I take a yoga class once a week and am often inspired by the chimps here at CSNW. Their lives are nowhere near the freedom of Africa, but they have mastered the art of being able to truly relax in their sanctuary. Negra, Annie, and Jody have all been spotted doing “yoga poses” while relaxing (see this post of Jody doing some of my personal favorite poses), but true relaxation involves much more than a stretch or a twist. Today, I went out to the outdoor area and spotted Negra kicking back on the deck. Her ability to let go with her expression is priceless! That is true relaxation.
Negra
Frozen treats for a hot day
I know I’ve said it before- we have some pretty amazing volunteers here at CSNW. Volunteers Katelyn and Stephanie came up with the idea to freeze juice, blueberries, and raspberries in water bottles for an afternoon forage and today was the perfect day for it. It’s been several hours since we put them out, and the chimps are still looking for bottles. Thanks for keeping everyone enriched- and cool- ladies!
CSNW is a trendy establishment
A couple weeks ago, volunteer Connie mentioned that she had a lot of pea plants and was inquiring whether or not the plant parts would be OK for the chimps to munch on. I did a little bit of online research and discovered that yes, the parts of a pea plant are indeed edible. In fact, there was this great article that describes it fairly humorously in my opinion: “You’ve probably seen them on plates in Asian restaurants and trendy establishments. Pea shoots and tendrils may look exotic or sophisticated, but even gardeners who can’t grow peas to maturity can grow pea shoots and tendrils.”
Well, Connie was able to grow not only the pea shoots and tendrils, but also the peas to full maturity in their pods! Today we put them out as a forage and the chimps really enjoyed them.
Negra, with the pea plants in the background:
Annie, taking a break and laying down while eating her peas:
Burrito:
Missy:
I spy…
Foxie’s 35th birthday video
As promised, here’s some video from yesterday’s celebration:
Thanks to everyone who donated trolls and made this troll bonanza possible!
In anticipation?
While all of the staff here at CSNW have a great deal of experience with chimpanzee behavior, we obviously can’t get inside the minds of the chimps and know what they are truly thinking. But, my non-scientific side of self sometimes really wishes I could!
One of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked since construction on Young’s Hill began is whether or not I think the chimps know that Young’s Hill is for them. Part of me wants to say “Of course! They must know that everything we do around here revolves around them, right?” I would have to guess that the installation of the climbing structures (which look very similar to the one in their current outdoor area) had to be a good sign for them, but again, we can’t get inside of their heads, so as smart as I know they are, I just cannot say for sure.
But I think we now have a pretty good reason to believe that at least some folks do, in fact, know.
During construction of the raceway (the tunnel that connects the current outdoor area to Young’s Hill), the chimps had to be locked out of the outdoor area. A couple of days later, J.B. was checking to make sure a key worked on one of the locks near the raceway (not the one that unlocked the raceway door, mind you). As soon as he pulled out the keys and walked towards the caging, Jamie, Jody, and Foxie all jumped up and started hugging and breathy panting in excitement! J.B. said that Jody and Foxie eventually walked away, but that Jamie sat at the raceway door gesturing towards him, banging on the cage, and tugging on the door for at least 10 minutes.
So, guess what, they know.
My heart sung when I heard about this! I’m sure part of me knew it all along, but it feels so validating and real now… and makes the wait for the day that they finally go out that much more agonizing!
So, when I took the following photos of Negra looking out towards the work happening on Young’s Hill today, I couldn’t help but wonder “Does she know, too?” I’d be willing to bet she does, and that they’ve all been “rolling their eyes”, so to speak (chimps don’t really roll their eyes), when they heard us discussing whether or not they “know” that Young’s Hill is for them.
No pressure, J.B. 😉
Thanks so much to J.B. and all of our hard working volunteers that have come out to help be a part of making “The Hill” a reality! You guys are going to make Negra’s day!
Garden enrichment
Jackie has been working pretty diligently on the best enrichment of all — the garden. It’s really great for the chimps to watch the plants grow, see us harvest their food, and then of course get to enjoy the delicious fresh produce! I have been helping her, too. Here’s us sifting the compost which we use as a growing medium for the plants. Just like Jackie said the other day, recycling at it’s finest!
Here is the view of the garden from the south side of the chimp house:
And here are some of our fruits and veggies that are doing great! Broccoli, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and strawberries.
The chimps particularly like the fresh strawberries!
Annie:
Negra:
Missy eating a strawberry while Foxie laughs to get Jackie’s attention: