Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Jamie

Cozy With Some Light Snow

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Today at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest we were pleasantly surprised by snow. It wasn’t in the forecast and though none of it really stuck, it made for a beautiful morning. While most of the chimp decided to get cozy inside as you will see below. Jamie and I went on a few walks enjoying the snow gently falling as we walking around their beautiful outdoor enclosure, Young’s Hill. These are what Sundays are all about!

Annie relaxed and watching the snow:

Burrito laid back:

Negra taking a snooze & doing some light reading:

Blurry feet wrestling of Annie & Missy:

Burrito & Foxie were grooming so intensely I could barely get a clear photo:

All in all these chimps are well rested for Monday!

The New Boot Ritual

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Jamie received a new pair of boots from our wish list this afternoon. She has a specific series of rituals that must be followed when she receives a new pair of boots. First, one of the staff or volunteers must wear the boot and join Jamie on a walk around the hill. After returning, Jamie expects the boot wearer to meet her in the greenhouse for a grooming session.

Jamie begins by inspecting the boots carefully.

She encourages the caregivers to show her all of the features of the new boot, such as Velcro or zippers.

Then she begins to groom the boot with a tool – in this case, a wooden chopstick given out earlier as part of a food puzzle.

Eventually Jamie will ask to groom the caregiver herself, pointing and gesturing toward specific areas she wants to groom. Sometimes it’s a freckle, other times it’s a scab or hangnail. She also likes to untie our shoelaces with her grooming tool. Her dexterity is incredible, even when she’s holding the tool with the very tips of her fingers.

With a brand new pair of boots, Jamie will often insist on being given them immediately after the grooming session is finished. With boots that she’s had for a while, she will typically ask for them back when the staff are doing their closing rounds. But you can only give them back to her when she’s ready. If you drop them in the chute too early, she will take them out and throw them back to you (or rather, at you) from an opening high up on the playroom caging. When she is truly ready to receive them, she will wait by the chute and issue a low moan of contentment as they are dropped in. Eventually she will make her nest for the night include them or even use them as a pillow. Only then can you close up for the night, knowing that Jamie is satisfied.

Eagle eyes

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It always amazes us just how observant Jamie really is. Nothing gets by her, especially when it’s related to one of her favorite things on the planet, new boots! This morning I opened the door to Young’s Hill and Jamie took off for her first perimeter fence patrol of the day. She made it halfway up the hill before she stopped:

Then she came barreling back down (hair standing on end). She could tell from about a 100 yards away that J.B., who was innocently walking up from the parking lot, was wearing a new pair of boots.

Modeling ensued:

Bathed in light

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The past couple of mornings have been our first breaths of winter dawning at around 18-20 degrees, frost covered land and bluebird skies. Beautiful. While the chimpanzees were being served breakfast I was completing the perimeter check of Young’s Hill (making sure their outdoor habitat is safe before giving them access to it). When I got to the top of the hill, the fields up there were breathtaking!

Once the sun comes up over the hill it warms up to some degree, but I wasn’t sure the chimps would do their usual dash onto the hill. But again and again, we learn never to underestimate their  joy of life and curiosity. Negra, naturally, chose to remain in a sun puddle in the greenhouse, but everyone else rushed onto the hill to soak in the beautiful morning light. Missy and Annie stopped briefly to check out construction noises before making their way to the structures to eat frost:

Burrito, extra floofy in the cold morning air:

After spending a good length of time sitting in the sun and licking the frost off everything they could find, everyone made their way back to the greenhouse and playroom to bask, quite literally, in the sunshine streaming through the windows. This entire day the chimpanzees have been utterly quiet, content and bathed in light.

Foxie sat like this, unmoving, for nearly an hour. Keeping an eye on me at the computer, soaking in all that sun:

Jamie remained in this position the entire time we cleaned the playroom. I thought she was asleep, but every time I looked, her eyes were wide as if in a daydream.

Annie, in all her grace: