Happy October!
October 1, 2016 by Katelyn -
The chimps’ home is changing quickly with the arrival of October. Stormier skies brought an occasional smattering of rain off and on today and the suddenly colder nights are bringing out the autumn colors around the sanctuary:
All the chimps (except Negra who has now deemed it too cold) took multiple walks around the hill today, enjoying the off and on sun and cooler temps. Here’s Annie taking in the stormy view:
The Yakima River which runs below the sanctuary:
We were just saying today how much we love the produce available in the autumn and I think it’s safe to say the chimps (and some of their animal neighbors) would agree. The chimps have been enjoying a full fall bounty today with roasted butternut squash, roasted pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, leeks, pears (fresh from the property orchard) and peaches. Negra pretty much loses her mind over pumpkin and we think Annie was food squeaking more than we’ve ever heard! I love that the chimps have so much to look forward to with each season.
The pears and apples in the property orchard are heavy with more fruit than seven chimpanzees could possibly eat – though I’m sure they’d give it their best! But the local deer, squirrels, birds, coyotes and of course, Ellie, the wild-ish elk are taking advantage of stocking up for the coming winter on what’s left over:
A hawk drifting on the wind currents above the orchard:
Elderberries:
It sometimes seems that Jamie isn’t one to forage for wild greens and plants as much as her friends (though she loves meal forages). Whether it’s just not her preference, or perhaps because she was raised in a human home the first nine years of her life and isn’t as interested in foraging for wild stuff, who knows? But one thing she absolutely loves, are wild cattails. We have an abundance surrounding the pond on the property and often put them out for forages on Young’s Hill:
Somehow Jamie always seems to find one that has been out there for a few days and got missed so she’s been enjoying the last of the riches:
I had to laugh at this one of Jamie and her “cattail broom.” After all, ’tis the season for Jamieween! (We celebrate Jamie’s birthday on Halloween and it’s probably the biggest party of the year!).
We have some old structures on the property and a favorite is this former bunkhouse, particularly this time of year. The chimps have a view of it from their greenhouse:
Happy October everyone! I am mad crazy for October and Halloween and personally, I think it should be October for at least nine months of the year. 🙂
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Another Katelyn masterpiece. The pictures are just great….the text…well what can I say??? I love October too.
Thanks, Cindy! Far from “masterpiece” on my part, more on the chimps and Mother Nature. 🙂
I agree with Cindy, a lovely post. How lucky the chimps are to be surrounded by such beauty. Those photos of Jamie with the cat tails are wonderful!
I am very curious about cat tails, do the chimps eat the entire thing or do they just chew (wadge) the stalk?
Kathleen, I watch the chimps (particularly Jamie) eat cattails and it seems the good bits are at the bottom, toward the root, a bit like a leek (another absolute favorite of Jamie’s). You can see her doing this in the photos. They seem to peel back the outer layers to eat up the good parts and then eat/wadge the greens and stalk. They are really drying up at this point so Jamie just peeled back much of it, but when they are still green I’m actually surprised by how much of them they consume.
Thanks Katelyn, very interesting. Now I have to go out and cut off a cat tail and check it out!
Like ‘A Day in the Life’, a wonderful treat. I always love seeing the chimps but it was really nice to see more of what the sanctuary is like. It reminds me how my mother always had me send pictures of wherever I was living at the time. Only then , she’d say, could see envision how I passed my days and the pain of missing me was a bit less. I’ve never met the 7 but I surely love knowing a bit about how they spend theirs.
Francoise, that is such a touching and beautiful thought and memory of your mother, thank you for sharing it. The chimps (and humans) are so fortunate to have so much beauty surrounding this special home and it seems to change every day.
Have the chimps ever had elder berries ? And if so did they like them ?
Hi Kathy,
To my knowledge, they have not. Elderberries can be tricky; the parts of the bush are poisonous, while berries need to be cooked or very ripe to be safely consumed.