Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
So, by now, you just might be aware that Burrito likes to bite on things (his hand, wooden toys.) It’s certainly true that he often uses this gesture as a way to initiate play with others. However, just as frequently, he’ll simply incorporate it into his play alone. Today I found him playing by himself in the front rooms as we cleaned the playroom and just couldn’t help capturing it on film for you. He looks pretty content to me!
I don’t know what it is about Sundays this winter but it seems like much of the less pleasant weather has been saving itself for the weekends this season. While many of the days this winter have been mild and spring-like today, and many Sundays of recent memory, cannot be considered either of those! Whether it was the weather that contributed or something else entirely Jamie did not appear to wake up on the right side of the nest this morning. Luckily, she’s got an excellent friend in Foxie! Foxie was persistent and managed to turn Jamie’s frown upside down after a bit of effort. Check out the resulting play session.
Supporter Michelle C. recently sent the chimpanzees a very unique gift – a piece of the Florida beach along with some little shovels. Today we set up the gift from afar in the sandbox table.
Looking at the set up reminded me of those zen sand gardens that are sold to business executives. This one, of course, catered to Jamie (note the boot).
There’s a video in the middle of this post of Jamie truly looking pretty zen as she played in the sand. The other chimps weren’t sure what to make of the stuff. They’ve had sand before (one of my favorite memories is Jody laying in the sandbox in the greenhouse on “Spa Day” ). But the chimps had probably never encountered the soft white sand of the Florida beaches.
Jody and Foxie getting a closer look:
Annie joining the inspection:
Jody digging in:
And Jamie getting zen:
As JB mentioned in the video of his recent blog post, “Lending a hand,” the days at the sanctuary revolve around a routine that relies on chimpanzee participation. For example, the chimpanzees are asked to shift into different areas throughout the day so that we can have access other areas to clean while they are not present. The majority of enclosure cleaning happens in the morning (provided everyone is in the mood, of course). On warm, sunny, summer days this often means that the chimpanzees spend an hour or so exploring Young’s Hill. During the winter, however, this is sometimes not the most appealing way to spend time! This morning, with windy gusts up to 40 miles an hour, the chimpanzees opted to spend their morning in the greenhouse while we cleaned in the playroom.
Missy:
Annie in the foreground, Missy in the background:
Missy catches me taking pictures from the loft in the playroom:
Annie rests after a quick wrestling game with Missy:
Burrito catches the paparazzi:
Burrito and Jamie inspect the boxes:
And, finally, Jamie comes over to see what I’m up to:
We received some fun toys for the chimpanzees recently and it appears as though the advertisements were correct, “slinky” (or the magic spring as ours are called) is apparently fun for everyone, including chimpanzees! Here is Missy enjoying the new enrichment and thank you for donating these wonderfully entertaining toys!
Missy discovering the box:
Missy opening the box:
Missy playing with her “magic spring:”
I wonder what it is..
To celebrate the birthday boy today we tried to make sure his day was filled with things that he enjoys most. Enrichment for the party included scarves for playing tug-o-war with, the bedbug popper toys he likes so well, and wooden toys for biting to his heart’s content. Party decorations included streamers, paper, boxes, and more streamers. Volunteer Patti Sims contributed birthday pinatas and, for the coupe de grace, food! Truly, when it comes to Burrito’s favorite things, food is right up there on the list. So in his honor we made today about the food he loves. There was pineapple smoothie for breakfast, a chow and Brussels sprout forage in the party room, a leek and cucumber lunch forage in the front rooms, baked squash for dinner and healthy food snacks served throughout the day. In addition to his food themed day, Burrito also enjoyed plenty of games with human and chimpanzee friends alike! I don’t know about you, but I think he looks pretty well satisfied with the day’s festivities.
And while most of the photos we captured of the day involved the birthday boy, I can assure you that the other chimpanzees enjoyed the party as well!
Foxie foraging for chow (It’s what’s in the yellow party box):
Jamie foraging for chow, or possibly the Brussels sprouts:
