Today Jackie and I set up a giant spiderweb in the playroom with some ribbon and crepe paper. Foxie was pretty entertained! She spent at least 45 minutes pulling and slapping the web.
Posts Tagged ‘Jamie’
Spiderweb Day
Monday, February 13th, 2012Napping
Saturday, February 11th, 2012Negra is the queen of many things, including getting cozy. Here she is snuggled up on one of the benches high up in a front room.
She actually got around quite a bit today – mostly moving from one napping place to another. In this photo Negra is in front of a window on the catwalk of the playroom – one of her favorite spots. I got up on a ladder to take the photo:
Jamie used the afternoon to siesta in the greenhouse. I climbed a ladder to get the photo below too. In their natural habitats, chimpanzees almost always sleep in the trees high off the ground. Most chimpanzees in captivity also prefer to be up high when they sleep.
I love the bits of lighter skin on Jamie’s eyelids in this photo:
Boot love
Sunday, February 5th, 2012Jamie has an intense love for boots, especially new ones. She’s been carrying around the boots Candy sent since the minute she got them (a week ago today). I think she enjoys having lots of boots, but to her, there is nothing quite like a new pair of boots. Her other boots, even her favorites, get pushed aside when a new pair comes along. I guess that’s probably true for me too.
In the following photo, Jamie’s actually just yawning, but I love how it looks like she’s wearing a huge playface!
Kickin’ and Clickin’ Country-Western Dance
Monday, January 30th, 2012Yesterday, Jackie and I put out a party with “Texas in a box” sent from Candy C. She also sent a DVD with line dancing for us to show the chimps. We thought Negra would like to see the dancing, so Jackie went to set up the TV so they could watch from the front rooms. We had come technical difficulties so instead decided to just do a video search on my iPad and show the videos to the chimps that way! Negra, Jamie, Foxie, and Burrito all showed interest. Jamie especially liked the boots the dancers were wearing. Thanks again Candy for sending us fun enrichment!
The Many Nests of Jamie Chimpanzee
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012I was watching Jamie gather blankets and enrichment to make a nest in the playroom this morning and thinking about some of the unique and impressive nests she makes. She has some nesting habits that distinguish her from the other chimpanzees.
She often forms a circle with her blankets and leaves bare floor underneath:
When she’s making a nest near some caging, she likes to weave blankets or sheets in and out of the fencing:
But her favorite spot to nest seems to be at the base of the stairs in the playroom (maybe because it’s a good vantage point for keeping an eye on all of her chimpanzee and human friends). The nests she makes there always include an interesting combination of blankets, sheets, paper, toys, and any other suitable material she can find. She’ll generally walk around gathering her materials, arrange everything in a pleasing fashion, then settle down in the nest and inspect all the enrichment she’s collected.
Meet the humans
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012Around here we all rightfully view the chimpanzees as the stars of the show. But behind the scenes there are some amazing and wonderful humans who make every day go smoothly and safely. I’m so proud of our team and all they do for the chimps. You can see by the human faces in these pictures that we love our jobs! But you can also see how we safely interact with the chimpanzees without putting them (or ourselves) at risk. The chimpanzees can reach out and groom our elbows or wrists (as you’ll see with Seana all the way at the end) and they can put their bodies up against the fencing so we can tickle or groom them, but we never cross the barrier of the fence. Their space is their space, period.
Elizabeth and Foxie:
Jackie and Jody:
Diana and Foxie:
JB and Missy:
Me (Sarah) with Burrito:
Ooops… we apparently need more pictures of our newest staff member, Debbie:
And here are just a few of our dedicated volunteer caregivers!
Deb W and Burrito:
Steph P and Jamie:
Seana B and Jamie:
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Slurp, slurp, slurp
Monday, January 23rd, 2012Yesterday Jackie and I set up a great enrichment project for the chimps. We filled buckets with some snow and added a little juice for flavor, and then we put the buckets outside the caging and gave the chimps straws to use as tools. Everyone had their own way of trying to get the most out of the buckets. Eventually all the snow completely melted and the buckets were dry, but we certainly found a way for this project to last longer than just juice in buckets.
A 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.
Jamie as chimpanzee
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012Jamie has always been the most human-like of the Cle Elum Seven. She often does human-like things (files her nails, ties shoelaces, sews); she’s always very interested in any cleaning, maintenance, or construction the humans around her might be doing; and sometimes she even seems to prefer the company of her human caregivers to that of the other chimpanzees. None of this is unusual for a chimpanzee who has grown up in a captive situation.
But on Young’s Hill, Jamie is all chimpanzee. Something about the wide open spaces or the natural surroundings seems to bring out a different side of her.
Chasing deer:
Hunting squirrels:
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Fishing for treats on the treat rock:
Leading her friends on a walk:
Blanket fort fun
Monday, January 16th, 2012This morning we put a bunch of barrels together and made a blanket fort, with all the toys inside of the fort. Not surprisingly, Jamie was interested in checking things out.
