Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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A Little Adventure on Jamie’s Boots

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Volunteer caregiver-in-training Liz and I were walking around Young’s Hill with one of Jamie’s favorite boots not long ago. When we rounded the last corner of the hill, on our way back to give Jamie the boot, Liz spotted a patch of mud and decided to stick the sole of the boot in the mud “To put a little more adventure on it.” As soon as we went inside, we headed straight for where Jamie was so that she could have some time inspecting and grooming the boot.

Ever since that day, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. We’ll never really know why it is that Jamie insists that volunteers and staff walk around the outside of the Young’s Hill fence (always wearing or carrying a boot or two), while she patrols from inside the fence. Perhaps it’s because it’s just more fun to have company come along, or maybe she feels that she is “leading” the patrol if there is someone else with her. But, maybe it’s because she wants to have a little piece of “adventure” from the other side of the fence; her bit of freedom from the other side.

Whatever the reason may be, we are always happy to join her on her walks around Young’s Hill. The photos are from Jamie’s third walk around the hill today.

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Here is what the boot looked like after the first part of the walk.
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This the boot after the entire way around Young’s Hill with plenty of adventure on it.
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Jamie just as I was presenting her the muddy boot.
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Keep away

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This morning, I caught Missy in a rare moment of stillness.

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But not for long. Suddenly, she stood up and began scratching vigorously with both hands.

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Chimpanzees display self-scratching behavior when they are physiologically aroused. It’s thought that the scratching may be a response to sensations in the skin resulting from autonomic processes like piloerection (hair standing on end). In other words, something excites you, you involuntarily get goosebumps, and in turn you feel like scratching your skin. Often this occurs during times of stress, like when a subordinate male sits next to a dominant male. But sometimes the arousal is positive, like when Missy wants to play.

After scratching, Missy ran over to Foxie, took one of her trolls, and ran away across the shaky bridge.

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Foxie doesn’t like to walk on anything that feels unstable, so the best she could do was to climb up to Missy’s level on the platform.

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Missy wanted to keep the game going, so she ran back to Foxie and sat on the end of a beam.

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And then, when Foxie wasn’t looking, she disappeared down the ladder.

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Missy ran over to the tunnel, tempting Foxie come rescue her troll.

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Foxie didn’t respond, so Missy climbed atop the grassy mound, teased Foxie one last time, then took off up the hill.

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That did the trick.

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Foxie used to get anxious when the other chimps took her trolls, but now she enjoys it. In fact, she doesn’t even try to get them back right away. Allowing her friends to hold onto her dolls while they play chase is Foxie’s way of keeping the play session going.

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Missy took that as a cue to make the game even harder. She climbed back up where the troll would be tantalizingly out of Foxie’s reach.

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Again, Foxie did her best to get close to Missy.

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But after a while, she’d had enough, so she placed her one remaining troll on her back and headed back towards the greenhouse, perhaps hoping that Missy (and her troll) would come along too.

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Only Missy wasn’t following the plan.

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Foxie went back, but Missy was now holding her troll on top of the termite mound – another object that she doesn’t like to climb on.

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This game wasn’t fun anymore.

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Foxie had to resort to the only sure fire way to get her troll back: whimpering.

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Missy, being a good friend and knowing that Foxie was upset, ran after her to return the doll.

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Rain, snow or shine

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I’m often asked if the chimpanzees go onto Young’s Hill when it is raining or snowing. The answer is yes, they still venture outside, although I think we can all agree, sunshine is probably preferred.

As I’m writing this, Jamie is on her fourth walk around the hill (it’s currently foggy and sprinkling). And she wasn’t the only one to venture outside. Burrito, Missy, Jody and Annie joined her on the hill for a little while after lunch despite the fog and rain.

Sometimes the chimps go out to gather a “snowy treat,” as you will see in the some of the following photos.

It seems that no matter what the weather brings the chimpanzees still choose to go outside.

Annie

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Burrito

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Jamie

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Missy

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Snuggling up with blankets: A retrospective

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This post may reflect what I would like to be doing on this cold and damp day…

In any case, below are some photos – some oldish and some newish – of the chimpanzees getting snuggly with blankets. We give out at least 60 blankets a day. Sixty is a somewhat arbitrary number, but it’s based on the amount that we can successfully get washed in a normal day with our current washer. We (and the chimps) like fleece blankets, because they are very comfy and the wash and dry fast and easy.

As you probably know, Negra is never far from a blanket, and she often has one draped over her head and/or shoulders:

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The photo above is on the holiday card available for purchase in our Zazzle merchandise store!

 

Negra blanket covering body

 

Missy sometimes “imitates” Negra’s blanket style, even nesting in Negra’s usual spots:

Missy under blanket

Always the athlete/acrobat, however, Missy incorporates interesting moves when she is nesting. For the full nesting sequence the  photo below was taken from, see this post:

missy headstand in nest

 

Jamie also occasionally sports a blanket over her head when nesting:

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though she often chooses a sheet instead of a blanket for the job:

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Jody is known for her nest making (she also likes straw nests – see this video from 2009 as an example):

Jody nesting

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jody with a blanket over her head, but she still looks darn cozy when she’s curled up in her blanket nest:

Jody sleeping

 

Annie is also a nest builder, and can frequently be found gathering nesting material and moving it to another area:

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Once she’s made her nest to her liking, she always strikes me as very satisfied:

Annie nesting

 

Burrito and Foxie are not much into building nests. Though nesting has a strong instinctual component, it seems there is a period of learning involved. Both Burrito and Foxie do mostly what we call “phantom nesting.” Once in a while, Foxie will actively nest with blankets:

Foxie in nest

but more often than not, she has a more passive relationship with all of the blankets we give out:

Foxie on blankets

 

Burrito is also more on the passive side of the spectrum when it comes to nesting, though he does like to snuggle up, particularly when someone else has done the work of making the nest:

Burrito on blanket

 

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Let us not forget, blankets are not just for nesting, but can also be great props when playing too:

Burrito clutching blankets playing

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ghost play

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I hope this inspires you to get snuggled up in your own nest tonight, or maybe play a game of ghost with a friend?

Video and Image to Share for #GivingTuesday

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If you read this blog, you hopefully also get our e-newsletter, so this video may have landed in your inbox early this morning.

#GivingTuesday is the big kick-off to holiday giving for nonprofits, so we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss out! Please share the video now with your friends via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc!

We’re hoping to get closer to our 50 new sponsor-a-days for 2015 today, so please consider sponsoring a day for yourself or a loved one. It’s a great two-for-one gift: a gift for the chimpanzees and a gift for your honored special someone. What could be sweeter?

Your donation today, whether a sponsor-a-day donation, a chimpanzee pal donation, or a general donation, will receive a special thank you bonus as part of your email confirmation.

Thank you for remembering Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra in your holiday giving!

Watch and share the #GivingTuesday video below:

And feel free to share this image too!

Give Love

Jamie’s Winter Distraction

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This morning, as usual and despite the cold temps, Jamie was eager to take a walk. I got a boot and proceeded to walk up the hill to meet her (me on the other side of the fence, of course). At first I couldn’t find her, then I spotted her on one of the climbing structures. She was too distracted by her task to take the walk, so I went back and grabbed the camera instead.

I’m trying something new here and embedding a video posted on Facebook. Let me know what you think!
 

Post by Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

 

The Thanksgiving Feast

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All week we’ve been giving thanks for the people and organizations that make this sanctuary possible. Yesterday, it was all about the chimps. Which means that here at the sanctuary, it was all about the food.

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You know who likes food?

This guy.

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He somehow managed to hold six baked apples in his hands while he vacuumed up everything else with his mouth.

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I’ve never seen him concentrate this hard on anything before.

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Burrito wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the Thanksgiving party. You’ll have to watch the video at the end of this post to see what Negra had to do to get this treat bag. All I can say is that it was very un-Negra like. But as you can see from her expression, it was well worth the effort.

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Foxie was joined by this little black-haired troll during the forage.

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After lunch, they went for a stroll on the hill together (if you don’t see the troll, look closely for some hair that seems out of place).

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There was no Thanksgiving food coma for Missy. Once the sun came out, she hit the hill to get some exercise.

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Many thanks to Patti, Sandra, and Katie for volunteering to help the chimps on the holiday, and to Patti and Denice for preparing the feast. As you’ll see, it was quite a hit: