Here’s Luckin’ At You, Kid.
July 12, 2021 by Anthony -
The “Lucky Six” chimpanzees just arrived a few weeks ago, but they already feel like part of the sanctuary’s family.
Within this charismatic group, Lucky stands out for being vigilant, independent, and strong-willed. Although she is a female chimpanzee, Lucky shares many physical traits with her brother, Cy: a dark face, intense stare, and bulky frame.
So far, she has generally maintained a serious demeanor with the humans and often observes us from afar. Even so, she occasionally “breaks character” to playfully present her belly, inquisitively examine our footwear, and demand cool drinks from the cleaning hose.
Given that Lucky likes to monitor her surroundings, it’s not surprising that she has taken to the upper levels of the multi-tiered greenhouse enclosures. Diana wrote Saturday’s blog post about these innovative spaces and how they give the chimps many opportunities to be comfortable and entertained. The blog entry also included the following photo of Lucky peeking through the upper caging.
It’s a familiar look for Lucky. From that secure and elevated vantage, she can look down on the human staff as we go about our chores, waiting for the right time to swoop down and let loose. In just a couple of weeks, I’ve already taken several photographs of her staring down at me from the platforms above.
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Maybe another ’boss lady’ for this group?
I was about to say…that, and the examination of the human’s footwear. I wonder if she will be expecting that her human employees appear shod in a specific form of footwear?
It’s possible that she’ll emerge as the “boss” of this chimp group, but my intuition as a caregiver and behaviorist points to her being her own boss, leaving the leadership up to Cy. We’ll see, though!
She certainly does like footwear, as do several of the Waystation chimps. It helps them to fit in around here since Jamie has already conditioned us to show off our kicks. So far, though, I haven’t been able to identify her favorites!
Lucky is beautiful. She appears to be as curious about you as you are of her. When Lucky gifts you with her belly, is she looking for a knuckle rub or is she not yet interested in getting that personal?
We’ve seen a lot of the charismatic Cy, thanks for helping us get a feel for his lovely sister.
Thank you Anthony for the insights into Lucky’s self. You are all doing such an amazing thing giving each of them the security to reveal who they are thru and thru. I eagerly look forward to every blog. Thanks to all.
She seems to enjoy pressing her belly and side against the caging so that we can rub them with our knuckles. It seems to give her comfort! And yes, this group has been heavily represented by the boys so far but Dora, Lucky and Rayne are all emerging as interesting personalities too!
Great photos of Lucky and info about her evolving presence. I can just hear her saying to you as you clean — “Hey! You missed a spot over there!” It’s so much fun getting to know them through the eyes of the staff as they interact with you and each other.
Haha, yes. She’s the type to give constructive criticism. 🙂
I was just thinking Lucky sounds a lot like The Boss Jamie!
Haha, they have some similar preferences and it’s possible that we’ll identify more. Still, they’re both unique individuals and we’re excited about that. I don’t know if we could handle multiple Jamie’s! 😉
Gee Lucky sure is pretty! I look forward to meeting them all and getting to know them too, and thank you for taking such great care of them all!
C
She’s pretty like Annie pretty
“Annie pretty” is a special kind of pretty.
It sure is.
I am worried about all the fires ? out there. Do you have evacuation plans? My son lives in Leavenworth, and he tells me about fires in East Wenatchee, Mazama, Cle Elum, etc.
Oh, no! I hadn’t heard of them!
I think they do have plans. Let’s see what they say
Yes they do have a whole evacuation and response plan. It was put together a year or two (?) ago when there were some fires. If you search the blog history you will probably find the posts about this. I believe Diana and J.B. posted the info.
I see Wenatchee on the map, nothing showing for CE
Nice, Linda! Here’s the map I regularly look at for PNW fires: https://gacc.nifc.gov/nwcc/information/firemap.aspx
It’s not updated quickly so we also follow our local departments on social media for early notifications. Still, there’s a lot of information on here.
Good question, Jean! We have a robust fire prevention strategy and response plan.
The area is prone to fires, and drier, hotter summers are resulting in longer and more intense wildfire seasons. To mitigate this risk, we minimize the flammable material around the property and stay aware.
For example, we allow cattle and horses to graze the surrounding pastures, don’t let any trees or large shrubs grow near the Chimp House, and avoid doing outdoor projects in hazardous conditions. The main building is surrounded by a sprinkler system linked to a nearby pond (https://staging.chimpsnw.org/2014/05/the-wildfire-sprinkler-system/), and all the large structures are built with fire-retardant materials. It is unlikely that we would ever need to evacuate the chimps given the preparedness of the facility, but we do have a trailer ready in case we need to round up the cattle and drive them elsewhere.
Currently, there are several fires burning near Wenatchee and Yakima but nothing close to Cle Elum. There have already been a few small brush fires in the county this summer, but local departments handled them swiftly.
Thanks for the update, Anthony!
Hey Anthony. I was in Southern California near the horrible Laguna Beach fires in the early 90s. All along the mountain ridge, every house burned except one. That house was surrounded by succulents! Just a thought…
She really does seem to be the lookout for the group and you certainly captured it well!?
Thanks, Nancy!
Hi Anthony! Thank you so much for this insight. It’s so fun to get to know them. And we can only know them through you all. So Thank You again. You are sooooo appreciated!
You’re so Lucky to be with them in person. Gosh I’d be beyond thrilled to hangout with them.
So, Lucky presented her belly huh? I’ve been wondering… are they trained for health checks?
Good question, Paulette!
As far as we can tell, this group has not recently participated in medical training. We’ll be introducing them into our PRT program very soon.
I am so excited to see how the Cali 3 and Lucky 6 will meet and hopefully form 1 big family.
And as I looked at Lucky, I thought : Honey B and Lucky BFF’s? ( like Missy and Annie!)
Terry and Mave twins, Willy B and Gordo tough-guy-pals, Dora and Willy B going steady, Rayne and Mave good friends, and Cy the leader of the gang.
Oh I can still dream about it since it hasn’t happened yet…
There are so many possibilities! We can speculate, but it’s impossible to know how things will shake out. Hopefully we can make something work so the groups can cohabitate and the individuals can have even more friendships!
I hope it comes together, too. I’m almost afraid to speak of it, as I don’t want to jinx it!
But Missy-Annie/Annie-Missy is something special, I think, developed through years. I wish everyone such a loyal friend.