Cle Elum 7

Men at Work

February 11, 2016 by Elizabeth

The men of CSNW took a play break today.

The New Annie

February 8, 2016 by Elizabeth

Just a few years ago, Annie was glued to her best friend Missy’s side. Missy was Annie’s security blanket, and she followed her everywhere. Annie was afraid to be alone.

That’s not the case anymore. These days it’s not uncommon to see images like this one of Annie enjoying some solitude on Young’s Hill this morning:

She sat there for several minutes until Missy, who had been doing her own thing further up the hill, came over to say hi.

Missy sat down next to Annie and they hung out together for awhile, taking in the view.

Eventually, Missy decided to head inside to the greenhouse. Old Annie would have followed.

But new Annie is plenty confident in her own company.

Jamie does not live in the moment. She is a thinker and a planner. Sometimes you can see her wheels turning and you have to wonder what she’s up to. As the leader of her group she performs frequent dominance displays, but with Jamie, they don’t always seem to be about dominance. Or at least not solely about dominance. Sometimes it seems that Jamie displays because she’s bored and wants to stir up a little excitement.

This happens a lot when all of the other chimpanzees are settled down, quiet and doing their own thing. Jamie struts around the room, assessing the situation and planning her strategy.

Then her hair stands on end, she pant hoots, drums on her go-to plastic barrel, and ends by screaming and throwing the barrel across the room.

She then quickly looks around to see if she got anyone riled up. If not, she tries again. And again. Eventually the other chimps can’t help but get caught up in the excitement. Pant hoots are like yawns to chimps – they’re contagious. Once the chimp house is a cacophony of noise, Jamie seems to feel like she’s done her job and she’s finally able to settle down.

Just the right piece

January 28, 2016 by Elizabeth

There is no shortage of snow on the ground in Cle Elum, so the chimpanzees don’t have to step far outside for a cold snack. They don’t have to, but with this sunny weather they’ve been venturing farther and farther onto Young’s Hill just to grab a handful of snow and bring it back inside to eat. It seems the snow is just an excuse to have a quick outdoor adventure.

This morning Jody walked outside with purpose, climbed up onto the shaky bridge, gathered a very specific chunk of snow from the bridge, and immediately climbed back down and went back inside.

Off the beaten path

January 26, 2016 by Anna

When I was a kid, I walked to the school bus down our half mile driveway every morning, rain, snow, or shine. Yes, I realize this sounds like your grandparent’s story of how they had to walk to school uphill both ways in a blizzard, but my story is true! During this time of year, the top layer of the snow would thaw and freeze repeatedly, forming a thick crust on the un-plowed fields of snow that surrounded our icy driveway. If the snow crust was strong enough to support our weight, we could take a shortcut to the bus through our fields and shave off a good five minutes of walking time. We always ran the risk of breaking through the top layer and having our legs plunge into the softer snow below.

Today, Annie reminded me of my childhood, as I saw her gingerly walk on the top delicate ice layer that has covered the 8 or so inches of snow we still have at the sanctuary. She bravely took a shortcut from the plowed pathway that J.B. made the other day, to one of the structures in the middle of the hill.