Posts by J.B.
Breakfast in the Greenhouse
At CSNW, the day begins with breakfast in the greenhouse. This morning, graduate student Lisa observed Diana serving as part of her caregiver training. Meals are often served directly, as Diana demonstrates in this video. They can also be spread out as a forage, placed in food puzzles, or done in some combination of…
Read MoreForced fun
Sometimes your friend just doesn’t want to play with you. So you have to make them.
Read MoreA kiss
This afternoon, Jody went outside to pick some raspberry bushes. On her way back, she passed by Missy and the two stopped for a kiss. It’s not uncommon for chimpanzees to kiss like this. Sometimes these kisses resemble our own, with one chimpanzee’s lips pressed against the cheek, lips, or hand of another chimpanzee. Other…
Read MoreA Welcome Change
The sanctuary is located on the site of an old homestead. While the original house is long gone, many of the barns and outbuildings remain, as does the orchard. These trees produce Rainier, Bing, and pie cherries, as well as apples, Italian plums, and enough pears to feed a hundred chimpanzees. At one time there…
Read MoreA snake in the garden
The intensity of a snake alarm call is usually proportional to the snake’s size and proximity to the chimps. Basic alarm calls mean a snake has been spotted. Screams mean it is an imminent threat. But you have to recalibrate your understanding of snake calls when Annie is involved because to her, every snake is…
Read MoreAgeless Annie
This beautiful chimpanzee is turning 44 on Monday. It’s hard to believe because she never seems to age. Some of Annie’s youthful look could be attributed to the fact she occasionally spikes her hair, as seen in these photos from this afternoon (this is actually due to the unique way that she washes her face…
Read MoreSoaking up the sun
Jody was so eager to go out on to the hill this morning that she took off before finishing her breakfast. I am always hesitant to read too much into the chimps’ behavior, but I really do believe that Jody has a renewed appreciation for Young’s Hill this week after having been restricted to the…
Read MoreJody on the mend
Jody is recovering right now on a big, comfortable pile of blankets after undergoing a procedure to repair an injury to her eye. Yesterday, during lunch, the chimps got into a fight. There’s nothing unusual about that, as you probably know by now. And it’s not unusual for a chimp to get bitten or scratched…
Read MoreUnder Construction
We were so excited to have our friends from Poppoff, Inc. here this morning pouring the floors to our new addition! Here’s a video of the chimps, uh, helping out and otherwise keeping an eye on their progress 🙂 A million thanks to our friends, Kery and Terran, for donating the drone we used to…
Read MoreStill healing
Negra has always worn her trauma on her sleeve. The first time we met her, she wouldn’t even show us her face. She hid behind a solid metal panel at the end of a bank of four cages in the windowless laboratory basement that had been her home for years. The only part of her…
Read MoreThe Sound of Celery
Volunteers always tell us that watching the chimps enjoy their meals makes them want to eat healthier. Would you try the Chimp Diet? For the Cle Elum Seven, that means mostly whole fruits and vegetables, unprocessed nuts and seeds, and fresh edible weeds like prickly lettuce and dandelions. Oh, and if you’re Negra, the occasional…
Read MorePlayful grooming
Missy and Annie were having a quiet grooming session this morning but they just could help themselves and before long Annie was playfully biting Missy’s toes.
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