Our preference is always that the chimpanzees turn to each other when they’re looking for company, but we’re always here for them in case they want some human time.
Archives for November 2014
Professional Photographers in the Making
Back in August, I posted some photos taken by winners of the photography experience at the sanctuary that was a popular item at our HOOT! gala. So popular, that we gave it away twice to the top two bidders. A few weeks ago, the second pair of bidders came to have their experience.
I’m very happy to say that a couple of their photos will be featured in our 2015 calendar! The calendar is done, I’m just (anxiously) awaiting a proof so I can list it for sale in our Zazzle store. If all is well with the proof, you’ll be able to buy the calendar starting Tuesday.
Big big thanks to Dean Rutz and Karen Ducey, the professional photographers who gave their time and lent equipment for this incredible experience!
It was very difficult to choose among the amazing photos, but below are a few of my personal favorites.
Jamie taken by Liz:
What a shot! Jamie seemingly flying, taken by Connie
Jody with a bountiful breakfast, taken by Connie:
This one of Connie’s I also really like because we don’t have many photos of Foxie and Negra together:
And here’s another one by Liz of Negra with “Negra light“:
Thanks Connie and Liz for bidding on the Photography experience and to Karen and Dean for making it happen and giving such great instruction to these professional photographers in the making!
This might be a good time to mention that we are in need of a hard drive for our chimp house computer. Our automatic back-ups stopped working, which means all of the photos taken in the last couple of weeks haven’t been backed up yet. I added a hard drive to our wishlist if there’s someone out there who would like to help us out! It’s on sale right now through Amazon Prime. Thanks for taking a look!
Happy Birthday, Larissa!
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Larissa Madrigal! Today also happens to be Larissa’s birthday and she shared that there was no better gift than “helping our genetic superiors!”
What an incredibly generous thing to do on your own special day, Larissa. Thank you so much for caring about the chimpanzees and making their lives better! From all of the primates here at CSNW, we hope you have a fabulous birthday!!
Progress
We’ve started to put the finishing touches on the veterinary clinic. This project, like many others here at the sanctuary, was kicked off with generous gifts from Karen and Don Young. It was completed with support from the National Anti-Vivisection Society and Marsha Perelman, and with gifts made at our annual gala from donors too numerous to name but equally as important.
Earlier this summer, our friends at Poppoff, Inc. donated their services to install sidewalks around the facility. This also allowed us to widen our entry gate and mount it on a wheel so that it would be easier to get the clinic trailer and other vehicles in and out of the security fence.
Just recently, we built a pole barn shelter for the trailer to protect it from the elements. None of us are excited about the fact that winter is approaching, but at least we will be prepared!
Speaking of preparedness…just look at the lengths that our volunteers will go to help us make sure we are prepared for any emergency. After we finished the sidewalks, volunteer Becca played the role of a chimpanzee as CSNW veterinarian and board member, Donna, and I did some drills with our newest stretcher donated by our local fire department. I promise that no volunteers were harmed in these drills, though we appreciate the courage it took for Becca to be our test subject.
Finishing up the clinic has made me think a lot about where we are as a sanctuary. To be honest, there are times when progress at the sanctuary can feel painfully slow, if only because our hearts and imaginations are always one step ahead of our wallets. But then I remember that it was only six years ago that a small community of people with very limited resources was able to free seven chimps from the laboratory basement where they had been housed for decades. And in the time since, as that caring community has grown, we have transformed the chimps’ home, filling it with light from chimp-proof windows and warmth from greenhouse panels, and giving those seven chimps their first experience of grass underfoot and sky overhead on Young’s Hill.
We’ve been experiencing a lot of that grass and sky lately. Hikes around Young’s Hill have only grown more numerous and more frequent over the years – always spurred on by Jamie, but lately joined by Missy, Burrito, Jody, and Foxie. It’s quite a climb to the top, especially when it’s the tenth walk of the day.
But the effort is always worth it, because the view from the top is incredible.
I’m convinced that chimpanzees experience awe. I have no doubt that when Missy looks out across the valley, with the river flowing by and the fall leaves changing color, that she is struck by the beauty and magnitude of it all. And watching her reminds me to step back and appreciate all that our small community has accomplished in such a short time. From a windowless basement to the top of the world in only a few years. And now an onsite veterinary clinic to boot.
Just think of where we can go from here.
The Power to Captivate
I’ve been working closely with chimpanzees for over a decade now, and sometimes I forget how unusual my job is. Just like anything you do day in and day out, being a chimpanzee caregiver starts to feel routine after awhile. Not boring – never boring! – but routine. It’s such a strange and amazing little world we caregivers live in, but because we live in it, it seems downright normal. We find ourselves in some truly surreal situations here at the sanctuary – stuffing a troll doll’s head with peanut butter for an enrichment project or wearing a single ill-fitting cowboy boot and taking a perimeter walk around Young’s Hill with the alpha chimpanzee – but even these things stop seeming weird the longer you do them.
But I’ve learned that no matter how many days, months, or years I spend caring for chimps, they never lose their power to captivate. Sometimes it’s seeing them do something amazing or funny or endearing that takes me back a decade or so to when I was first falling in love with chimps. And sometimes it’s just having a moment to study their incredible faces. I find myself mesmerized by each hair, wrinkle, freckle, and scar.
Annie:
Jody:
Burrito:
Foxie:
Foxie’s morning face(s)
Early morning in the chimp house is one of my favorite times of the day. Generally speaking, the chimpanzees almost always wake up in a good mood, happy to see the humans, and engaging in a lot of crazy, happy play with one another, even when they are still half asleep. I always find this to be a beautiful example of what life in sanctuary can provide the chimpanzees. The peace and contentment to roll out of their nests each day in joy. This is usually followed by some pretty loud and boisterous displays at which point the humans retreat into the kitchen to begin breakfast preparation (and avoid incurring the potential wrath of the boss, Jamie). But those moments beforehand can offer some fun and special moments with each of the chimps.
Despite not yet being fully awake, Foxie was in a particularly goofy mood this morning and chose to be late for breakfast in order to allow me to take some photos of her.
Just awake enough to have a saucy glint in her eye:
But whatever she is planning is interrupted by a long yawn:
Yawning over, Foxie swings over to say good morning, try to lick the camera, and offer a kiss and a toe tickle:
Today is in memory of Grandma Ann
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by the chimpanzees’ (and the humans’!) good friend, Tracy Headley, in memory of her grandmother, Ann. Today is Ann’s birthday and Tracy shared the following message:
“Grandma Ann was a wonderful person and helped me to be the person I am today.”
Tracy, thank you so much for thinking of the chimpanzees in honoring your grandmother’s memory and the influence she had on you. You are a gift to those who meet you and Ann must have indeed been a wonderful person.
Foxie and Negra: