I know all our regular blog readers have been waiting to see some more video of the chimps out on Young’s Hill. If you haven’t yet, watch this video from KOMO News that shows their first moments out (but have some tissue close by!) This montage is of highlights from the following days. Enjoy!
young's hill
The Scale of Things
If you watched the raw video on the KOMO News site, you heard both J.B. and I remark on how small everyone looked on Young’s Hill when they went out. I thought I’d show a few photos that capture that.
The chimps weren’t on the hill today. A couple of bugs in the system presented themselves the other day. J.B. is waiting on some parts to make sure things are running 100% smoothly and is making some other additions while he’s waiting. Since the fence is new to us and to the chimps, we’re being overly cautious and not letting the chimps back on the hill until we have everything worked out. They should be back out early next week. The weather’s been kind of drizzly anyway, so the chimps don’t seem too put off by having some rain days inside and in the covered outdoor area.
We took a LOT of photos and some video over the last week- so we’ll keep sharing!
KOMO 4 News Broadcast
Watch the broadcast footage that was aired on Seattle’s KOMO News last night and will air again tonight at 6pm: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/130546448.html
Thanks to Eric Johnson for reporting and Eric Jensen and Sara Givens for filming!
P.S. J.B. Mulcahy hasn’t changed his last name – it was just a little mistake. We are married, but have different last names.
The simple things
There are so many beautiful stories to tell about these first few days of Young’s Hill- it’s been an exciting time for all of us- but sometimes it’s the simplest things that move me. Seeing blue skies behind them and the sunlight shining on their backs, no caging surrounding them, and the incredible view they get to enjoy. It is an amazing thing to see.
Go Annie!
Missy
So far Missy is the star of Young’s Hill. She is completely at home out there and already has her favorite spots picked out. There’s the two structures connected by a fire hose ladder at the top of the hill, which provide a great vantage point:
Then when she needs to rest in the shade, she heads down to the hammock:
Many of you already know that Missy loves to jump. She’s already discovered the best place for that:
We’ve been putting out forages on the hill each morning to entice some of the more hesitant chimps to venture out. Negra came out three times this morning and even did some lounging under one of the platforms. Jody is still too scared to go out, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been able to enjoy the forages. This morning, we watched Missy walk bipedally down the hill with her arms full of food. When she got to the greenhouse, she dumped it all in the front of Jody and took only one piece for herself. Jody was very pleased.
Watch Seattle’s KOMO 4 Sunday
The national broadcast of the chimps’ going onto the hill is still up in the air, but I did receive confirmation from Eric Johnson of KOMO 4 that they will air the story Sunday night at 11:00pm and it will re-air Monday at 6pm. So, for those in the Seattle area, set your DVRs and come to the blog after you watch it to tell us your impressions.
It was a pretty emotional day and we were lucky that the film crews were gracious, understanding and also really excited to witness the chimpanzees taking their first steps onto Young’s Hill.
Here’s a photo of 2/3 of the Young’s Hill clique. Maybe tomorrow someone else will join Burrito, Missy and Jamie in exploring the wide-open part of their home.