Cle Elum Seven

Making some noise

January 7, 2013 by Elizabeth

Chimpanzees are quiet most of the time. In fact, as I write this it’s completely silent in the playroom. In times of excitement, though, chimps can be quite vocal. The Cle Elum Seven often pant hoot in anticipation of mealtime, or right after they’ve been given access to an area that had been closed off. Today there was lots of displaying and pant hooting when the chimps re-entered the playroom after lunch. Everyone except for Negra got in on the action (Negra likes to stay out of drama). Here are a few photos of Jody pant hooting during the excitement.

In the video below you’ll see Jamie and Foxie displaying. You’ll notice that they have somewhat different styles. Jamie likes to drum on a barrel to raise the noise level, but even petite Foxie makes an impression.

Foxie and the horse head

January 3, 2013 by Debbie

Foxie still shows the most affinity for trolls and Dora dolls, but occasionally she will try something new.

Letting loose

December 31, 2012 by Elizabeth

As we were finishing up cleaning the playroom this morning, we caught two unusual suspects — Annie and Negra — in a pretty wacky game. For those of you just tuning in, Annie is the least dominant chimpanzee at CSNW. She is gentle and shy, and when she arrived here in 2008 she didn’t have the confidence to play with anyone except for her best friend Missy. And Negra is the oldest of the Cle Elum Seven, and prefers to spend the vast majority of her time under a blanket. So it was pretty special to see these two ladies letting loose this morning.

Thank you, Phillippa Kassover!

December 31, 2012 by Elizabeth

Phillippa Kassover has sponsored today for the chimpanzees. Phillippa first learned of the Cle Elum Seven earlier this year from the media coverage on the Taylor Bridge wildfire, and she suggested that we take today to celebrate new beginnings! We’re running with Phillippa’s suggestion and setting up a New Year’s Eve dinner forage for the chimps in the playroom tonight. Here’s to a happy and safe 2013!

A good ol’ fashion head bonk

December 30, 2012 by Jackie

Missy has been a complete goofball today. Every time I make eye contact with her, she darts off and starts laughing – suggesting she wants me to chase her. I’ve seen her playing with almost everyone today – so if you’ve got some energy and you’re feeling playful and extremely goofy, I know who you need to call! Ok, so maybe you can’t actually play with her, but you can donate to her team. After weeks of being in the lead, she is now in LAST place! And if my little spill doesn’t convince you, check out this adorable scene I caught between her and Negra this morning:

Icicles

December 27, 2012 by Debbie

The chimpanzees really love snow, which is great because it just keeps falling and they never get sick of it! Check out the newsletter that was sent out today that also includes a video of the chimps enjoying snow.

Anyway, with snow comes icicles. Today J.B. noticed that there were quite a few on the building, and the sun is out now so they are melting fast.

I knocked down a few and passed them out to the chimps, but found that it was pretty tricky to pass them out AND get photos before either the chimps ran off to a hard-to-see spot with their icicle, or the icicles melted. My solution: I placed some icicles delicately on the caging so the chimpanzees would have to pull them through on their own. Missy was the first to come over, and she grabbed most of them before they melted. The other chimps were happily munching away on the ones I passed out earlier.