A few happy moments from the week!
chimpanzee sanctuary
All About the Girls and Cardboard
Sometimes the best enrichment is the most simple enrichment. For example, all the chimps love boxes whether it’s to help build a nest, use as a tool to display with, or just play with. As you will see in the photos below and video above playing seemed to be the theme today!
As we continue on with our intro week we decided to try an all girl group again. Honey B, Mave, Rayne, and Lucky all volunteered to be a part of it today. We had tried this group before and their behaviors weren’t positive enough to open the door. But it has been a while and they all have done other introductions with each other so we thought we would give it another go! They did amazing, so good that they stayed with each other all afternoon. Rayne was just a jokester the whole time. At one point she was wrestling all three ladies! Honey B hasn’t had a person in her group to match her energy in a long time, Honey B and Rayne are a perfect match! Watching these four chimpanzees grow and develop friendships has been a true honor.
Now for box photos!
Gordo in a box:
Gordo having pomegranates in his box:
Lucky on a bench in a box:
A bonus photo of the handsome Cy:
And of course we could never forget that today is Honey Cow’s 14th birthday! She enjoyed the warm sunshine on a brisk day, fresh hay with her friends, and some tasty cob that Betsy swore was for her ;).
Getting to know Honey over the past few years has been a privilege. She is a fierce and loyal friend, self-assured, she can be sweet, and she is not afraid to tell you to go away! Cheers to the amazing Honey.
Moving Fourward
Today was busy busy. While the usual daily tasks were in process, we continued introductions that featured a Honey B, Willy B, Cy, and Terry quad. During the beginning they spent a lot of time divided by the mesh while Cy and Willy B sorted things out with plenty of displays. When they calmed down we opened the mesh and they were together interacting for around 50min. A lot of grooming and playing went down today.
Willy B and Cy grooming – Willy B’s lip smacking was epic.
Honey B and Terry engaged in some intense playing. Terry’s mouth says it all.
So Fresh, So Clean
Today has been another busy day at the sanctuary, so I’m going to forego my usual style in favor of something simple and brief.
I took some photographs with my phone today in order to show you all what it takes to keep everything clean, organized, and functioning around here. Our care staff has to complete many tasks each day, in addition to special projects and weekly chores, and these images show some of those.
One ongoing project has been the weatherization of the new greenhouses. J.B. has been working around the clock (with some help from special project volunteer Adam) to get the panels secured to the outside of these massive outdoor enclosures. The results are already remarkable! The panels will keep the area warm by radiating sunlight inward and shielding the chimps from the winds of winter, so we’re getting them done just in time.
Meanwhile, inside the building, the rest of the team was busy preparing meals, enrichment and meds; shifting and performing safety checks; cleaning all the enclosures; washing heaps of dirty blankets, dishes and chimp toys; and processing a produce delivery that arrived this morning.
It may look like a chaotic mess throughout the day, but things are looking ship-shape right now as I’m closing up the building for the evening.
We occasionally remind people that caregiving for chimps isn’t all fun and games, but sometimes it takes a chimp-less blog post to sell that concept.
Have a great week, everyone!
Lucky’s 30th Birthday Celebration
How lucky are we all that we have Lucky Chimpanzee in our lives now?! As Katelyn described, she is a gentle soul with an ineffable charm.
Her lunch forage, as seen in the video above, also included cherry tomatoes, of course, as we have noticed that is one of her favorite foods. We didn’t get a lot of video or photos of Lucky because she, Rayne and Dora enjoyed the party upstairs while “the boys” partied on the first floor
I love these photos that Kelsi took after the party because they are so sweet and because I know she had to go to some lengths to take the photos through the upstairs window to that playroom.
Lucky is the chimp puddle in the front of the photo below, with Terry far left, Dora far right, Cy behind Lucky, and Rayne’s foot in the right corner:
Lucky and Rayne:
Rayne sleeping off that oatmeal:
Thanks goes to Chad for the party plans, Dr. Erin for the oatmeal idea, Kelsi, Anna, J.B. and Lizz for pulling off simultaneous parties in different parts of the sanctuary, and also to Paulette once again for sponsoring Lucky’s special day.
Thursday Mood
Today the November rains seemed to fully set in. The chimpanzees have been nesting, napping, grooming and intermittently going for walks on Young’s Hill between cloud bursts. I caught Burrito in relaxation mode lounging in the portrait studio. 
Jamie’s Boots and a Scarecrow Murder Mystery
Before I begin, let’s play a game! Who killed the scarecrow?
If you look closely, there is a hint. Be sure to think about it as you continue reading on. The answer will be revealed at the end!
Last week, I received a new pair of Xtra-Tuf boots. After a year and many miles put on them, holes were starting to develop in them. It is manageable though, however, after the other caregivers noticed my boots, I was convinced to finally retire those pair.
“Retire them” is a vague term however. As you may know, Jamie is a fan of the Xtra-Tuf boots. She is also a fan of what boots belong on what humans.
When I unboxed my new boots, I casually walked near the doors to Jamie’s Playroom, just to see if she would notice without any kind setup. It took her about 2 seconds to notice I was not wearing my “normal” boots. As you know, with any new boots, Jamie has to thoroughly inspect them by grooming them.
This moment lasted about two minutes. Jamie quickly determined that these boots do not belong on this human. In fact, these boots belong on any human except this one.
First, she demanded(!) Katelyn wear them around Young’s Hill with them on, not once, not twice, but three times.
Then, she demanded Katelyn take a trip around Young’s Hill (while showing them off) on the Gator with Sam as the driver.
She even wanted to really break them in by racing the Gator.
Over the past week, she has had every other human wear them.
During my weekend, I was also informed Diana and Kelsi were told they had to wear them throughout the day.
At this point, I think it’s fair to say every human has worn them more than me. I’m not mad or upset about this. I am fully aware this is Jamie’s world and I’m just living in it. If these boots don’t belong on me, then those are the rules.
Here is a bonus photo of Missy from yesterday. As Burrito and I were running around Young’s Hill, Missy came out with a Brussels sprout stalk in her mouth. She ran the entire way with it in her mouth as if it were the Olympic Torch. As I witnessed this, I radioed Anthony to get a photo before she made her way inside. Where did it come from? The only explanation is that it was stowed away safely somewhere after Jamieween.
Have you locked in your guess who the scarecrow killer was? The person who caused this grisly scene was…
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JAMIE!!!!!
Though she also had accomplices.
