Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Jamie, Foxie, and Missy have been super playful all morning. The three of them played on top of the climbing structure in the outdoor area for at least an hour and have been chasing each other around the playroom and laughing hysterically the whole time. But everyone knows that in between play bouts, one must nap.
Foxie:
Jamie:
Missy:
Jamie and Foxie love to play. Today I caught them in an intense game of tug-o-war with a troll in their mouths.
Foxie usually carries around the more common hard plastic trolls, but the last couple days she’s been especially interested in this soft troll doll.
Support Foxie and her love of trolls by coming to our Troll Olympics!
We have some pretty creative folks around here at the sanctuary, but volunteers Stephanie and Katelyn are definitely two of the most creative people I know. Yesterday, the two westsiders (what we Washingtonians call folks from Seattle, or west of the mountains) stayed all day and spent part of the afternoon making watermelon bowls. They cut out the center of the watermelon and filled it with all types of fruits and veggies. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Burrito, who literally could not stop food squeaking the whole time, slept good last night.
And from the photos, I think it’s also safe to say that Annie was pretty pleased with the watermelon bowls, too:
Last night the chimps got the outdoor area back after being locked out for a couple of days while the raceway was under construction. Foxie was the most curious about the new door and door frame.
The raceway was actually constructed off-site using the caging that we removed when we replaced the caged windows with chimpanzee-proof glass. The welders had to make a hole in the current outdoor area and weld the raceway to it.
Of all the Cle Elum Seven, Jody and Negra are probably the least playful. Both are more solitary as compared to the others, and seem to prefer to spend much of their time either grooming or nesting. Negra has become more and more playful lately, but her typical play partners are either her caregivers, or Missy or Foxie, who are both super playful, so, you can imagine my surprise (and delight) when I looked outside and saw the following scene.
The welders (and JB) have been hard at work yesterday and today putting in the raceway and gate to Young’s Hill. It feels just a little more real now that all the steel is coming together! The red steel in the first picture below is the tunnel that will connect the current outdoor area (greenhouse) to Young’s Hill. The second picture is the vehicle access gate. We’re so excited!
