Not long after the chimps arrived, supporter Tamela found an acrylic mirror that we hung on the playroom wall. It has gotten pretty scratched up in the last 2.5 years, so J.B. just recently replaced it with a new one. And not unlike her reaction when it was first hung in January of 2009, Jamie spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to remove it.
Cle Elum 7
Chimps’ Choice!
It’s been a while since we had a Chimps’ Choice item, and we have an awesome idea!
We love to challenge the chimps with puzzles. Not to cause stress, of course, but to keep them stimulated and enriched. Jamie loves nothing more than a project but she’s so smart that it is difficult to come up with a project for her that actually challenges her. Something that would take me an hour to figure out, Jamie masters in less than 5 minutes. The puzzles that Cari donated the other day are just perfect and we would love to have more. The website has a variety of puzzles, but not all of them will work for us, so I added the specific ones we think will be best to our Amazon Wishlist. They are the PVC Puzzle, the hanging sliding feeder, the Forage Raisin Ball, and the Discovery Food Ball. All of these puzzles have a chain attached to them and hang on the outside of the caging. They encourage tool use and creative problem solving skills, and I suspect they will be just the thing to keep Jamie and the others enriched and occupied for years to come.
***Update: The company that sells these puzzles, AbsolutePrimate.com, has a $75 minimum, so if you would like to participate, instead of ordering them through the website, please send us a donation and we will order them. Be sure to mention Chimps’ Choice or puzzles in the gift note section.
More enhanced enrichment puzzles
Thanks to volunteer Cari Parker, we have more enhanced enrichment puzzles. Cari’s friend Stephanie sponsored today in honor of Cari’s Birthday, so Cari sent us a box of enrichment for the occasion. Included in the box of goodies were some PVC pipe puzzles. There is a photo with an explanation in the video below.
Keeping the chimps (especially super smart Jamie) enriched is a challenge. We are always trying to come up with new puzzle ideas- and these are great! (Thanks, Cari!) If you ever have any ideas you would like to share, please email me at [email protected]
A relaxing day for Negra
Today was sunny and beautiful, so the greenhouse was a prime spot for everyone, especially Negra.
You may have heard us talk about Negra’s spot in the outdoor area, which is the southern most end of the deck. The sun beats in the greenhouse in that spot so it’s almost always a warm and inviting place to nap.
Negra spent almost the whole day relaxing there…. and today, no blankets were necessary!
10:00am-
(I think the next one is my favorite. I love the pointed toe!)
2:00pm- Yep. Same place… only this time, she looked like she was practicing her “happy baby” yoga pose:
She finally came inside to her other favorite spot and curled up with a soft yellow blanket:
Problem solvers
Being the master problem solver she is, one would probably guess that Jamie is super skilled at raisin boards. And they would be right.
Raisin boards are wooden blocks with holes drilled in them that we stuff with dried fruit (because of their size raisins usually work best, but I used dried apricot pieces and dried blueberries in the photos below). We occasionally pass these out (with small skewers or sticks) as an evening “enhanced enrichment” activity, because not only does it encourage tool use and problem solving skills, but it keeps everyone busy and entertained for quite a while. Jamie often uses a technique similar to sewing- she pokes the stick slightly through, grabs it on the other side with her teeth and pulls it the rest of the way so the raisin either skewers on her stick or just falls out. It’s pretty fascinating, actually.
Jody does occasionally use tools, but she usually just pulls the fruit out with her teeth- a method that is also quite successful.
Caregivers as enrichment
Let’s face it- no matter how much we do to spice up captivity with enrichment and projects, it can still get pretty boring sometimes. We try to do what ever we can to keep the chimps entertained, including simple things like drinks from the hose. The chimps have access to water 24 hours a day, but sometimes they just seem to prefer to have us “fill them up”, so to speak, instead. Chimps have prehensile lips and a large pouch in their bottom lip, so they can hold a lot of water in there! And, as always here at CSNW, they have the choice to drink or…
Chinese New Year
Here at CSNW, we’re always looking for reasons to party. Volunteers Jeani and Julie thought it would be fun to throw a (belated) Chinese New Year party for the chimpanzees, so they went shopping for food and decorations, and then prepared a Chinese feast. The puffed rice bowls seemed to be a universal hit — you’ll see Annie and Negra enjoying them in the video below.
