Sometimes, no matter how sweet you are, you just don’t get what you want.
chimpanzee rescue
Me and my shadow(s)
Jody is often the first to go out onto the hill when we open it up these days. She may not go out right away, but once she builds up the initiative, she goes! And often Foxie is right there with her. Yesterday, Jody waited a long time before going out but then she all the sudden came charging into the greenhouse from the playroom and walked right out there, with Annie and Foxie right behind her.
But, later Foxie took “following Jody” to a whole new level:
And when Jody decided it was time to go back inside…
Foxie was still right behind her…
and Annie came running after
Today we honor David John Parkinson
Today is sponsored by Margaret Parkinson and Karen Creason in honor of Margaret’s beloved brother David John Parkinson, who died on December 11th in Margaret and David’s native New Zealand. Margaret and Karen are some of the warmest people you could ever hope to meet. They’re chimp house volunteers and long-time supporters whose love for the chimpanzees is obvious to anyone who meets them (and it’s reciprocated – the chimps adore them!). They had this to say about David and why they chose to sponsor a day in his name:
“David helped Margaret feel cared for all her life and we want [the Cle Elum Seven] to feel cared for in his honor.”
Here’s Missy grooming her “brother”, Burrito:
Silly B
Burrito was in an exceptionally silly mood today. After putting a paper bag around his shoulders like a cape, he went out into the greenhouse and spent some quality time with a blue fish.
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”
