Maybe it’s spring, or maybe it’s just Burrito, but he is a playful, joyful whirlwind today. This morning he found a game of tug of war and checking himself out in the phone camera to be especially hilarious.
Sanctuary
Hodge Podge
A hodge-podge of photos of this glorious hodge-podge of a spring-winter day. Just like the first squirrel sighting of the spring above, we also had the first Negra sighting of the spring:
Tiny Annie (L) and Tiny Jamie (R):
Missy, Foxie and Jamie making a first run of the perimeter this first day of spring eve:
Jamie on the log bridge:
Annie, Jody Missy and Foxie:
Once everyone else came inside, Foxie decided to continue her adventure on her own, as she often does.
And as she often does, Jody, was a little concerned with Foxie being out there in the midst of spring-winter all on her own and couldn’t just leave her out there! After making several attempts of charging up the hill to retrieve Foxie (to no avail because Foxie had her adventure pants on), Jody returned to the raceway and waited patiently at the doorway for her return:
Foxie full of springtime sass as she heads over for a game of chase with her dolls and caregiver:
It’s been a day of pure joy and lightness that only comes with the beginning of spring. Foxie’s toes sum up the feeling of the day for all of the chimpanzees and humans:
Burrito on a spring afternoon
There may still be snow on the ground, but the sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, and it finally feels like spring.
Another New Start for Ellie/Buttons the Elk & Cautiously Adventurous Foxie
You may have read J.B.’s post last month about our neighborhood elk and her new chance to live a life in the wild. Well, to no one’s great surprise, she did not take to the wild life.
Yesterday, Ellie the elk was moved to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle where, after a quarantine period, she will be introduced to two females and a male elk (with two more females to join soon from Northwest Trek). There were several stories about the move in the local press, because Ellie (better known as Buttons) is quite the celebrity. I thought the story in the Yakima Herald contained the most information.
It’s never a happy day when a wild animal is put into captivity, but she was clearly not adapting to the truly wild life. In an ideal world, Ellie wouldn’t have faced that choice so late in life, but she did. She was at the mercy of those who are tasked with handling wildlife – in this case, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. In many situations with a habituated wild adult animal, the animal is put down. Scott McCorquodale of WDFW, however, went out of his way to find a different solution for Ellie.
We are happy that the zoo agreed to make a home for her where she will have another chance to be with her own kind and where her many human friends can keep tabs on her. Wouldn’t it be great if more zoos were able to provide homes for animals like Ellie?
We are REALLY hoping it works out for her, and we remain available to help if she’s not able to integrate with the elk at the zoo. There’s a small celebration for Ellie/Buttons on March 27th for anyone who’s local. Here’s the Facebook page about the event.
Below is a video from 2014 of Jamie and Ellie:
In chimpanzee-specific news, the chimps, as I suspect many humans in the area, were outside this morning enjoying what genuinely felt like spring!
To set the scene, when I opened the door to give the chimpanzees access to Young’s Hill, Missy raced outside with Annie, Foxie, Jody and Burrito following her (Jamie and Negra remained in the greenhouse finishing their breakfast). All five of them walked the full path around the perimeter, which was clear of snow thanks to J.B. plowing a few weeks ago.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, I spotted Foxie and Burrito coming down the other side and saw that Foxie was thinking about veering off the path well-traveled onto the hard-packed snow.
She checked in with Burrito, but he was not interested in this adventure and continued on.
Foxie is known to be simultaneously adventurous and cautious, so she wasn’t about to just nonchalantly stroll onto the icy snow. She needed to test it out by first punching it and then putting just some of her weight on it.
When she was satisfied that it could hold her full body weight, she took a couple of tentative steps:
Jody, in the meantime, was watching all of this from below. Jody, being the manager/den mother of the group, seemed a little concerned. I’m not sure if it was because Foxie was the last one still up the hill or if Jody thought Foxie’s steps onto the snow were ill conceived.
In any case, Jody went up to collect Foxie, and Foxie obliged by following her back down the hill – on the proper path.
The tell
Chimpanzee communication involves many overt and unmistakable expressions, from eardrum-piercing pant hoots to boisterous dominance displays, but much of what they convey is far more subtle. This morning, as the chimps were being invited to shift enclosures for breakfast, the routine ground to a halt. Negra would not come inside from the greenhouse, even when presented with bowl of peanuts. Jody kept glancing over her shoulder. And Annie sat in the doorway from the playroom, clearly interested in breakfast but unwilling to commit.
I looked towards Burrito. Sitting quietly on a bench with his hands folded in his lap, he was the picture of calm.
Or was he?
Here’s why chimpanzees would be terrible at poker. As soon as they had a good hand, their hair would stand on end and their skin would be riddled with goosebumps, betraying their excitement. Piloerection, as it is known, is the ultimate tell, a dead giveaway for a chimps’ internal state.
Behind Burrito’s otherwise calm demeanor was a simmering cauldron of testosterone, adrenaline, and pent up frustration (due in large part to Jody’s tumescent backside). The chimps could read this from a mile away. The fuse had been lit and everyone was waiting for the bomb to go off.
They were, of course, correct in their assessment, and we soon took a five-minute break from serving breakfast while Burrito rattled the cage doors and occasionally lunged at anyone nearby. Once he got it out of his system, everyone finished shifting and we got on with the day.
A spotlight on Foxie
Foxie Chimpanzee, AKA Fox, AKA Tiny
Age: 42
Favorite foods: Fruit smoothie and all things sweet. She’s also been loving our recent shipments of avocados!
BFF: Burrito
Special talents: Keeping the peace in the group, being friends with everyone, impressive spin moves.
Favorite place to nap: curled up directly on that warm heated floor
Favorite activities: Playing with her dolls, grooming with friends and spending quiet time on the towers of Young’s Hill
Favorite food puzzle: Bald Troll dolls with peanut butter heads
Sunny Day Chimpanzee Play
When Jamie is in a great mood all day, it’s not hard for her to find a play partner.
