I would lie around and look at myself in the mirror if I were as gorgeous as Jody Chimpanzee as well.
Cle Elum Seven
Bubbles and Paper Towels
As mentioned earlier, today was sponsored by Sweethome Teacup and the North Portland Yoga Community, with the hopes that the chimps would be “at ease, curious and content” all day. The chimps have definitely been at ease and content! They’ve been doing a lot of relaxing today, and I even witnessed Jody doing her happy baby pose in the greenhouse this morning, much like the one in the photo in the previous post! So, it really has been a very mellow, zen-like day. Thanks, Sweethome!
Yesterday was pretty mellow too. We put out buckets of plant-based, chimp belly-friendly soapy water and a whole roll of paper towels. This resulted in quite a few different “projects” that kept the chimps pretty enriched and content all day long. If Jamie wasn’t cleaning a toy or a wall off, she was busy wiping her hands and nose.
Thank you to North Portland Yoga Community!
Today was sponsored by Sweethome Teacup. She shared this message: “This day is special because I am able to give to the chimps through collecting donations from the North Portland Yoga Community. I hope the chimps are at ease, curious, and content today.” Jody is our natural yoga expert:
Thanks for always thinking of the chimps, Sweethome!
Easter egg hunt
(Be sure to check out the earlier post with pictures of the party set-up).
Happy Easter! Today we had a big Easter egg hunt on the hill for the chimps. They seemed to really enjoy it. We kept the fun going and had another forage in the playroom, too! When you’re done looking at all the photos, watch the video at the end to see the chimps getting some Easter goodies.
Burrito with an Easter egg basket:
Negra drinking some water out of a watering can (while sitting in her cabin)
Jamie also liked this watering can, and Jody is here peering on:
Annie really liked a different watering can:
Foxie and Annie:
Foxie walking with Negra:
Jamie in the cabin:
Jamie found all our good hiding spots!
Missy with an Easter egg in her mouth:
Negra, looking very happy with her Easter egg:
New adventures for Negra and mouthfuls for everyone
It’s been another beautiful day in Cle Elum today so I set out a huge lunch forage on Young’s Hill. Everyone went right out, which is always a treat, but not only that – Negra was first! I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as she marched right out and walked over to one of the climbing structures that is a bit further away than her usual spots close to the raceway.
She grabbed a ton of greens along the way and found herself under the shaky bridge, which I am almost certain is an area she hasn’t explored yet.
Then, she just sat right down and enjoyed her lunch there.
This may not seem like a big deal, but Negra hasn’t adventured around the hill too much so we celebrate every step she takes in seeming more comfortable sitting in the grass with no bars overhead. And I’ve never seen her that confident out there! She didn’t ask for reassurance or seem concerned or nervous at all. That’s pretty amazing!
Oh and by the way, there were other chimps out enjoying the forage too. 😉
Foxie and Jody had a little picnic on one of the platforms today. That’s Foxie with the mouthful of lettuce – something she used to absolutely loath.
Missy loaded up on greens:
Annie with her mouthful:
Jody and Burrito seemed pretty happy about all the limes!
Burrito:
Jamie grabbed a huge handful of lettuce, potatoes, avocados, and limes and happily took her loot to the raceway, so I wasn’t able to get a photo of her mouthful, but rest assured, she had one!
Everyone seemed really happy and foraged out there for a pretty long time. I was thrilled to see all seven chimps out there for so long! And I just couldn’t take my eyes off of beautiful and amazingly confident Negra. After she’d munched on all the good stuff she could find in the bamboo, she moved over to the hammock area.
and sat where she could watch what was happening over at the house, probably for the first time taking in all that she can see from that side of the hill.
It was certainly a big day for Ms. Negra.
Foxie and Dora
It’s very rare to see Foxie without at least one doll keeping her company. In fact, when new volunteers are first learning to tell the chimpanzees apart, they can always tell Foxie by the troll doll or Dora the Explorer she’s carrying. She carried this Dora doll in her mouth for much of the afternoon.
iPad project is underway
If you can’t tell by now, I’m pretty excited about the iPad we got from Orangutan Outreach! Thanks to Jody for the case and mount, and Shelly for the iTunes giftcard, I’ve been able to load up the iPad with tons of apps that I’m excited to see the chimps interact with. Yay!
This morning, Jackie, myself, and volunteer caregivers Steph and Erin all spent awhile seeing how the chimps liked the iPad in its new case. Jody, Burrito, Foxie, and Jamie all came over to touch it and check it out (see this photo from our Facebook page).
Chimps naturally have super curious minds. When they see something new, usually their first reaction is what I sometimes call “quality control“—testing out how it works and if it’s sturdy. So, everyone who came over first tried to pick at the case (which is exactly why we wanted it in the first place!) but eventually they all showed some interest in the different apps, especially Jamie. Her favorites right now are a xylophone app, and one called “Catch the mouse” which is a game for cats! But she seems to get some enjoyment out of squishing the little mouse 🙂 Stay tuned for more updates on this really exciting project.
