It’s amazing how much someone’s world can grow in a few years.
Archives for May 2017
For Jody and all the mamas
The weekend of celebrations continues in the chimp house today as we celebrate not only Mother’s Day, but beloved Jody, on her 42nd honorary birthday!
I was in my gracious neighbor’s magical backyard bright and early this morning, heisting two armfuls of lilacs. Many of the chimps enjoy smelling and eating them and even now, late in the day, the scent of fresh lilac occasionally is wafts through their home.
We started the celebration off with a beautiful breakfast forage of raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, watermelon, and baby bananas on a bed of lettuce, strawberry and banana smoothie, and more sparkling cider.
The greenhouse was bright and sunny as we set up the party. Pineapple tops are a favorite of the birthday girl so we hoped Jody would find this pokey treat:
And she did:
Nothing says party like shoving an entire pokey pineapple top in your mouth:
Dora had a gift for someone:
Foxie gazing at Dora while enjoying her fresh lilacs and melting my heart into a big ol’ puddle:
Annie enjoying a party plate:
For Jamie, parties are even (or maybe I should say especially) serious business. She was methodically looking for her favorites and keeping a watchful eye on the three pinatas hanging from the ceiling until she could get to them. Jamie loves a challenge so this was her kind of party:
The lilacs are quite popular with a few of the girls and Annie was doing her best to collect some on the sly while avoiding the eyes of the more dominant Missy and Jamie and she collected quite a few:
Gorgeous Missy enjoying a treat box:
Burrito was a wild man all morning long. Riling up the girls, rattling the caging, displaying throughout the chimp house. Pretty much normal stuff, but with an extra dash of wild today. But he did find time to settle down and enjoy the company of his friends on their special day and even went to Annie’s defense to reassure her when she got yelled at for picking the “wrong” lilac:
Burrito and Foxie:
And then there’s Negra, who ended the celebration by collecting all the lilacs she could and winding up with a beautiful bouquet:
Mother’s Day is a special day at the sanctuary. If you’re new to the blog and just learning about the chimps, we only know that Jody was most likely born in the wild sometime in 1975. We chose this day to celebrate Jody in honor of the nine infants she gave birth to, but who were stolen from her during her time in biomedical research. With the exception of Jamie and Burrito, all of the chimps residing here had children and were denied the right to raise them. So today, with full hearts, we honor each of the chimps, their loss of their own mothers, and their children who lost the opportunity to grow up with their amazing mothers. You can learn more about each of their stories here.
Mother’s Day can feel like a bittersweet celebration here at times. But what I am finding is that with each passing year, as we’re astounded and privileged to witness the strength, healing and resiliency of these amazing beings, the pain of knowing the horror they endured for so long starts to fade into the shadows, eclipsed by the incredible light of each of these special souls. While we will always honor all they’ve been through, it’s really become about celebrating all they’ve overcome as unique individuals, the hope and joy they embrace each day with, and the family you’ve made possible for them to have. I hope with all my heart that they feel the same.
Happy Birthday, beautiful Jody!! We love you so very much!! And Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there! And I really think that’s all of us in some shape or form. 🙂
Hoot!
It’s finally here! Our biggest fundraiser of the year, our annual Hoot! Gala and Spring Fling celebration! And while the humans are on their way to one of the most unique and exciting parties in the city, they aren’t the only people partying. The chimps are having their own celebration with a dinner of field roast and roasted sweet potato on a bed of lettuce and cabbage, sparkling cider, and a huge forage with sweet onions, corn on the cob, and fresh coconuts:
On this one day of the year, we have to get the chimps settled in earlier than usual so that staff working in the chimp house have time to get spiffed up and head to the gala. Routine and the comfort and security of knowing what to expect are important to the chimps and we don’t want to veer from that more than necessary or have them getting bored with a little more time on their hands, so a sure fire way to keep everyone active, happy and engaged is to set out an exciting forage cut into teeny, tiny pieces.
Annie sitting in a field of forage:
Burrito was beside himself, as usual when there’s food involved (that’s Jody behind him):
Jamie likes to drag a table around with her during forages for easier collection:
She decided to eat the field roast first and save the rest for later:
While Jamie was occupied elsewhere, Burrito bravely decided to steal her leftover dinner “boats.” I braced myself for Jamie to scream at the top of her lungs (her tactic when someone is touching – or even thinking about touching – something she doesn’t want them to), but she must have decided she found something else worth her attention and Burrito scooped them up without issue and food squeaked to celebrate:
Annie mid food grunt (you can just make out Negra’s ear as she sits in the sunny window below Annie enjoying her dinner with a view):
Jody, ever the adventurous foodie, was collecting corn cobs:
Foxie and Missy were ladies of the loft for this one and out of sight of the camera.
Anna, myself and volunteer, Helen, put the chimps’ dinner out a couple hours ago and Jamie is still foraging!
The chimps are completely silent as I write this so I just went to check on everyone. And who did I find, but this guy, fighting off a food coma in the last sun puddle of the day:
Somehow he mustered enough energy to still be an adorable goof:
But it was so hard:
There are some crazy amazing items of this guy (and more!) up for auction tonight. To all of you who have helped sponsor this amazing celebration, volunteers who have helped plan this party of all parties, to all those working to make it special for our guests, those who are attending the gala and making it so much fun, those who will be raising your paddles high or who have been pre-bidding online, and those of you cheering us on from home, there aren’t enough words of thanks to each of you for making everything that you do, possible. You make this sanctuary for these seven amazing chimpanzees a home. A home filled with love, comfort, joy, adventure and healing. And we hope a home for others, who are awaiting their day in their own sun puddles.
Hoots of love and gratitude from all of us to all of you! Have a fantastic evening and check in tomorrow for our celebration of Jody’s birthday and Mother’s Day! Yep, that’s how we roll in the chimp house…party, after party. Hopefully, Burrito is revived by then…
New heights
Negra wasn’t the only one trying something new yesterday.
As I stood near the top of Young’s Hill, I saw Burrito walking towards me with a sense of purpose. When he reached the top, he turned and went straight for the Twister climbing structure. Without hesitation, he climbed straight up. As far as we can remember, this was the first time he had made it to the very top.
The chimps have been spending a lot of time outdoors lately. Our wet, snowy winter is finally repaying us in the form of impossibly green grass.
Along with the green grass there’s been a bounty of dandelions, and that means that the chimps can step outside and have a snack whenever they want. If the chimps only knew how hard people try to rid their lawns of dandelions…
Trying Something New
Almost six years after Young’s Hill opened, there are still parts of the two-acre outdoor habitat that Negra hasn’t explored. She seems to feel safer and more comfortable with a roof over her head. When she does go outside, she tends to stick close to the building in case she gets spooked and needs to run back inside quickly.
You can imagine our surprise and joy this afternoon as we watched Negra venture clear up to the top of Young’s Hill and plant herself calmly on a mound of wild greens. She had never been on this part of the hill before but she didn’t seem to be worried about that. The whole sanctuary held its breath as we stopped and watched in awe. She looked so small up there.
After awhile she crossed a log bridge and continued her exploration.
She stopped in to sample the grass growing under Twister.
You can just see Negra under the structure on the left, with Foxie on the right.
Eventually it was time to make her way back down the hill, but she was in no hurry.
Waking up
HOOT! Sponsors: Merritt and John Atwood
This is the seventh in our series of blog posts celebrating sponsors of the HOOT! 2017 Spring Fling gala.
Past posts celebrated Poppoff, Inc., Martha Faulkner Real Estate, Darwin’s Natural Pet Products, Jennifer and David Roers, Tracy Headley, and Pam Lehnert & Marc Warner.
Today is in honor of HOOT! sponsors Merritt and John Atwood.
Merritt shared how she learned about the sanctuary and why she supports the chimps.
“I first heard of CSNW in 2010 when I saw an article in the Seattle Times (I think). Always an animal lover, I wanted to help. What a great mission: to care for chimpanzees who had been caged up for years and used for biomedical research.”
And she has been a loyal donor ever since!
Merritt spends much of her time helping animals. She was a long time volunteer at the Humane Society in Bellevue, WA. Then, after moving to Whidbey Island, she became a supporter of Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation (WAIF). She is now in the 9th year on their board and is as committed as ever to bettering the lives of animals.
Merritt hasn’t visited Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in person, but she follows along on social media, as I know most of you out there do too.
When presented with one of the most challenging questions there is: Who is your favorite chimpanzee?, her response was: “It’s really hard to say which chimpanzee is my favorite. Maybe Burrito for holding his own with all the ladies, and looking as though he is enjoying himself immensely!”
Based on the video posted yesterday of Burrito playing with Foxie, I would say the assessment of his enjoyment is pretty accurate.
In true animal-lover form, rather than sending me a photo of herself and John, Merritt shared photos of her beloved companion animals.
This is sweet Nelson, who came from WAIF and passed away last year:
And this is Henrietta, who the Atwoods brought to their home in 2009 from Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue. She is about 12 years old now:
I have absolutely loved doing these HOOT! sponsor posts. It’s uplifting to me to share information about caring people and to be able to thank them for their generosity in this way, and I’ve learned new things about each of them in the process.
Big thanks to Merritt and John for your support of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees and for all that you have done for animals in your local communities – you have made a tangible difference in so many ways.
The 2017 HOOT! Spring Fling is just a few days away! There’s still time to support the event with your donation, and there are just a few seats left if you’ve been procrastinating buying tickets. Anyone can also preview auction items and put in absentee bids on three items right here.