill (assuming she wouldn’t be able to hear me if I spoke) and she started running towards the door to Young’s Hill.
But when I opened the door, no one went out. There was a long, long pause before finally, Missy, Annie, Foxie, Jody, and then Jamie went out. The sun was out but the wind had picked up and it was COLD! Even still, once they got themselves out there, they hung out there for 45 minutes or so. I was all bundled up in a sweatshirt, jacket, gloves, warm boots, and still freezing, so I can’t even imagine how cold their toes were!
Bipedal Foxie:
Jamie headed up the climbing structure (with Annie behind her)
when she got to the top, she wiped off her feet
and sat down for some snow
Most of Missy’s time on the hill today was above ground:
but she did manage to find a pretty nice ice chunk that she brought in to enjoy in the warm greenhouse
Decemburrr on the Hill
As J.B. mentioned in his post the other day, it has been really cold in Cle Elum, but we still haven’t had much snow. We have had significant doses of hoar frost though, which is beautiful! Maybe it’s not as exciting as snow to some, but Jody and Foxie have really been enjoying licking it off of things.
Jody licking hoar frost off of the log bridge:
Foxie was really enjoying licking it off of the climbing structure
And later, Jody joined her
Hoar frost on a tree
Brandon Wood Rocks!
In case you haven’t heard, in the world of chimps, Brandon Wood rocks!
Brandon is 11 and has been working hard on behalf of chimpanzees. He’s been very busy sending letters to congress and to the president, telling them about the importance of the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, and has even been fundraising for the Cle Elum Seven! His dedication, passion and diligence is something to really look up to. I know I do!!
So, as a way to honor him and all that he has done, and is doing, we had a surprise party for the chimps today. Volunteer Connie initiated the plan and brought a few “rock star-style” party decorations and then, volunteers Stephanie and Katelyn went on the hunt in Seattle and found all kinds of rockin’ decor, including a guitar pinata- because we think Brandon “rocks”! In addition, I secretly contacted Brandon’s mom, Deanna, to find out some of Brandon’s favorite foods and snacks so we could have them for the party and make the day as special as possible.
To get the chimps geared up for a party, we started things out by having a snow cone/cup forage in the greenhouse.
Annie:
Burrito:
Foxie:
Deanna told me that one of Brandon’s favorite things is pumpkin pie. We don’t give the chimps dairy or sugar, so we were presented with a challenge, but it didn’t stop us! We pureed pumpkin, soy milk, tofu, and cinnamon and baked it inside mini pumpkins. I think it worked out pretty well!
Burrito loved it!
Some of the decor, pre-party:
Annie with the guitar pinata:
Jamie:
Deanna told me that another favorite of Brandon’s is ants-on-a-log, and that he also really enjoys tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. Can you guess what we served the chimps for lunch?
Thank you so much for all you do, Brandon! In our eyes, you really are a rock star!
