Posts by Anthony
Phoning It In
Coming up with ideas for blogs- and the time to write them- can be difficult. You may have noticed that we have been sharing simple, abbreviated blogs on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the past few weeks. As Chad and Anna have mentioned, we’ve been attending virtual lectures and discussions aimed at improving our behavioral management…
Read MoreDoll Wars: The Chimpire Strikes Back!
A long time ago in a sanctuary far away… The story begins with the great hero: Fox Hillwalker. As a fearless defender of the Sanctuary Republic, Fox had learned the ways of the Enrichment Force, mastering this ancient art in order to maintain good chimpanzee welfare across the galaxy. Her weapon of choice was the…
Read More(Banana for Scale)
Today’s blog is dedicated to our favorite fruit: bananas. Humans first domesticated these plants on the island archipelagos of Southeast Asia between 10,000 and 6,500 years ago. Ancient voyagers carried these remarkable berries with them around the globe, cementing their status as a staple crop for people living in tropical Africa, Asia, Oceania, and eventually…
Read MoreObserving… and Being Observed
Last week, an interesting creature visited the sanctuary. We caregivers paused to conduct some informal observations. The visitor was a bobcat. Also known as “red lynx,” bobcats (Lynx rufus) are medium-sized felines native to southern Canada, the entire continental USA, and northern Mexico. Unlike other species of lynx, bobcats are highly adaptable and can thrive…
Read MoreWill You (Honey) B My Valentine?
The chimps had an absolute banger of Valentine’s Day party. There’s a lot to be said about this strange holiday that I won’t say here (although I encourage you to read about the event’s namesake). To us caregivers, however, Valentine’s Day is yet another great excuse to give special treats to the chimpanzees. My morning…
Read MoreThe Super Bowl Squad
It may not be the most important or most anticipated, but Super Bowl Sunday is perhaps the most uniquely American holiday of them all. Unhealthy snacks? Shameless advertising? A temporary distraction from the craziness of the past year? Sign. Me. Up. Of course, such an event isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Given everything else that’s…
Read MorePhotographs of the Day
Saturday is the end of the week for some of the staff, while others return from their weekend on Sunday. I’m in the latter group. As the person responsible for the blog on Sundays (the beginning of my work week), I often gravitate towards whatever topics have been touched on in the previous day’s blog.…
Read MoreSecond Lunch
What’s better than lunch? SECOND LUNCH. On Friday, J.B.’s blog post featured a video of seven chimpanzees being served lunch in the Greenhouse. Today, we decided to record lunch on the other side of the building where Honey B, Mave and Willy B reside. As J.B. explained, the seven chimps in the original group have…
Read MoreThe Wolf of Walnuts
Chimpanzees are experts at playing whatever hand nature deals for them. In this weekend’s case, most of the chimps took advantage of the unusual warm weather by choosing to recreate outdoors. (If you’re wondering, Cle Elum’s average high temperature is 35F for January.) For the seven chimpanzees living on one side of the building, that…
Read MoreChimpanzees
This afternoon, I reached back to draw some interesting words from my quiver and found out it was empty. Instead, I am giving you all that I’ve got: photographs of chimpanzees. Quirky, unique, fascinating, charismatic, weird, goofy, expressive, resilient, inspiring, celebrated, beloved and deserving chimpanzees.
Read MoreTracks
The chimps did some phenomenally interesting things today. Unfortunately, these moments rarely overlapped with the times when I had the camera nearby. As lunch passed and the afternoon rolled on, I needed to get some content for the blog but was still uninspired. At moments like that, I usually decide to grab the camera and…
Read MoreHoliday Games
This period between Christmas and New Year’s Day is always a bit odd. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, the days between the solstice and end of the year must still have a unique feeling. For one thing, unless you work in the health or service industries, you’re probably spending most or all of this…
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