Posts Tagged ‘enrichment’

Adventures of a peanut butter jar

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

The other day, we put a mostly empty plastic peanut butter jar in with the chimps’ enrichment, which is something we often do when we’ve used the bulk of the peanut butter- the chimps spend hours trying to get the peanut butter remnants off the insides! Foxie was the lucky one who found it first the other day, and she took it on quite the adventure. First, she had it in the playroom. Later, she took it out with her into the greenhouse, and then she and her peanut butter jar went on a hike on Young’s Hill.

She took it with her as she climbed up and down a couple of the climbing structures and then around the perimeter, enjoying the occasional snack. At one point, Jody decided to start a game of chase. She got in front of Foxie and started playfully walking backwards, encouraging Foxie to follow her.

They played for a little while, but then Foxie got distracted and put down the jar. I can’t say if Jody had an ulterior motive for starting the game of chase, but it definitely seemed to work in her favor.

Jody enjoying the peanut butter jar in the greenhouse:

Giant box enrichment

Monday, November 28th, 2011

The other day, Denice and I filled a giant refrigerator box with all of the chimps’ enrichment and blankets. Not surprisingly, Jamie was pretty interested. But Jody, Missy, Foxie, and Negra showed some interest as well!

iEnrich

Sunday, November 13th, 2011

Today is sort of rainy out, so we wanted to enrich the chimpanzees with some indoor activity. Sometimes we play the TV for them, which some folks seem to really enjoy. We also know that the chimps like to watch themselves in mirrors, so I thought they might be interested in “Photo Booth,” which is an App on the iPad (and it’s also on most Mac computers) where you can take pictures of yourself. Foxie and Burrito seemed to think it was pretty cool, and I’m glad we were able to come up with some fun rainy day enrichment.

The treat rock

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Today volunteer Laura and I put together a peanut butter/fruit puree and smeared it inside the tubes for the treat rock. The treat rock mimics a termite mound, in that the chimps can use sticks or hoses to fish for treats we place in tubes mounted inside the rock. Thus far, the chimps have been a bit too busy with other things to care about “fishing” for treats in the rock (the hill is a lot to take in!), but today Jody, Jamie, and Missy all spent some time checking it out.

Jody only took a quick peek or two, but was definitely intriqued.

Not all the holes have tubes in them, which Jamie quickly figured out

Missy spent the most time on the rock

and was the most proficient

yum!

Snuggle Up

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

The CSNW chimps have a love/hate relationship with stuffed animals. Sometimes they like to tear apart stuffed animals—maybe to use their stuffing for bedding, or just for fun. Other times, they like to play with them or even cuddle with them, like Jamie did the other day:

 

Time on the hill and relatives

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

We have had pretty sunny weather lately, but it’s getting colder and colder these days (we even have snow in the forecast!) so the chimps have been spending less and less time on Young’s Hill, but that does not mean that they don’t want the option! As I type, Jody is blocking the door in the raceway, even though no one, including her, has had any interest in going out there for at least the last hour. It’s all about choices around here, so I’ll give her as much time as she needs.

Here are a few photos from the last couple of days of folks enjoying the hill. I’m pretty much addicted to taking photos of people out there. I still can’t get over it.

Missy:

Annie:

Foxie has been getting more comfortable and ambitious on the hill these days:

as is Burrito:

Speaking of Burrito, I recently learned that Burrito has a half brother, Clay, who lives at Save the Chimps in Florida. Clay and Burrito have the same father, Mack, who passed away at Save the Chimps a little over a year ago, and Clay’s mother is none other than our Jody! One of our former volunteers, Janie, is working at Save the Chimps now and reported that Clay has many of the same mannerisms as Jody and Burrito, including Mr. B’s signature always-pilo erect hair (pilo erect is the technical term for when your hair stands on end). Check out Clay’s profile on the Save the Chimps website. To me, he looks almost exactly like Burrito with Jody’s almond eyes. The last photo on Clay’s page is a photo of his profile. I found the following older photo of Burrito for comparison.

The Great Pumpkin

Monday, October 31st, 2011

As Diana mentioned in a blog post from earlier, Jamie and I share a birthday today! I can’t think of a better way to spend my Hallo-birthday than by throwing a party for Jamie and the rest of the Cle Elum Seven!

We have a lot of folks to thank for making today’s party a huge success. Robbi & Dick Brown and Tamela donated a lot of fun new toys and decorations, and volunteers Steph and Katelyn brought some new things with them today as well. We also want to thank Deborah G., Barbara B., Jessica K., Tamela, and Jeani G. for donating towards Jamie’s big celebration today! And of course we can’t forget all of Jamie’s Chimpanzee Pals: Cherie Breaux & Robert Bochnik; Kathy Carlson; Candy Crannell; GFWC Cascade Woman’s Club; Debbie Kray; Pam Lehnert & Marc Warner; KC McCarthy; Jackie Mulanax & Brad McNeice; Debra Redwine; Pam Reid; Kathleen Roan; Tony Silvia; Nicole Sturn; and Jackson Walkden-Brown.

Steph and Katelyn brought with them a giant pumpkin, with Jamie’s named carved in it (and the “J” was made into a boot!) The following photos are of the Great Pumpkin (as I’ve decided to call it).

 

Jamie with her pumpkin:

 

Jody was the first to dig in:

 

Negra joined in:

 

Missy asking Jody if she can share, Jody giving her a reassuring kiss:

 

Jody and Foxie (Missy in the background):

 

At one point Burrito was working on the pumpkin all by himself:

 

So much happened today that I’m pretty sure there will be more Hallo-birthday photos and videos posted tomorrow!

 

Burrito on the hill

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Like Foxie, Burrito hasn’t spent much time out on the hill since the first few days out. Although we don’t want to push anyone out there and want the chimps to go out in their own time and on their own terms, I found myself on a mission the last few days to encourage him out there… and what did the trick? Lettuce? no. Peanuts? nope. Dried Apples? nope, try again. It was chow (biscuits that are often given to captive primates to ensure proper nutrients. It’s a lot like dog food, but for whatever reason, the chimps really like it). Mr. B is pretty predictable sometimes.

Just because she can

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Jamie is someone to be admired for a few different reasons. She has, in many ways, overcome her terrible past, and she has established herself as the leader of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees. She is strong and knows what she wants. She seems to have a pretty good grasp of both chimpanzee and human behavior and uses this knowledge to her advantage whenever she can. And she doesn’t back down from a challenge, whether it comes from outside or it’s a personal challenge of her own inspiration.

Today, for example, Jamie had one of her favorite boots in the world, given to her practically off of his own feet by the Gallagher Fence representative. She carried the boot with her all day, even when she went out for her adventures on Young’s Hill. At one point, she spotted a piece of kale harvested from the garden (she’s been loving this kale!) that we had put on the treat rock. She got the piece of kale, but decided she wanted to climb the treat rock while holding the kale and her boot. A challenge!

She started on the south side of the rock

Jamie climbing treat rock

Jamie climbing treat rock 2

That proved difficult, so she scaled the rock from the front

Jamie climbing treat rock with boot in hand

She made it to the top and ate her kale

Then went right back down again

Jamie climb down treat rock