Despite the rain, there were still lots of things for the chimps to do on this peaceful spring day!
forage
This, That, and the Other
You have probably read before that caregivers usually have mounds of unused photos and video clips. There are multiple reasons why they don’t make it to the blog: they didn’t quite fit that particular blog so they get lost to the wayside. They are too short to include into a full video. The reasons go on. Here are some clips I found on my phone that have yet to be used. Minus the Rayne clip, which I grabbed from the security cameras today.
Earlier today, you may have read it has been one year since we lost our beloved Jody Chimpanzee. I will be honest, it still is extremely hard for me to talk or even think about that day. This entire 365 days has felt like it was just yesterday, yet at the same time 1,000 years ago. There is literally not a single day that passes in which I don’t think about her.
On Jody’s burial spot, we planted some lilac trees, if you may recall. Right after planting the trees, they lost their leaves and seemed to be dead. We hoped that wasn’t the case and that Fall was just doing its thing. As the months passed and no sign of life, we began to lose hope that they survived. Well, I am happy to say, they in fact did not! On the contrary, they are thriving in this early Spring. When I noticed it as I was doing my morning run around Young’s Hill with Burrito, my eyes immediately went from dry to emitting a salty watery discharge.
Since noticing it, my entire day was filled with thoughts and memories of Jody. All the thoughts of our Joji gave me the idea to do something she loved: foraging. But I didn’t want to just do a normal forage as usual and call it a day. No. I decided to spice things up a little bit. I hid several “jackpots” around Young’s Hill. The more difficult to get to, the better the jackpot. Most of the jackpots were whole carrots and potatoes. But there was one jackpot that took a keen eye to spot and some athletic agility! (<– BIG foreshadowing of who got it.)
The prize?
A whole opal apple in one of the trees at the top of the hill! I will spare you the details of how I got it up there and got it to stay.
One person came to mind of who would reach it first. To no surprise, that person knew I was up to something at the top of the hill and it was worth skipping the bigger forage at large and see what was up there.
Initially, she found one of the easier to reach whole carrots. When she looked up though, she dropped everything and raced up the tree. I wasn’t able to get photos of it on account that I am not as fast as Missy and couldn’t make it up the hill in time.
I did, however, follow Missy the rest of the forage. During that time, Missy when to every single structure to see if any more big prizes were to be had. (Unfortunately for her, there wasn’t since some of the places she looked, I wouldn’t have been able to reach.)
It was well worth climbing to some pretty hard to reach areas to watch Missy seemingly having a forage that was designed for her, unintentionally.
Here are some bonus photos from today!
Burrito
Missy
Gordo
Rayne
Jamie
Negra
Foxie
Terry
Forage in the Rain
There’s so much left to experience – for all of us!
Thanks for those who have already given towards days like these via GiveBIG, either on our main page or my and Monica’s birthday page!
Grazing Days
What food could possibly be so exciting that a chimpanzee would willingly pass up fresh fruit, peanuts, chow, and smoothie? Why, it’s grass, of course!
Yes, for a few weeks each year the chimpanzees at CSNW become grazers, chomping down on grass at a rate more in line with the cows they share their sanctuary home with. What’s so great about grass? You got me. Wild chimpanzees do naturally consume significant amounts of browse—fibrous foods such as shoots, stems, and leaves—but the chimps at CSNW don’t eat any other browse with the same gusto as they do spring grass. This time of year, the grass is at its sweetest and most tender, as the cows will most certainly attest. But is it really better than smoothie?
Speaking of grazing (and with it being Earth Day and all), I thought I’d mention one of the projects we’ve been working on: Converting our pasture fencing to wildlife-friendly fencing. The original sanctuary property and the four parcels we purchased in recent years were part of a large homestead ranch that was in operation for a least a century. During that time, most of the pastures were fenced using barbed wire or a combination of barbed wire and woven field fence. Unfortunately, we’ve seen firsthand the toll this kind of fencing can take on wildlife. First, there’s the very real risk that wildlife, such as deer or elk, will get injured by or caught up in a fence. And second, there’s the problem of fawns being separated from their mothers as their moms cross over pasture fencing too high for them to jump. After doing a lot of research, we decided to transition to 3-wire high-tensile electric fencing, which can effectively contain our cows while allowing wildlife such as deer, elk, bobcats, and marmots to cross over or under safely. And for pastures no longer in use, the fences can be removed and the areas can be slowly re-wilded. As we work on finalizing our master site plan, we will also do so with an eye toward preserving wildlife migration corridors throughout the 113-acre property. After all, it’s not much of a sanctuary if it’s not also a home for the animals that were here first.
And last but not least, allow me to share some photos of Negra from today’s lunch forage:
Forage Season!
We love forage season! It’s the best time of the year, when the weather is warm enough for chimps to hangout outside! Personally, it’s my favorite time of the year to take pictures of the chimps! I love seeing the grass contrast in the background. Please enjoy these photos of the chimps having a great day!
Burrito getting a bird’s-eye view of his neighbors while eating his kohlrabi:
Later he snagged some sweet potato:
Jamie did very well for herself (the green onion in foot is the best):
Annie bird:
Negra was the first one out this morning and the first one out for the forage:
Foxie eating a carrot:
Foxie in the green grass:
We even got a glimpse of Rayne from Young’s Hill:
Rayne really enjoyed the forage:
Bonus photos of Mave working on a Giant Kong:
*Event coming up* if anyone is in the Washington or Seattle area, we will be tabling at the Planted Expo at the Seattle Convention Center this Saturday, April 20th and Sunday, April 21st from 10 to 5. This will be our first time at Planted and we are really looking forward to it, so come say hi!
A Pear-y Good Forage
Earlier this week, I was conducting my security checks to enure it was safe to give the chimpanzees access to Young’s Hill first thing in the morning. As I was checking a few locks that lead to Young’s Hill, Negra was sitting at the door that leads to the outdoor enclosure, clapping at me. This is more often than not Negra-speak for “Hurry the expletive up!” (I just assume Negra curses like a sailor when communicating with the humans.)
As the good loyal subject that I am, I obeyed my queen’s wishes and put a little more pep into my step. When I finally got the clearance to let them outside, Negra was the first one out, and she was moving with a purpose. Why did she want to go outside so badly? She had left some things out there from the day prior. (Also note, please watch J.B.’s video from yesterday.)
Cauliflower! Negra remembered there was leftover cauliflower from the previous day’s forage. And Negra was on a mission to find all the leftovers, regardless of the fact breakfast was about to be served.
This was a little different than the normal foraging for morning Spring grass. Just like Burrito this morning.
Burrito’s morning forging was interrupted by screaming from his neighbors, so he jettisoned back to home base to watch.
With all this foraging, I decided, “What the heck? I’m sure they’ll like another one. I’m sure there will be something leftover for her tomorrow morning.”
And just like the other day, Negra was the first one out. There was chow biscuits to be had and neighbors to snoop on after all!
Even Missy made sure to keep an eye on her neighbors to not miss anything exciting they might do.
But to others, the food was more important. Especially when one of those food items is pears!
As some of you know, Jamie is a fiend for pears.
We are pretty sure Jamie was able to find every pear slice out there.
For Foxie, her pears were carrots.
And for Burrito, his pears were shallots.
My apologies! I could have sworn I got photos of Annie, but I guess I was mistaken. Just know that she was eyeing all the kohlrabi.
With one final grab at a whole kohlrabi, Negra headed back inside.
She didn’t even break eye contact from the Bray on her way in.
As the day begins to wind down and dinner is being prepared, I will leave you with two bonus photos!
Jamie fishing some raisins out of a pool we left her.
And Missy, right above Jamie, fishing raisins out of a raisin board.
Training with Rayne
Someone recently asked for an update on Rayne’s forehead, and here it is! As many of you who follow the blog already know, Rayne has a chronically dry forehead. It is a distinguishing feature that makes her easy to identify within her group, but can also be itchy and we assume somewhat uncomfortable for her. Because of this, Jenna wrote a plan (awhile ago) to apply lotion to Rayne’s forehead in an attempt to moisturize it and help with the dryness.
Rayne with a magazine and box of enrichment items
The update is that Rayne is a genius and has been allowing us to regularly lotion her forehead, using a paintbrush! She is especially helpful during these sessions as once we paint some of the lotion onto her head, she quickly rubs it in. Rayne’s favorite part of these sessions seems to be the juice she gets as a reward, and she especially loves getting to finish off what is left of it by the end of our session as a jackpot for a job well done. Immediately following these sessions, her forehead appears shiny and well-moisturized, making her look almost like a completely different chimp. We will be continuing to apply lotion to her forehead regularly using a paintbrush, and may try using different lotions to see if they provide more lasting effects.
Rayne’s forehead after lotion application
Enjoy some bonus photos from a forage with Jamie’s group today. The weather has been beautiful today, and both humans and chimps are enjoying it.
Foxie and her doll
Jamie with as many mini peppers as she could carry. This looks very similar to a different photo of Jamie we posted recently…Jamie loves her mini peppers!
Missy in motion
