Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sunday Activities

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What are some of your favorite Sunday activities? The video highlights some of the residents of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest favorite Sunday activities.

But before anything else, the morning patrol!

Jamie couldn’t wait to do her morning patrol. She even decided her breakfast chow had to wait until she was on Young’s Hill!

Not far behind Jamie was Burrito, Missy, and Jody.

Annie decided to venture off on her own.

Missy found a perfect spot for a little solitude and to take in the morning scenery.

However, Jamie thought this was also the perfect spot to eat her chow.

I mean, who could blame Jamie? This is the perfect spot to take in all of a Spring morning’s glory.

Missy shortly left to zoom around the hill.

While Annie decided to try to spy on her neighbors: Willy B, Honey B, and Mave.

Then there is this guy. With this glance, I know my legs are about to turn to Jello, I will be soon out of breath, and make a few trips around the Hill, which was exactly the case shortly after this photo was taken.

We here all hope you had the most perfect Sunday!

Stunt Missy

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When we set out food forages for the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill, the chimps’ outdoor habitat, especially on a gorgeous day like today, all of the staff onsite tend to gather at the base of the hill near the greenhouse, frequently with more than one of us taking photos.

It never gets old watching forages, and we often narrate out-loud to one another what’s happening. Today, Missy provided some excitement for our (and her) enjoyment.

The lunch forage was whole tomatoes (a Missy-favorite!), big chunks of lettuce, celery, mini sweet peppers, primate chow biscuits, and a few pieces of sweet potato.

Missy was keen on finding the tomatoes, but was also busy gathering lettuce. We spotted her on the treat rock (an artificial termite mound) taking a moment to eat some lettuce.

She must have spotted some tomatoes on top of Negra’s cabin from the vantage point of the treat rock, because she leapt off the treat rock in a way only Missy would. J.B. got a shot of her in motion!

Here’s the zoomed-in version of that photo. I dubbed it Stunt Missy.

Negra was settled in inside her cabin, casually enjoying some chow biscuits and lettuce, when Missy approached.

Missy was determined to climb up the log support of the cabin, even with her hands quite full. The humans watching wondering if she could do it…

Of course she could! She scaled up the log one-handed, not dropping a leaf of lettuce.

and enjoyed the tomato reward when she reached the top

Serious Business

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In the greenhouse, there’s a small bench with a digital scale inside.

When a chimp sits on the scale, we can look up at the display panel and record their weight. This is important for overall health management as well as for dosing medications.

While the bench might seem to the chimps to be like any other bench, it is not. It is serious business.

The scale is a bonafide medical device. One does not play games with medical devices.

The most important thing to remember is that the entire body must be kept on the platform for accurate weight measurement.

Never stand on the scale.

Remain still during the entire process.

Do not, under any circumstances, taunt the scale operator.

Remain upright at all times! I can’t believe I even have to say that.

OK, I get it. You think this is funny.

Are we finished?

Right, then. As I was saying, this is a serious medical device.

An ode to Foxie

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Foxie is a unique character at the sanctuary.  She is equal parts friendship and independence, with a dash of eccentricity thrown in for good measure. She loves fresh fruit and creamy avocados and has never said no to a morning smoothie. It’s a rare sight to see Foxie without a prized (and well loved) doll close by. She protects her friends and is remarkably brave, despite her skeptical nature. Foxie’s playful energy is a contagious delight within her chimpanzee family and she brings joy to all who know her.  Cheers to Foxie Chimpanzee on this fine spring day in April!

 

There never was a finer play face! Not pictured- Burrito and his supreme tickling abilities.

Deconstructing a Display on a Fine Spring Day

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Within the past couple of days, the weather has been almost nearly perfect. Sun in the sky without a sight of a cloud. Not too hot and not too cold. Gentle breezes instead of wind gusts. This is the perfect weather for outdoor activities.

After security checks were completed, the Seven were given access to Young’s Hill first thing in the morning.

While six of the seven immediately patrolled their grounds, one decided to stay back and just enjoy the warm Spring morning.

Negra elected to go onto Young’s Hill and eat her breakfast hard-boiled egg in the sun while the others patrolled.

With the weather being so nice, we thought it would be a great day for a lunch forage outside of carrots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and bonus pineapple tops.

Jamie:

As you can see, Jamie won out with Fistfuls of Bell Peppers.

Missy:

Though Jamie went straight for the bell peppers, the pineapple tops were in Missy’s sights.

Negra:

Burrito:

Annie:

Foxie:

Jody:

Jody has learned, some times you have to climb the highest of heights to get the biggest reward.

The Three on the other side of the building are still settling into their new playrooms. Though it seems it’s technically no longer “settling in” as much as it is they fully moved in and have become comfortable in the new areas.

Willy B has started to use the artificial tree branches/platforms as his new lounge area.

Though Willy B, Honey B, and Mave have access to new areas, they are still fond of their old ones. For Willy B, in particular, the Courtyard is still an area he loves to venture out to.

Though he did go outside today, I was not able to get any photos. Instead I will share some of the ones I took on Sunday of his Courtyard Adventures.

When Willy B first gets access to the Courtyard, he will scan around for any nuts or food items near the boardwalk. Afterward, he seems to just take in the surroundings, some times even taking a nap on the boardwalk.

What happens next is usually when he notices he has an audience.

When Willy B notices the Group of Seven watching him for their playroom windows, he has to show them this area is his. He does this through his territorial display.

First he begins his pant hooting:

Then he becomes piloerect and moves to the nearest loudest object. In the Courtyard, this is a barrel.

Piloerection is when a chimpanzee’s hair stands on its’ ends. The best way to think of this is thinking of when you get goosebumps. Pretty similar. In fact, you can see Willy B’s “goosebumps” if you look close enough!

Once he reaches the barrel, he begins drumming it:

As the intensity and rhythm of the drumming increases, so does his pant hooting. When his display reaches its’ crescendo, he hits the drum as hard as he can in one final *BAM* and lets out a scream for all the hear:

When finished, Willy B resumes taking in the Spring sun and air, while also peeking to see if the neighbors got the message and if it riled them up.

Hint: They usually do and it usually does.

That’s the Spot

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Today was a quintessential early spring day in Cle Elum that started with great gusts of wind driving snow across an otherwise peaceful green landscape. This attempt of winter to make a resurgence was no match for the sun, however. The snow was gone by midday and the scenery was back to being spring-like.

It’s been just a few days since Willy B, Mave, and Honey B first got access to the two new playrooms. They are still experimenting with the new space and trying out different areas. It will be fun to discover what their favorite hang-out spots are.

Today, Mave laid down to groom herself in a puddle of sun on the catwalk of Playroom 3 (also known as the Marmot Room because of the marmot silhouette painted on the wall downstairs in honor of a special supporter).

On the other side of the building, I found Jody in one of her all-time-favorite spots on the lower platform in the original greenhouse doing much the same as Mave.

Not one to spend much time lounging, Jamie was busy perusing the sanctuary’s site plan…

If you are on Facebook, you might have caught a Live Lunch Service (recorded video available on Facebook here). We hope to do more of those live videos in the future, most likely on a random and spontaneous schedule.

Whether you are more in the mood to relax or all about keeping active, if you are a local supporter, I have the thing you need to do this month!

Get yourself to Gallery One in Ellensburg and check out the display of designs that were submitted to last month’s art contest. Note – Gallery One is currently open at a limited capacity – check out their Covid protocols for more information.

You won’t go home empty-handed – there’s merchandise available for purchase that features the winning design of Fabulous Foxie by artist Thyra Rutter. There are also brand new postcards of all ten of the current chimpanzees; plus a really great display of information that the creative students in the Primate Awareness Network at Central Washington University put together. If you are not local, you will miss out on the displays, but you can still get stickers from the top four People’s Choice winners and merchandise of Fabulous Foxie in our online merchandise store.

Have fun shopping!

The Eternal Moment

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Negra was kind enough to let me take photos of her while she thought about lunch, got impatient about lunch, shouted at the kitchen staff about lunch, became overwhelmed at the sight of lunch, turned giddy in anticipation of eating lunch, and – at long last – ate lunch. It was a harrowing 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

A side note: I thought this would be a good opportunity to educate our readership about the somewhat arcane primatological term bed shoulder, which is a trait exhibited by a small number of apes that roll out of bed just before meals. Often accompanied by bed head unless cranial pelage is lacking.