Jamie

The one with Jody, Jamie, & Missy

August 13, 2019 by Kelsi

These chimps were having so much fun this afternoon! Foxie was spinning, throwing dolls, and running around with Caregiver Katelyn. Missy was wanting to be tickled by caregivers and ripping up boots. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get any photos. Tomorrow there will be a video of Missy, but rest a sure I have lots of photos to share!

I love this one of Jo with a troll doll not too far:

Annie laid back:

And this morning we found Annie wearing two sweatbands! TWO!

After Jamie and I looked at #cowboyboots on Instagram, she decided to relax on a barrel in the Playroom:

Jody enjoying her apples out on the Hill this morning:

Pitter-Patter

August 11, 2019 by Anthony

Today was all about hustle.

It began with few solid hours of continuous serving, shifting, checking, cleaning, and enriching. The morning team of volunteers (Keri, Jon and Miranda) made sure that tasks got done swiftly and thoroughly. The Playroom was scrubbed and disinfected, the meals were prepared and served, and the laundry was washed and dried. The vibe was contagious. Enthusiasm was in the air.

People went back and forth like worker bees droning around a hive. It was honestly a bit difficult to keep track of all the humans going from place to place, carrying out tasks and coordinating with each other. The staff spent the day furnishing the new chimp areas and attending meetings, Dr. Erin swung by for a visit, volunteer Lizz stopped by to serve the chimps’ lunch, volunteer Erin came in to prepare dinner and enrichment, and the whole team even found time to prepare some firehose for enrichment projects. Everyone was on a mission.

The new wing of enclosures, currently nearing completion!

The bustle around the Chimp House continued through the afternoon and well past the chimps’ dinner, so I felt relieved when the chimpanzees allowed me to close off Young’s Hill, turn off the lights in the Playroom, and begin locking the Chimp House doors for the night.

My relief was short-lived, however, because Jamie wanted something. There she was, an ape silhouette behind the Playroom caging, gesturing at me to bring her something. I checked to see if she wanted boots, then books, then books about boots. She insisted on having something else.

I sat down near the caging and gave her a long plastic tool which she used to groom my shoelaces, inspect my tattoos, and poke at my freckles. She was entertained for a couple of minutes, but the diversion subsided and she began to demand something else. I took off one of my Timberlane hiking boots and managed to wiggle my foot halfway into a woman’s leather cowboy boot, which she seemed to find unimpressive. I even reached for a children’s book about monkeys jumping on a bed and read it aloud, showing Jamie the pictures as I went. I altered the story to make it about Jamie going to bed while I locked up the building and went home. She was not amused.

We caregivers always work in teams, and I soon had to ask caregiver Katelyn for help with appeasing Jamie. We rummaged around the kitchen and enrichment bins, trying to see the Chimp House from Jamie’s perspective and identify the object of her desire. Boots? Nope. Dolls? Meh. Another grooming tool? (-_-). Troll scarves? Closer. A raspberry? Close enough.

Katelyn drops enrichment into the chute for Jamie.

With Jamie (temporarily) satisfied by the tiny red raspberry, we quickly said “goodnight” and retreated from view.

There aren’t many captive chimps who demand as much from their caregivers as Jamie does. This weekend was fast-paced and full of activity, so it’s only fitting that Jamie gave us a little extra work on Sunday evening. We’ll see what she has on the itinerary for tomorrow.

Jamie grooming another chimp this morning.

A little extra Jamie

August 5, 2019 by Katelyn

It’s no revelation to say that Jamie is a unique individual. Each of the chimpanzees are, of course. Jamie makes her wants and needs known each and every day in no uncertain terms. She isn’t always an easy person to be around, but she is a delight, a surprise and a mystery all at once. And some days, a little extra so.

I’m sure in no small part due to Jamie’s early childhood history of having been raised living in a human home with a trainer until the age of nine, her extreme intelligence, curiosity, willpower and general “Jamie-ness” were set on a path to blossom in ways they wouldn’t have otherwise. And through no fault of her own, the natural consequence of an unnatural situation, many of those ways tend to be very human oriented. We certainly wish for her that this hadn’t been the case. That she’d been born allowed to live her life as her wild-living brethren. But one thing I know for certain about Jamie is that regardless of the path her life took and the lack of choices she had in the matter, she is herself through and through. And I couldn’t admire or love her more for it.

Our volunteer caregiver, Miranda, went out to serve the chimps lunch in the greenhouse and a few minutes later she radioed to ask, “Do you know where Jamie is? She’s not here for lunch.” Well, that’s something that makes you stop what you’re doing and go to find Jamie. Immediately. I assumed she was involved in a DIY project or perhaps, supervising the construction from Young’s Hill. As I quickly strolled down the human hallway on my way outside I stopped short upon finding her in the front rooms on top of her beloved barrel, cowboy boot nestled in her hip pocket, looking sleepy and showing zero interest in heading out to lunch. Now if you know chimps, you know that they do not want to miss mealtime. So I sat with her a few minutes trying to determine if she wasn’t feeling well, or if perhaps she’d gotten overheated having just made staff caregiver, Anna, walk around Young’s Hill on this extra hot summer day and needed time to cool off.

After checking in with her, I decided to go and collect her lunch and bring it back inside and drop it in the food chute for her in the hopes she’d eat. Well! She spun around on her barrel, began hooting and breathy panting with me in excitement. I could barely breathe by the time we were done with all the breathy panting. Finally, continuing to recline on her barrel, she dug into her private lunch service, low moaning, food grunting and occasionally hooting, the entire meal. She wanted to dine in the privacy of the cooler front rooms at her leisure. As she should.

After lunch, I passed out a few plain ol’ ice cubes for everyone to enjoy, along with an offer of a small breeze from the handheld mister fan. Jody and Annie lowered their heads and then spun around and presented their backs for a quick misting. Foxie was, as I knew she would be, incensed that I would even offer to do such a thing and declined the offer. But Jamie in particular loves the fan and couldn’t get enough of it. She spent several minutes having me mist and fan her while she cooled off with her ice cubes.

Once everyone dozed off for their routine after lunch nap, I strolled through to check on them. And there was Jamie. Wrapped in a cool sheet, foot on her shopping basket, nestled in with her favorite boot du jour and magazines. At once, and always, her own person. As she was born to be. As it always should have been. And just as we love her.

The Oversight Committee

August 1, 2019 by Anthony

As if unanimously appointed, the chimpanzees have taken on the responsibility of supervising the ongoing expansion.

As the interior of the new wing nears completion, Gary and the team are making quick progress on the exterior renovation. The keystone of this project is an immense archway tunnel that will soon allow chimps to move freely between the expansion’s indoor areas and the existing outdoor habitat, Young’s Hill.

Just last week, pieces of the new tunnel were brought to the sanctuary, assembled, and set in place. Today, the crew began the extension of Young’s Hill that will align the end of the tunnel with the outdoor enclosure’s primary fence.

The chimpanzee residents are not visibly distressed by all of the commotion. In fact, they seem to be intrigued by the people operating heavy machinery right in their backyard. Diana took these photographs as the chimps used the high ground provided by Young’s Hill to keep watch over the crew.

Missy (foreground) and Foxie (background)

Back in the Chimp House, the only drama seemed to be entirely unrelated to the construction. It revolved around onions.

While serving lunch, I dropped some onion petals and green beans outside of the caging of the Greenhouse (above). Any items dropped in this area are usually claimed by Jamie and she makes an effort to pull them within reach using whatever tool is at her disposal. Apparently, someone else made an attempt to retrieve some onion scraps and Jamie threw a tantrum, causing a fiasco in the Greenhouse that spilled over into the Playroom. Eventually, everyone else gave up and Jamie triumphantly ate her onions in the front rooms (below).

Jamie then spent the rest of the afternoon watching all the humans dig holes, clean enrichment, chop produce and fold laundry. Although she supervised from afar, her plans consisted of nesting with boots, foraging for more leftover onions, and flipping through books about shoes.

Raising Standards

July 24, 2019 by Kelsi

Yesterday, after we thought the playroom was squeaky clean, the chimps were invited back in. Volunteer Miranda and I gave Jamie a drink from the hose. Often after a drink we like to offer Jamie a paper towel to dry off. Jamie used her towel like normal, wiping her hands and dabbing her face, so Miranda and I went back to cleaning. Minutes later I noticed Jamie wiping down the new door, which we call the “howdy” door. Apparently as you will see, expectations have been raised.

I have to be honest, it was really hard to get photos today. The chimps were spread out everywhere and enjoying their day, but in not great places to snap some photos. However, I did manage to get a few bonus photos for you guys!

Look at this happy Neggie:

Jamie doing a little grooming (boots and herself):

Burrito grooming Missy:

What’s Better?

July 10, 2019 by Kelsi

I thought to myself, what would make everyone’s Wednesday better? You know, put a little pep in their step. Well, the obvious answer is a whole lot of chimp photos!

Negra: