Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Jamie’s artistic side

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About a month ago we updated our Amazon wishlist and added bright colored pens for Jamie. Several people have sent some (thanks so much!!) and she has been so excited about them!! The other day, she was asking for a pen and I went and got her a couple of the colored ones and a canvas. She was literally jumping up and down when she saw what I had for her and drew a pretty elaborate drawing (albeit on the back of the canvas 🙂 ) She’s not always interested in drawing, though when she is, she’s very meticulous about it. Everything has to be in the right place – not just the lines she draws, but the paper and pens, as well.

Here’s a piece we recovered from the Playroom the other day. Like in the story above, I brought her a piece of canvas to draw on but she found what she thought was a much better medium for her masterpiece. It was a sign I had put on the enrichment to remind the morning crew to put all the troll dolls in piles.

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Thanks so much to all who have re-inspired Jamie’s artistic side!

Jamie’s choice

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We’ve mentioned it 1000 times I’m sure but Jamie is one of the most intelligent people we know. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult and frustrating it must be for her to be stuck behind bars. Captivity would be difficult for anyone, but Jamie has a tendency to get very bored, antsy, and even demanding sometimes – especially during the cold, cabin-fever months. It’s completely understandable (check out this fantastic post from Diana from a couple of years ago reflecting on Jamie’s personality, both prior to CSNW and after her arrival here). We caregivers are completely dedicated to provide a stimulating environment for her and all of the Cle Elum Seven. Each day we do all that we can to give them interesting things to do and exciting enrichment they love, which in Jamie’s case always includes boots.

Jamie has a huge boot collection:
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But nothing gets her more excited than a new (to her) pair of boots. Who can blame her? Don’t we all get excited when we get a new pair of shoes? But, she tends to ‘love them to death’, so to speak, so they often don’t last very long. We’ve had to throw several pairs away lately and I noticed yesterday that our supply is dwindling. It occurred to me that this might be the perfect time to seek some help from you Jamie-lovers. Maybe you got a new pair of boots for Christmas and have an older pair you would like to get rid of? Or maybe you’ve been finding yourself at thrift stores lately trying to catch good deals and just hadn’t thought to be on the lookout for Jamie’s favorite thing? We certainly don’t want anyone to spend a ton of money on boots (see statement above about ‘loving them to death’) but if you happen to have an old pair or come across one, you really would make Jamie’s day.

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Making some noise

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Chimpanzees are quiet most of the time.  In fact, as I write this it’s completely silent in the playroom.  In times of excitement, though, chimps can be quite vocal.  The Cle Elum Seven often pant hoot in anticipation of mealtime, or right after they’ve been given access to an area that had been closed off.  Today there was lots of displaying and pant hooting when the chimps re-entered the playroom after lunch.  Everyone except for Negra got in on the action (Negra likes to stay out of drama).  Here are a few photos of Jody pant hooting during the excitement.

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In the video below you’ll see Jamie and Foxie displaying. You’ll notice that they have somewhat different styles. Jamie likes to drum on a barrel to raise the noise level, but even petite Foxie makes an impression.

Burrito is the big 3-0!

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How do you celebrate food-loving Burrito’s birthday? A day in which the entire focus is on FOOD, of course! This morning we set up a huge forage in the playroom – coconuts, blackberries, pineapple chunks, nuts and seeds, and a pool of snow with blueberry juice drizzled over the top of it. The coconut elicited some of the loudest food squeaks I’ve ever heard and the chimps are still munching on the snow, taking breaks only for the occasional brain freeze. Volunteer Stephanie outdid herself yet again and brought several food-shaped pinatas and tons of decorations, both for the party and for the humans (naturally, we humans have been wearing glittery “happy birthday” hats, sunglasses and tiaras all day). I’m not so sure the chimps are too impressed with the human decor, but they were definitely impressed with the pinatas!

True to form, Jamie was first to go after them:

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Annie used her foot to keep her ice cream cone-shaped pinata balanced:
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Dick and Robbi Brown brought some pretty epic new enrichment, which definitely added to the excitement! Foxie loved a new troll doll:
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Naturally, Burrito checked all the bags for food
web burrito go through gift bag birthday party pr IMG_1723some interest in a ukulele a while back and actually played it for a while, so Dick and Robbi (and several other folks) are always on the lookout for another one when they shop at Goodwill or other thrift stores. She was the first to pull the new one out of a gift bag and strummed it a couple of times. But I guess playing a ukulele is more of a thing you do in your spare time because after a few “notes” she went right back to the forage. Missy didn’t play it, but she was curious to see if we maybe hid some food inside (does it seem like everything had to do with food today??).

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And speaking of food- the coconuts were definitely the focus this morning! And Burrito couldn’t have been happier!

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And the party didn’t end there. Aside from the usual meals, we’ve been serving surprise snacks periodically throughout the day. About 30 minutes ago, we handed out a small handful of blueberries and Elizabeth is now serving gum. Thanks so much to Dick, Robbi, Stephanie, and to everyone that made Mr. B’s day so special! Way to go Team Burrito!!

Industrious Jamie

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Jamie, as you probably know, is a very industrious chimpanzee person. Sometimes we create enrichment projects for her. Other times, like today, Jamie assesses the objects that we put out for the chimps and takes it upon herself to come up with a project of her own making (see video below).

Jamie took a well deserved rest this afternoon after all of her industrious work. Note the carefully placed boots in her nest:

jamie in her nest

 

Playing it cool

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A couple of weeks ago, Diana wrote a blog post about Jamie’s complex personality – sometimes bossy, sometimes playful, sometimes (well, usually) mischievous, but always cool. For example, she probably has the coolest head nod of any chimp I’ve ever met. In terms of chimpanzee behaviors, a head nod means pretty much exactly what it sounds like – approval. Jamie’s head nod is often almost like a chin tip you’d see between bros, almost like what you would do if you were to say, ‘sup. But that’s not all that surprising, because Jamie is pretty much cool at everything she does. I would expect no less from the boss.

Here’s another example of Jamie “playing it cool”. The other day I spotted her in a comfy nest, surrounded by boots and troll dolls – classic CSNW.

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Then, she noticed a Dora the Explorer doll nearby and very slowly, very casually pulled it over to her nest.

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She seemed pretty happy to have Dora with her, but certainly didn’t want anyone to know she purposely pulled a doll into her nest. In her eyes, it would be way cooler if it just “happened” to be there.

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Celebrating Margaret and Karen

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Yesterday, longtime friends of the Cle Elum Seven Margaret and Karen got married in Seattle. Margaret and Karen are truly beloved by anyone who meets them. They are bright and warm and kind. They have possibly the biggest hearts of anyone you’ll ever meet.

We wanted to celebrate their joy, so today we put out the happiest, most colorful enrichment we could find. The chimpanzees spent quite some time taking inventory.

Foxie:

Annie:

Jamie:

Appropriately enough, the weather at the sanctuary is gorgeous and sunny today and the chimpanzees have been feeling pretty carefree. Annie and Missy enjoyed a lazy game of chase in the greenhouse this afternoon.

We’re so happy for you, Margaret and Karen. Lots of love from CSNW!