I was in the kitchen yesterday preparing the chimps’ lunch when I heard lots of laughter echoing throughout the playroom. When I went in to check it out, I was bombarded by simultaneous silliness, but not with your usual cast of characters…
Posts Tagged ‘Cle Elum’
Simultaneous silliness
Thursday, February 9th, 2012A cold snack
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012I know we’ve had a lot of posts about the snow lately, but I just couldn’t resist posting this adorable video from yesterday.
The case of the droopy lip
Friday, December 23rd, 2011Jody almost always has a drooped lip when she’s out on the hill. We’ve been referring to it as her “Young’s Hill Face”
Today, her droopy lip seemed to be mixed in with a bit of a sneer. Sometimes I sneer when I’m cold!
She sure does have a beautiful face though…
Cold toes!
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011It’s been an unusually mild winter so far. It’s been pretty cold, but we just haven’t had much snow. It’s been great in a way, because the chimps have been able to spend more time out on the hill (we can’t give them the hill if the snow gets too deep because it will drain the fence voltage). But we did get a little bit of snow last night, and since the chimps love to eat snow so much, I was eager to give them Young’s Hill as soon as possible today before it all melted.
Before we let the chimps out on the hill each day, the lead caregiver does a perimeter check by walking or driving the Gator all the way around to check for any issues with the electric fence. The chimps are very aware of this routine and usually get a little excited when we turn on the walkie-talkies and head out for our hike around the hill. Each morning, as I pass the east side of the building, I look into the picture windows to see what’s happening in the playroom. Usually I’ll see Negra curled up in her spot with a blanket over her head and maybe Missy and Foxie grooming and such, but today, I saw bouncy feet and an enthusiastic head nod. Annie (bouncy feet) and Missy (head nodding) were so excited to get out there! I looked at Missy and pointed towards the hill (assuming she wouldn’t be able to hear me if I spoke) and she started running towards the door to Young’s Hill.
But when I opened the door, no one went out. There was a long, long pause before finally, Missy, Annie, Foxie, Jody, and then Jamie went out. The sun was out but the wind had picked up and it was COLD! Even still, once they got themselves out there, they hung out there for 45 minutes or so. I was all bundled up in a sweatshirt, jacket, gloves, warm boots, and still freezing, so I can’t even imagine how cold their toes were!
Bipedal Foxie:
Jamie headed up the climbing structure (with Annie behind her)
when she got to the top, she wiped off her feet
and sat down for some snow
Most of Missy’s time on the hill today was above ground:
but she did manage to find a pretty nice ice chunk that she brought in to enjoy in the warm greenhouse
Foxie’s troll pet
Thursday, October 27th, 2011Chimpanzees definitely don’t make good pets, but troll dolls do!
Seriously Playful
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011In contrast to the Negra-style play mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, when Foxie and Jamie play, they are completely uninhibited and just down right goofy. I could watch them (and laugh with them) being silly all day long.
Sawdust
Sunday, July 17th, 2011Recycling at it’s finest:
Watermelon Bowls
Sunday, July 10th, 2011We have some pretty creative folks around here at the sanctuary, but volunteers Stephanie and Katelyn are definitely two of the most creative people I know. Yesterday, the two westsiders (what we Washingtonians call folks from Seattle, or west of the mountains) stayed all day and spent part of the afternoon making watermelon bowls. They cut out the center of the watermelon and filled it with all types of fruits and veggies. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Burrito, who literally could not stop food squeaking the whole time, slept good last night.
And from the photos, I think it’s also safe to say that Annie was pretty pleased with the watermelon bowls, too:
4th of July Forage (finally)
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011If you “like” us on Facebook, you probably know, yesterday we had some technical difficulties with our website, so I was unable to get the video of yesterday’s lunch forage out to you– until now! The chimps had such an exciting day with lots of yummy treats. The weather was perfect and the food matched the holiday to the T. For lunch, they had corn on the cob (a favorite among everyone), whole raw onions (another favorite, believe it or not), cherries, and (of course) watermelon! The outdoor area was decorated in red, white, and blue, and the afternoon was spent lounging, grooming, and sleeping. Then, that evening, we gave the chimps Field Roast vegan dogs from volunteer Jeani (which resulted in squeaks, squeaks, and more squeaks) and more corn on the cob! Debbie set up a rose and tea forage in the playroom while I served dinner. When we left, they were back to lounging and seemed very content with the day.
Hail to the Queen
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011None of the following photos are by any stretch of the means “award winning”, but they represent a very special moment I just had with Negra. I was sitting outside on the new concrete footings for the soon-to-be tunnel to Young’s Hill (!!) and hanging out with Burrito. We were alternating between grooming, tickling, kissing my hand, and playing this game we often play where he leans to one side and bites the cage and I reach towards him like I’m going to touch him and he moves to the other side, laughing hysterically. Although for Burrito, it was a very mellow moment. Negra was laying beside us in her typical corner of the outdoor area with a bright pink blanket completely over her. She heard us starting to get louder with our “fake out” game and sat up, threw the blanket off of her and walked over towards Burrito to greet him. She sat next to him for a little while, but since our playful games had fizzled, Mr. B eventually walked away. Negra then walked back over to her pink blanket and put it over her head. I said “Oh Neg, you look so beautiful!” and asked her if I could take her picture. She gave me a slight headnod of reassurance, so I took the following photos. She seemed pretty content that the focus was now on her. Unfortunately I was too close to get a photo without bars, but I think with a face like Negra’s, they are pretty easy to forget about.
