Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
As J.B. mentioned in his post the other day, it has been really cold in Cle Elum, but we still haven’t had much snow. We have had significant doses of hoar frost though, which is beautiful! Maybe it’s not as exciting as snow to some, but Jody and Foxie have really been enjoying licking it off of things.
Jody licking hoar frost off of the log bridge:
Foxie was really enjoying licking it off of the climbing structure
And later, Jody joined her
Hoar frost on a tree
Negra apparently likes her playmates to hit her on the head.
It is getting very cold here in Cle Elum, but the sun is out and there’s no snow on the ground so the chimps continue to go out on the hill every day. Today, Jamie led Missy, Annie, and Jody on a walk through the bamboo.
Later, Jody was alarmed by something in the upper corner of the enclosure. Here you can see a great example of a fear grimace – what many people mistake for a smile.
Annie stayed back, but Jody was determined to go in for a closer look. She kept looking back for some support, but she was on her own.
The chimps love being able to roam across two acres, but at times like this I think it can feel a long way from the safety of their original sanctuary home.
She got as far as the bamboo grove but didn’t seem to have to courage to go any further; at least not without backup.
So she went back to the platform to be with Annie.
Peering is one of my favorite chimpanzee behaviors. It is related to peering as we commonly understand it (looking intently at something), but it has a more narrow usage with chimpanzees. Chimpanzees often peer when they would like another chimpanzee to share some of their food. Rather than asking for some, they stare at the food as if it is some mysterious substance from outer space, sometimes getting as close as a few inches from the other chimp’s mouth. As a result, the peering chimp annoys the other chimp into either turning away or reluctantly giving up some of their food.
Today, Negra was enjoying a piece of ice from Young’s Hill while Jody peered at her. Peering can go on for an awfully long time, long enough to make me uncomfortable just watching it. I’m not sure whether Negra ever gave Jody a piece of the ice.
It’s really hard to say if Foxie would have made a good mother, but one thing is for sure, her babies would be getting lots of fresh air and sunshine these days!
It was gorgeous this afternoon! No wind (a rarity around these parts), clear skies and that welcoming yellow orb in the sky. Everyone except Burrito and Negra spent quite a bit of time on Young’s Hill enjoying this little break from winter. Burrito was very happy to grab snow from the raceway and Negra peaked out but went back to the warmth of her nest.
These two don’t spend much time with each other, but today Annie and Jody went on a little hike together:
Jody hid herself above the bamboo:
Annie found a perch:
Meanwhile, Missy was busy with a large piece of ice she found in a tire:
Jamie was busy trying to stuff a tie (with a troll doll tied to it) into one of the holes in the treat rock:
and Foxie wandered all around with her dolls:
Jody sampled the snow from many different areas of Young’s Hill today. Her favorite seemed to be the snow from the crater in our miniature Mt. St. Helens replica.
Foxie also went all the way outside today, but she tried to keep her feet off of the snow as much as possible.
Everyone else seemed content to grab some snow from the end of the raceway and watch Jody and Foxie brave the cold from the warmth of the greenhouse.
