I was in the kitchen yesterday preparing the chimps’ lunch when I heard lots of laughter echoing throughout the playroom. When I went in to check it out, I was bombarded by simultaneous silliness, but not with your usual cast of characters…
Missy
Foxie in the window
Meet the humans
Around here we all rightfully view the chimpanzees as the stars of the show. But behind the scenes there are some amazing and wonderful humans who make every day go smoothly and safely. I’m so proud of our team and all they do for the chimps. You can see by the human faces in these pictures that we love our jobs! But you can also see how we safely interact with the chimpanzees without putting them (or ourselves) at risk. The chimpanzees can reach out and groom our elbows or wrists (as you’ll see with Seana all the way at the end) and they can put their bodies up against the fencing so we can tickle or groom them, but we never cross the barrier of the fence. Their space is their space, period.
Elizabeth and Foxie:
Jackie and Jody:
Diana and Foxie:
JB and Missy:
Me (Sarah) with Burrito:
Ooops… we apparently need more pictures of our newest staff member, Debbie:
And here are just a few of our dedicated volunteer caregivers!
Deb W and Burrito:
Steph P and Jamie:
Seana B and Jamie:
Find us all on Facebook so we can get to know you too!
Chimp Love
Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and we’ll be launching a new holiday store with fun Valentine’s Day presents for the chimps soon! To get you in the mood, here are a few sweet photos of chimp-lovin from over the years.
Someone to play with
In a previous post, I mentioned how it seemed like Missy was anxious for the other chimps to become comfortable on the hill so that she’d have someone to play with. Thankfully, Missy’s best friend Annie has decided that she’s ready to take advantage of her new two-acre playground.
Regular Morning Routine
As we mentioned on the Facebook page yesterday, sometimes the daily routine fluctuates, and as caregivers we have to be pretty flexible depending on the choices the chimps make. Typically though, we do have a regular schedule. First we invite the chimpanzees in for breakfast—and as long as everybody comes in, one person (the Care staff or Level III volunteer) will serve breakfast while the other person (the Lead Caregiver) will start cleaning the playroom. We never enter an enclosure at the same time as the chimpanzees, so we have to ensure that all the chimps are out of the room we want to clean, and that every chimp door is secure. We do this for cleaning the playroom, front rooms, and the greenhouse. (To see what cleaning is like, watch this video from a couple years ago). Today things followed the regular routine, which you’ll see in the video below.
Besties on the hill
I have been completely amazed at how much time the chimps have been spending on the hill these days! The other day it was cold, cold, cold. But Annie, Missy, Jody, Foxie, and Jamie (or the “Young’s Hill superstar five”) spent almost 2 hours out there! Missy and Annie ran around playing chase and wrestling with one another the whole time. Jody, Jamie, and Foxie jumped in the games at various times, but Annie and Missy didn’t stop… maybe because they are best friends, or maybe it was just a great way to stay warm! Either way, they seemed to be having a blast!
The games rapidly alternated between Annie chasing Missy, and Missy chasing Annie
As the chaser, Missy’s technique to slow Annie down was to grab at her feet
Missy chased and wrestled with Annie on this climbing structure for a long time. They went ’round and ’round and ’round until Annie was able to escape onto the nearby rope bridge
