Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Yawning

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It’s been a very quiet day here at the sanctuary. Lots of napping and grooming, with the occasional break to go outside and get snow.

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Negra is a pro at napping. She tried to groom with Missy for a while but it apparently wasn’t exciting enough to keep her awake, and she started yawning.

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I’m sure you’ve experienced contagious yawning before. Chimpanzees experience the same thing. In fact, the humans and chimps at CSNW “catch” yawns from each other all the time. I have been yawning nonstop for the last ten minutes as I’ve been working on this blog post.

The jury is still out on the function of yawning, but some scientists believe that yawning is contagious in some animals because it facilitates the synchronization of activities, particularly the transition between activity to rest.  One study showed that chimpanzees “catch” yawns more often from males than from females. Why would this be the case? According to the authors, we should expect the group to synchronize with male behavior more than females because males are the dominant sex.

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In any case, I hope you all feel better now that you’ve had a good yawn.

Deep snow

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You may have noticed a lack of Young’s Hill photos and videos over the last month or so. That’s because when the snow gets so deep, it reduces the voltage of the electric fence, making it unsafe to allow the chimpanzees out there. Well, yesterday, J.B., Sarah and I (mostly J.B.) all went out and shoveled around the entire perimeter of the fence (who needs a gym membership?), freeing up those bottom wires covered in snow so that the voltage was sufficient to let the chimps back out! It was very hard work, but the chimps were so excited that it was well worth it! There were lots of hugs and kisses in the chimp house (between the chimps 😉 ) and breathy pants echoed in the greenhouse. Sometimes our job isn’t glamorous but it is certainly rewarding, especially when you see a face like the one below (Jody’s).

Jody was the first one to go back out. She was food grunting (we had lettuce out there, plus look at all that snow!) and had a huge playface!
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Annie used Jody’s head for support as she passed her on the log bridge. Jody didn’t seem to mind.
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Look at the joy in her eyes!
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The snow was really deep, so J.B. and Diana shoveled paths along the log bridge to the first climbing structure and to Negra’s cabin. Most folks just walked along the paths, but Missy chose to walk on the fire hose.
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From left to right, Jamie, Missy, Annie and Jody, enjoying the lettuce forage on top of the first climbing structure.
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Did I mention the snow was (is) deep? Foxie walked along the paths but she looked so tiny from our vantage point (tinier than she already is, even!).
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Annie figured walking bipedally made more sense. Gotta say, I agree!
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While everyone else foraged for lettuce, Annie climbed up to the top of Negra’s cabin a couple of times.
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And Missy discovered a TON of lettuce Sarah put in the cabin!
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I think she was pretty pleased!
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All of the chimps went out at some point, though Negra didn’t leave the comfort of the raceway (and only so she could grab some lettuce and snow) and Burrito was only out for a couple of minutes (also just to grab a little bit of lettuce and snow) and didn’t venture out very far, but everyone seemed very happy to have the option of the hill back! And that’s what sanctuary is all about.

Annie following Missy back to the greenhouse:
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Enriching Jamie

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Recently I was looking back at some old blog posts written by Diana and J.B. before the chimpanzees arrived in Washington. In this post, Diana describes Jamie after meeting her for the first time during a visit to the laboratory. It struck me how accurate Diana’s first impressions turned out to be. Five years later, Jamie still demands our time, energy, and creativity to keep her satisfied. It is sometimes hard to know what she’s going to like, but choice is essential. Diana also correctly predicted that we’re always happy to indulge.

After we clean the playroom each morning, we put out clean blankets and a heaping basket of enrichment. Jamie’s routine is to first gather any boots, then stroll around checking out the rest of the toys to see if anything is of interest. Today she came across this loofah and gave her face a quick scrub.

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Jamie’s artistic side

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About a month ago we updated our Amazon wishlist and added bright colored pens for Jamie. Several people have sent some (thanks so much!!) and she has been so excited about them!! The other day, she was asking for a pen and I went and got her a couple of the colored ones and a canvas. She was literally jumping up and down when she saw what I had for her and drew a pretty elaborate drawing (albeit on the back of the canvas 🙂 ) She’s not always interested in drawing, though when she is, she’s very meticulous about it. Everything has to be in the right place – not just the lines she draws, but the paper and pens, as well.

Here’s a piece we recovered from the Playroom the other day. Like in the story above, I brought her a piece of canvas to draw on but she found what she thought was a much better medium for her masterpiece. It was a sign I had put on the enrichment to remind the morning crew to put all the troll dolls in piles.

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Thanks so much to all who have re-inspired Jamie’s artistic side!

Some good news + cute Foxie

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If you aren’t subscribed to the Take Action newsletter through Eyes on Apes, you may not have seen yet that we’ve had a victory! Two days ago I sent out an action alert regarding a Great Clips commercial with a chimpanzee, and just a day later Great Clips made a statement to pledge not to use apes in future advertising, and said they were working on pulling the ad. This is all thanks to letters from you guys, so congrats! Please forward this victory on to friends and get them to join you in speaking up for apes in need.

As if that good news wasn’t enough happiness for the day, I thought I’d share some pictures of Foxie eating some snow with juice added to it. She’s pretty cute. I think she can put a smile on anyone’s face.

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Happy birthday, Lynn Williamson!

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Frank Williamson has sponsored today for Lynn’s birthday, with this message:

“Dear Lynnie, happy birthday and great work with the chimps and all the other animal causes you take so seriously!  Your family loves you!”

Lynn has been a volunteer in the chimp house for a few years now, and she is consistently lovely to be around.  She always shows up with a smile on her face, ready to work hard for the chimpanzees.  We’re so lucky to know her.  Happy birthday, Lynn!

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Jamie’s choice

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We’ve mentioned it 1000 times I’m sure but Jamie is one of the most intelligent people we know. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult and frustrating it must be for her to be stuck behind bars. Captivity would be difficult for anyone, but Jamie has a tendency to get very bored, antsy, and even demanding sometimes – especially during the cold, cabin-fever months. It’s completely understandable (check out this fantastic post from Diana from a couple of years ago reflecting on Jamie’s personality, both prior to CSNW and after her arrival here). We caregivers are completely dedicated to provide a stimulating environment for her and all of the Cle Elum Seven. Each day we do all that we can to give them interesting things to do and exciting enrichment they love, which in Jamie’s case always includes boots.

Jamie has a huge boot collection:
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But nothing gets her more excited than a new (to her) pair of boots. Who can blame her? Don’t we all get excited when we get a new pair of shoes? But, she tends to ‘love them to death’, so to speak, so they often don’t last very long. We’ve had to throw several pairs away lately and I noticed yesterday that our supply is dwindling. It occurred to me that this might be the perfect time to seek some help from you Jamie-lovers. Maybe you got a new pair of boots for Christmas and have an older pair you would like to get rid of? Or maybe you’ve been finding yourself at thrift stores lately trying to catch good deals and just hadn’t thought to be on the lookout for Jamie’s favorite thing? We certainly don’t want anyone to spend a ton of money on boots (see statement above about ‘loving them to death’) but if you happen to have an old pair or come across one, you really would make Jamie’s day.

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