The chimps are not known for being gentle with the enrichment they receive. Many of the toys they get each day have a primary use (to be examined and played with) and a secondary use (to be destroyed by any means possible). I imagine there’s something pretty enjoyable about making a huge pile of fun destruction and then have housekeeping come in every morning so you can do it all over again.
Enrichment
Cuddling Up With a Good Boot
We may never understand what it is about boots that Jamie loves so much, but love them she does.
Harry Potter Day
In our continuing effort to come up with new and interesting enrichment for the chimpanzees, we present to you…
Seasons
The sanctuary is a special place. But then I probably don’t need to tell you that. We are so fortunate to watch the beauty of so many seasons come and go not only around the sanctuary grounds, but for all of us here to be able to pass through our own seasons in life in this sanctuary home.
There has been a wedding here, celebrations of all shapes and sizes, people have honored loved ones here who have passed away, and most of us spend all of our birthdays and holidays here. I was in the chimp house when I was offered my job here, I was here when I learned my heart could hold more love than I ever thought possible, and it seems that somehow I am always in the chimp house when I’ve learned of the passing of family and loved ones. And every single day we are honored and privileged to watch the winters, springs, summers and falls of the chimps’ lives unfold with never-ending surprise, adventure, joy, healing and love. We’re all so lucky, chimps and humans alike, to have this place to live out the seasons of our lives. And please know that we consider you part of it all. This special place wouldn’t exist without you.
As autumn settles in around us none of us could be happier (and I am pretty sure the chimps are as excited as the humans). We’ve been enjoying countless walks with the chimps around Young’s Hill in the cool, fresh air, harvesting pears from the orchard, climbing the apple trees and dangling precariously over the pond to reach the last of the fruit on the furthest branches, and today we harvested the very first little pumpkins from the chimps’ garden!
A Foxie-size pumpkin:
And a bonus photo of Jamie, plotting and planning, because, obviously…
So we’re celebrating seasons and all they bring to our lives tonight with an impromptu “Welcome, Autumn!” dinner party and the chimps’ are enjoying roasted onions, peppers, pears and pumpkins still warm from the oven with some extra tiny lemons and tangerines. And one of the chimps’ favorite evening enrichments, “grab bags,” filled with nuts, seeds, dried fruit and all manner of odds and ends. A favorite of Jamie’s as you will see below.
Queen Negra enjoying the first serving of the season of pumpkin:
Jody enjoying roasted onion:
Jamie with (practically) ALL the grab bags (she went through the chimp house grabbing them and tossing them over her shoulder into a pile until she was ready to go through them.):
Happy autumn, all!
Creative style
Burrito demonstrates the many uses of knee-high rainbow tube socks. The chimps receive a selection of enrichment each day and sometimes they make a few non-traditional style choices.
The Birthday Tomato Queen
Today we celebrated Missy’s 42nd birthday and the amazing chimp woman she is, so naturally we’ve been partying all day long!
If you know Missy, you know that she thinks tomatoes are the.best.thing.ever! So naturally, we bought more tomatoes than we thought one small chimp woman could possibly eat. $42 worth to be exact. Missy was beside herself when she saw them all this morning! These are of course meant to stretch out for a couple days (our plan, not hers), but we still served tomatoes with every meal. And she still thought it wasn’t enough.
We planned an indoor/outdoor forage brunch party with fresh fruits, veggies, and primate chow to compliment the tomatoes along with sparkling cider and pineapple coconut juice and everyone seemed pretty pleased with the festivities. Though I didn’t include a photo of her, Jamie was on the go drinking up all the juice.
Missy with a mouthful of cherry tomatoes:
Missy’s bestie, Annie, with a treat bag:
Negra with a mouthful of corn:
Missy on the go, foraging:
Burrito:
Jody:
We also scattered forage with lots of tomatoes on Young’s Hill with some special hothouse tomatoes still on the vine high up on the shaky bridge – a classic Missy spot – in the hopes she’d be the one to find them. Foxie is right up there with Missy as far as tomato connoisseurs go and they ended up being the only two who decided to venture onto the hill for the outdoor portion of the forage. They headed out together and played it cool so as not to attract the attention of the others.
Foxie found a whole tomato and quietly looked around to make sure no one was watching before popping the entire thing in her mouth. And you may not be able to see, but she’s rubbing her toes together which is Foxie speak for pure happiness and contentment:
Here she is hiding behind a post as she enjoys her secret tomatoes:
Missy searched high and low (and she did find the tomatoes on the vine!):
The Birthday Tomato Queen herself. We love you Miss! Happy Birthday and sweet tomato dreams. Rest up! There’s more tomatoes to eat tomorrow!
Never Assume
When training new volunteers and staff, learning to identify the chimps is very important. The chimps all have distinguishing features about them. Staff will try to give helpful pointers to help figure out who is who. For example, Foxie has what looks like a bow tie on her swelling, some chimps have defined brow ridges like Jody, and Missy is petite and has a short neck. Some have freckles, permanently crazy bed hair, different body types, and others have scars or pieces of ears or toes missing. There is also the way that they carry themselves. Jamie often walks with confidence and always looks like she is 3 steps ahead of you. You can often find certain chimps in a particular area that they like or holding specific enrichment they are fond of. For example, Negra loves to make a nest on the second floor in the corner of the playroom. However, this is where it gets tricky and why we tell staff and volunteers to judge only by physical characteristics and not by what we know they like or where “their spot” is. I have also seen little Miss nesting in the same spot as Negra! Jamie loves boots and Foxie always has a doll with her, but they like to throw us curve balls! I often find someone else holding a doll like Jamie or even today I spotted Negra holding a troll doll and putting it in her pelvic pocket. We train our staff and volunteers to take their time identifying the chimps, get to know the chimps, and especially their physical characteristics!
Negra: Holding a troll doll
