Had to share this last photo of the day. Negra and what’s left of the pumpkin:
Enrichment
Annie and Missy are at it again
The weather in Cle Elum has been pretty wet and gloomy for the last couple of days, so the chimps have chosen to spend more time than usual inside. Annie and Missy are in good spirits, though, and are making the best of the situation.
Bowls and straws
For today’s afternoon enrichment, we filled bowls with tea, soy milk, soy yogurt, peanut butter, and ketchup, and placed the bowls on the outside of the chimps’ enclosure. Then we gave them tools to fish for the food.
Its fascinating to watch the different personalities in action. Burrito has no patience, and he’s not a very adept tool user either. Negra will use someone else’s straw once they’ve fished it into the bowl, but she won’t do it herself. Missy, Annie, Jody, and Foxie are all very patient and skillful. But Jamie is by far the best. I didn’t catch this on camera, but Jamie found a clever way to get the last bit out of her bowl. After she had gotten all of the yogurt that she could, she went to the water fountain to get a mouthful of water. She spit the water through the caging and into the bowl, diluting the remaining yogurt. Then she fished her straw through and drank the liquid.
Jamie sleeping outside
J.B. and I were just outside and we spied a chimpanzee -form on top of the climbing structure in the outdoor area after all of the caregivers left for the evening. Normally the chimps tend to bed down right after dinner and are pretty well settled by the time the caregivers leave at night, and we’ve rarely seen anyone settling outside. I figured that the indoors might just feel safer, but I’ve been hoping that, after time, the outdoor area might also feel like a safe place to sleep.
When we got closer, we could tell that it was Jamie. She was lying down on her stomach and had a sheet completely covering everything but her head. She looked at us casually, but with no interest in getting up. Next to her on the platform was the boat bumper that she had apparently pulled up there earlier today. Maybe Jamie decided it was a good night for a camp out in her own personal tree house.
Tubs
Socks, continued
Tug of war
Games of tug of war happen pretty frequently between humans and chimps here at CSNW (any guesses as to who always wins?), but extended bouts of chimpanzee-chimpanzee tug of war are less common.
