Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sweet Moments

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The other day I was able to capture such a tender moment between Jamie and Burrito. To witness these moments is a true honor. As we have shared in blogs before, recently Jamie and Burrito will share a barrel seat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. On this day Jamie and Burrito shared a barrel while they groomed each other. They were perfectly situated by the playroom window so that they could have a view of the neighbors, you know, in case things went awry, but could also be relaxed enough for a grooming session. This newly blossomed friendship is so fun to watch. We all know Jamie as a serious and tough individual, but it’s nice to see her patient side, especially with a friend like Burrito.

This to me is such a power pose from Jamie. Can you feel that energy?!

This photo has a glare from the window, but I thought I would still share. Both Jamie and Burrito have their feet up, sitting on the barrel, watching the neighbors in the chute!

Change of Plans

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This afternoon I was photographing Jamie as she chewed and wadged some cattails.

While I was hoping to write a blog post about wadging, she soon decided that she’d rather groom the camera with her cattails.

There’s no way to ever be a fly on the wall when photographing chimps.

Thankfully, Jamie was in a very laid back mood today so she let me continue taking close-up pictures while she groomed the camera, my phone, and my boots.

Eventually, a bit of drama between some field mice outside the Greenhouse got Jamie’s attention, and she chose to finish wadging her cattails where she could watch it unfold.

Fingerprints

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Chimpanzee hands are remarkably similar to our own, from their ability to grasp and use tools to their unique fingerprints. While the exact function of a fingerprint’s various whirls, loops, and arches is still unclear, it’s thought that they might increase grip on some surfaces or improve tactile perception. Scientists have yet to specifically examine the grooming-with-a-chopstick origin theory. As far as I know, koalas are the only animals other than primates to have them – a cool example of convergent evolution.

 

 

Ritual

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Over the years, Jamie has continued to develop the ritual around her walks with staff and volunteers. These days, it goes something like this: First, Jamie selects a boot for the human to wear. Next, they walk around the hill together (on opposite sides of the fence, of course). When the walks are done, they reconvene in the greenhouse area, where Jamie grooms the caregiver and the boot. And finally, later that night, she will ask for the boot back before settling into her nest.

In anticipation of the grooming part of the ritual, Jamie will often grab a suitable tool during the walk and bring it back with her into the greenhouse. Today, Jamie grabbed a large tumbleweed that had blown against the fence and later used it to groom volunteer Patti and her boots.

Bonus Foxie photos:

Saturday Lounging

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Today was the kind of day to kick your feet up…

Annie:

 

take in the wonder of your surroundings…

Missy:

 

share a moment with a friend in the sun…

Missy & Annie grooming:

 

enjoy what nature has to offer…

Burrito eating snow:

 

settle in with a good book…

Jamie and a new boot book:

 

and take some trolls for a walk.

Foxie with a troll scarf:

 

 

Happy Saturday from the chimpanzees!

 

 

Trying new things

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The other day, after the PRT session that Elizabeth filmed, Jamie and I followed a typical post-PRT routine. Because I had spent the last fifteen minutes requesting that she do things, it was her turn to request that I do something (I’m pretty sure that Jamie believes it is ALWAYS time for the humans to do something for her, but I digress). So I put on her latest favorite pair of boots, we did a perimeter walk, and afterward we settled in for a grooming session in the greenhouse.

Jamie is easily the most dexterous chimpanzee I’ve ever known, and she’s a master at using tools. Her fine-motor ability is really quite impressive. Just watch this video of Jamie giving J.B. a “manicure” and read this story about her tool-altering skills and forethought.

It was just Jamie in the greenhouse, grooming my fingers and the boots, when Annie came over with a tool of her own.

 

For the first several years of Annie’s sanctuary life, she didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the humans – not because she wasn’t interested in us, but, I think, because she was a ball of anxiety, and she didn’t want to over-step her place in the social world of chimpanzees and humans. We have written many times on the blog about Annie’s ever-growing confidence in the last few years (for example, this touching post from Elizabeth).

 

We’ve witnessed all of the chimpanzees trying new things over the last nine+ years at the sanctuary. We’ve gotten to know them so well that when they do something new, it stands out. You may already be familiar with “Fake Neggie” – a nickname for Missy when she is adopting Negra’s quintessential blanket-over-head nesting style.

 

You may not know that there was a time a few years ago when Negra decided troll dolls were her thing too, carrying one with her from bed to meals to adventures on Young’s Hill.

It lasted for a few weeks, then the fad seemed to pass for Negra and she’s been mostly troll-less ever since, leaving the doll obsession to Foxie.

 

Jody is sometimes seen with troll dolls, and Annie tries them out once in a while too.

 

Imitation is an important part of observing and learning. J.B. wrote a blog post back in 2012 about how copying the behavior of others shouldn’t be dismissed as somehow intellectually unimpressive. It’s worth the read.

 

When Annie confidently walked towards me with her rather blunt tool and pushed it out through the caging to groom the boot I was wearing, my smile could not have been any bigger. She was clumsy and awkward with the over-sized tool she had chosen, but she gave it a go, even with boss Jamie sitting right there to watch.

 

Annie didn’t stay long, and I don’t think she had any kind of magical insight about why Jamie spends so much time engaging in this behavior.

 

To have an interesting and full life and to get a better idea of who you are, you have to try new things – even things you aren’t sure you will be good at doing. Annie seems to know this now. She’s 100% signed up for this sanctuary life, and I have no doubt she and her chimpanzee companions will continue to try new things, figuring out more about themselves and delighting and surprising us along the way.