It’s been an intense few weeks since the fire, but the chimpanzees and humans at CSNW are finally starting to feel a little more upbeat. The chimps are back on the the hill, everyone is feeling playful, and we are making wacky videos.
chimpanzee
Link to King 5 story from today
Here is the link to the King 5 story that just aired: http://bit.ly/PyfMes
and here’s a photo of that sad relic from the fire:
We are so grateful to the firefighters for all they did making sure everyone was safe and for all of our volunteers and supporters who have gotten us through the last few weeks in so many ways. I think the burned but still smiling troll doll will be a reminder of the fire for years to come.
Chimps back on Young’s Hill
We opened the door to let the chimps back onto Young’s Hill for the first time since the Taylor Bridge Fire hit the sanctuary property on August 13th. Gary Chittim and Ken Jones from King 5 were here to do a story today. You can see footage of the chimps’ excitement and steps out on the hill on King 5 News at 6:30pm in Seattle and online after the story airs (we’ll be sure to share the link once it’s on the web).
The chimpanzees haven’t been asking to go out much since the fire, which is a surprise, since they generally “remind us” in the mornings to open the door by standing by it and getting our attention or luring us over and sticking their fingers through the caging where the door opens.
J.B. and volunteers Brian and John have worked to clean up the hill by removing burned logs, reinforcing a damaged fence post, and dragging (tilling, in effect) the charred ground that covered half of the enclosure. J.B. found a sad relic on the hill that Gary Chittim will show on the King 5 broadcast tonight.
All of the staff joined in a final check of the hill yesterday afternoon so we were ready and anxious to give the chimps access after setting up a breakfast forage.
The chimps mostly stuck to the unburned areas.
Below is a photo of Jamie bringing a wrench out with her on to the hill. Maybe J.B. forgot to fix something?
And here she is with the burned ground in the background:
Annie did inspect the burned grass a bit:
And Missy ventured into the starkness of the top of the hill that was charred in the fire. You can see a ring of green grass coming up – that’s where the underground irrigation lines run to water the bamboo. We lost about half of the smaller bamboo in the fire:
Negra and Jody play
Negra and Jody are two out of our seven residents that are more relaxers and not as much rough-and-tumble players, like Foxie or Missy. So, it’s a nice treat getting to see them playing with anyone—and even more so with each other!
Cuteness Overload
Burrito definitely loves playing with his human friends (and we love playing with him!) but I really like seeing Burrito play with other chimps. He and Foxie play pretty frequently– I would suspect that of the chimps, Foxie is his best friend. But he and Missy play sometimes too. I caught them in a rambunctiously goofy play session this morning in the greenhouse. They were so caught up in their silliness that neither of them even noticed me taking photos through the glass window in the playroom.
Today’s photo shoot
Today I caught Burrito mid-hoot face (the facial expression that accompanies a pant hoot). I love their lips when chimps make this facial expression/vocalization.
When he spotted me taking photos, he seemed to get shy and quickly stopped.
But then as I started talking to him about how cute he was, he seemed pretty happy to show that off.
Meanwhile, the other chimps were pretty relaxed (and beautiful). Here’s Annie lounging around with a hair brush:
Jamie:
Foxie:
Negra, chewing on some gum
Another Quiet Day
Today, Burrito was checking out his reflection in a plastic mirror.
Foxie enjoyed some bottled water (we’re still waiting on tests of our well water since it was contaminated during the fire).
Missy and Annie spent some time grooming. Missy likes to groom herself with a tool – in this case she ripped a splinter from a log. If you look closely you can even see some dandruff falling.
Annie likes to pick Missy’s nose. Missy tolerates it but doesn’t seem to enjoy it. I don’t blame her – Annie doesn’t bite her nails down like the other chimps do.
