As many of our readers know, Jamie is the most dominant chimp of the Cle Elum Seven. That means that if food is nearby, whether she is interested in it at that moment or not, the other chimps respect it as hers and avoid grabbing anything that she might consider her own. You’ll see a couple interesting politics in the following video. Burrito knows that Jamie has left some chow on the floor and abandoned them to start wrestling with Foxie. He’s waiting for a point where he can take advantage of that distraction and get the chow pieces for himself. Once he eventually gets his opportunity, Foxie catches him in the act, and wants some for herself. Although Jamie still appears uninterested, Foxie asks for her permission to take some chow… but Jamie decides that she wants to keep the few pieces remaining for herself.
Primates
Time on the hill and relatives
We have had pretty sunny weather lately, but it’s getting colder and colder these days (we even have snow in the forecast!) so the chimps have been spending less and less time on Young’s Hill, but that does not mean that they don’t want the option! As I type, Jody is blocking the door in the raceway, even though no one, including her, has had any interest in going out there for at least the last hour. It’s all about choices around here, so I’ll give her as much time as she needs.
Here are a few photos from the last couple of days of folks enjoying the hill. I’m pretty much addicted to taking photos of people out there. I still can’t get over it.
Missy:
Annie:
Foxie has been getting more comfortable and ambitious on the hill these days:
as is Burrito:
Speaking of Burrito, I recently learned that Burrito has a half brother, Clay, who lives at Save the Chimps in Florida. Clay and Burrito have the same father, Mack, who passed away at Save the Chimps a little over a year ago, and Clay’s mother is none other than our Jody! One of our former volunteers, Janie, is working at Save the Chimps now and reported that Clay has many of the same mannerisms as Jody and Burrito, including Mr. B’s signature always-pilo erect hair (pilo erect is the technical term for when your hair stands on end). Check out Clay’s profile on the Save the Chimps website. To me, he looks almost exactly like Burrito with Jody’s almond eyes. The last photo on Clay’s page is a photo of his profile. I found the following older photo of Burrito for comparison.
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!
Another relaxing day for Jody
In mid-yawn:
Planet Green for a Green Planet
Great news! We’ve found an easy way for our supporters to help us (and themselves) from afar!
CSNW has teamed up with a company called Planet Green, which is a company that recycles inkjet cartridges and old cell phones. For every inkjet cartridge and cell phone turned into them on our behalf, Planet Green sends us a donation (visit this link for a list of prices of what Planet Green gives us). I have a few volunteers from Seattle that have begun collecting for us. I sent in about 20 inkjet cartridges and 4 cell phones and we received a check for $37! (Considering it didn’t cost any of us a dime, not bad! Thanks so much guys!) Just think how much we could make if we all started collecting!? In addition, Planet Green is a remanufacturer, so you can purchase your inkjet cartridges through them and we receive 15% of every purchase. Visit this link to learn more: www.PlanetGreenRecycle.com/ChimpSanctuaryNW
If you would like to start up your own collection box for inkjet cartridges and cell phones, send me an email at [email protected] and I’ll set you up with flyers and shipping labels and get you started. It’s a really easy thing to do and a great way to help us (and the environment) out!
This program is not only good for us, you, our landfills, etc… but it’s also a great way to do your part on behalf of gorillas in Africa. Cell phones contain a mineral called coltan, which is a mineral extracted in the deep forests of Congo in central Africa- home to lowland gorillas. Mass production of cell phones has resulted in mass destruction of the forests and is resulting in a loss of habitat for gorillas. By opening up the forest, this practice also paves the way for the slaughter of gorillas for the bushmeat trade. Recycling old cell phones is a great way to reduce the need for coltan and protect the gorillas and their home.
And…as if I haven’t given you enough reasons, here’s Foxie’s adorable face: =)
Seeing green(s)
Food is serious business to Burrito Chimpanzee and today he was seeing green. It’s been an unseasonably warm day today, so the greenhouse was a luxurious 60 degrees or so. We set up a huge lunch forage out there– I think Burrito was very happy with this decision.
Foxie
I was just looking through some photos Diana took yesterday, and I had to share this one:
