Having grown up in southern California, I don’t think I ever really appreciated spring until I moved to a part of the country with a real winter. It was only a few weeks ago that it was finally warm enough outside for me to open the windows in my apartment. That’s probably my favorite part of spring: the first dose of glorious, fresh air. I thought of the chimpanzees and how it wouldn’t be long before we would be able to open the barn doors in their playroom and let the warm air in. As Jackie said in this post, that opportunity came just the other day, and the chimps seemed to be just as grateful as I had been. Here’s some video from that day.
Jody
Spring Fever
The other day it was finally warm enough that I could open the barn doors in the playroom. Because of the cold it’s been a while since we could do that, so the chimps were so excited! Everyone started pant hooting and ran over to enjoy the fresh air. Jody immediately began to build a giant nest using several blankets and a sleeping bag but alternated between nesting and chasing silly Annie and Missy around the playroom. Jamie put her hands in the kiddy pool and chased folks around with it. Everyone was super playful and goofy, and spent quite a bit of time hanging out and enjoying the sun and spring-like air.
Here are a couple of photos of Jamie relaxing in the green hand chair donated several months ago by volunteer Pam:
And Jody in her sleeping bag nest:
Happy Spring, everyone!
New Mirror
Not long after the chimps arrived, supporter Tamela found an acrylic mirror that we hung on the playroom wall. It has gotten pretty scratched up in the last 2.5 years, so J.B. just recently replaced it with a new one. And not unlike her reaction when it was first hung in January of 2009, Jamie spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to remove it.
Hello, Spring
Volunteers Stephanie and Kate came to the chimp house this morning armed with a bounty of goodies (edible and non-) for a party celebrating the arrival of spring!
Wine grape vines for the chimps
It’s that time of year again – right around the time of our wine tasting event, the chimpanzees get to enjoy the bounty from Washington State wine growing too. Thanks to Phil Cline at NHV for letting us pick up a truckload of vine trimmings for the chimps! So far they don’t seem to have a favorite varietal, but just give them time.
I searched for a video to provide a comparison of Jody’s nesting behavior to what chimpanzees do in the wild. Here are a couple, in case you are interested: Female chimpanzee making nest from tree leaves at Gombe Stream National Park and bonobo making a treetop nest. They weren’t easy to find becaues if you do a Google video search for “chimpanzee nesting” – most of the results are videos from Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.
Jody
Jody is a pretty serious chimpanzee. She seems to take everything she does very seriously, whether it’s greeting a caregiver, playing (somewhat reluctantly) with one of the other chimps, or kicking back in a nest. This is one of the things I find (simultaneously) most intimidating and most endearing about Jody. Check out Jody’s “serious face”:
More enhanced enrichment puzzles
Thanks to volunteer Cari Parker, we have more enhanced enrichment puzzles. Cari’s friend Stephanie sponsored today in honor of Cari’s Birthday, so Cari sent us a box of enrichment for the occasion. Included in the box of goodies were some PVC pipe puzzles. There is a photo with an explanation in the video below.
Keeping the chimps (especially super smart Jamie) enriched is a challenge. We are always trying to come up with new puzzle ideas- and these are great! (Thanks, Cari!) If you ever have any ideas you would like to share, please email me at [email protected]
