Today, the chimpanzees were being pretty playful, especially Missy and Burrito. I wasn’t able to get the best video while trying to play tug-o-war with Missy, but I got a short clip. Burrito was playing a lot with Jackie at the barn doors. You’ll want to watch until the very end!
Missy
Happiness on the hill
Missy was such a goof when I opened the door to Young’s Hill this morning! She ran right out (and lots of folks followed her) and went up to the new climbing structure in the bamboo.
After sitting there for a little while, she decided to get a better view of the hill:
For Jay Johnson
Caryle Johnson has sponsored today in memory of Jay Johnson on his 60th. What a lovely memorial. Thanks, Caryle!
More on the new structures
As I mentioned the other day, Ben Parks and Boy Scout Troop 336 from Federal Way worked with J.B. last weekend building new climbing structures on Young’s Hill. I also mentioned that we got some GoPro footage, however, unfortunately there were some technical difficulties with the file and the videos were lost. We did get some footage with our camera though. Thanks again Ben and Boy Scout Troop 336!
Happy 4th!
The chimps have had a great party today! The weather has been awesome– right now, it’s 70 degrees and it’s completely wind-less (a rarity these days!). This morning, we set up a huge forage on Young’s Hill- plums, grapes, peanuts, and chow, and the highlight– frozen grapefruit bowls. Last week, I had the idea to cut grapefruit in half and freeze juice and berries inside the peel, and a few days later, volunteers Seana, Lisa and Denice went to work and made it happen! They looked so delicious! Thanks so much for pulling that one off, ladies! The chimps loved them!
Jamie collected the majority, of course:
and was very dedicated to the cause:
Annie collected an enormous mouthful of chow!
Last week, we asked our blog readers what they thought we should do for the 4th of July party. We received some great ideas! One was from Sara, who suggested “Firecracker Poppers” (toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper, filled with peanuts, and the ends tied with ribbon. Volunteer CJ and I made these yesterday and they turned out so cute! But I unfortunately wasn’t able to get any photos. So, volunteer Julie is here now and is going to make the chimps’ evening nightbags out of them. Thanks for the cute idea, Sara!
Elizabeth was inspired by blog commenter Annie N’s suggestion to make popsicles, so she froze juice inside Dixie Cups with little popsicle sticks. Again, the chimps were thrilled! Thanks for the idea, Annie!
Negra was the most excited about these. While everyone else was exploring for goodies on the hill, she stayed in the greenhouse to have a party of her own– a 4th fit for a Queen!
Field Roast hot dogs have become a CSNW 4th of July tradition. Volunteer Patti brought Field Roast Frankfurters, ketchup, and mustard so we could serve them for lunch. The chimps love Field Roast! They truly savored each and every bite.
Jamie:
Even Burrito took the tiniest little bites of his hot dog to make it last longer! You don’t see that every day!
Along with making the Firecracker Popper Nightbags mentioned above, Volunteer Julie has also been hard at work making another frozen treat for dinner- limes cut in half and filled with red gatorade (to look like watermelon)! The “seeds” are sunflower seeds!
Happy 4th of July, everyone!
Inspiration
I often use things I’ve seen the chimps do as inspiration to help me come up with enrichment themes. Annie seems to really like beaded necklaces. I often see her playing with them– swishing them around in her hands, using them to play tug of war with her friends, or shoving a bunch in her mouth, filling up with water, and sucking all the water out:
So, today I decided to make it easier for her, and everyone. I took containers, filled them with beaded necklaces and then filled them with water. The chimps must have been inspired because almost everyone spent some time playing with the necklaces. It seems it’s no longer just Annie that thinks water-filled beaded necklaces are fun.
Food grunts and breathy pants
One of the things that I like about the GoPro camera is that you can hear some of the sounds that the chimps are making when they are way out on the hill. In this video, you can hear food grunts from Jamie and Jody and of course a couple of Burrito’s famous food squeaks.
You can also hear Foxie’s breathy panting as she reassures Burrito. Chimps will often reassure one another with vocalizations like this, as well as through touch and embrace, when the potential for conflict exists. If there is a limited resource, like nuts and seeds spread on the ground on Young’s Hill, the chimps will sometimes try to make nice before a conflict erupts over who stole food from whom, in an effort to prevent this kind of conflict. Normally, the chimp receiving the reassurance would provide some sort of acknowledgement, but that’s not Burrito’s style – he prefers to close his eyes and pretend that uncomfortable situations don’t exist.