As this morning’s heavy fog burned off, the sanctuary positively glowed.
Foxie:
Annie
Jody:
Archives for October 2017
An awestruck Jody
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
–Anne of Green Gables
L.M. Montgomery
Negra goes outside, just because she can!
This morning I opened the door to Young’s Hill and 6 chimpanzees poured out onto the hill to investigate any changes that might have happened overnight in their 2 acre outdoor enclosure. Moments after opening the door, Negra surprised me by venturing out as well. I expected her to stop and maybe eat a little Autumn grass before going back inside, but instead she continued further out onto the hill and climbed a structure where she could overlook the valley below the sanctuary. Negra is mainly motivated by food and comfortable beds, and she seems to go outdoors primarily to forage, so I was pretty excited for her to feel secure enough to go out on the hill, just to get some sunshine and enjoy the view.
After taking a few photos, I left her to clean the playroom. Twenty minutes later, I peaked out the window and saw that she was still there, with the same dreamy look in her eyes! Elizabeth took a few more photos.
When Negra is outside, the other chimps get pretty excited about it too. Today, Missy and Jamie surrounded her for some grooming.
Breakfast! YUM!
Breakfast is a very exciting meal for the chimps. And why wouldn’t it be? What is more exciting than fruit, smoothie, vitamins, chow, and peanuts? Today the chimps had bananas, plums, and a banana & peanut butter smoothie. Below are a collection of photos from today’s beautiful crisp fall morning at CSNW!
Negra enjoying breakfast:
Foxie holding one of her new dolls:
Burrito eating some chow:
Annie eating her chow on Young’s Hill:
On Rainy Days
For most of the day it was pouring down rain at CSNW. To pass the time until the rain cleared the chimps tried to keep themselves busy with their favorite activities. Foxie played with her new dolls, Annie and Missy groomed, Negra and Jody napped, Jamie supervised volunteers and staff while they cleaned, and Burrito played with his scooter and a slinky. For lunch volunteers prepared green onions, roasted beets, and roasted potatoes. Nothing sounds better than warm food on a cold day. The rain finally cleared which meant it was time to put some boots on and walk. All in all we had a nice quiet rainy day at CSNW.
An exciting lunch:
Annie observing quietly in the cargo net:
Annie:
Jody:
Jody:
Jamie:
Jamie:
Negra:
Walking with Jamie and Burrito
The day after the success of Giving Day for Apes was a beautiful fall day at the sanctuary. I joke that the chimpanzees are truly Pacific Northwest chimps because they seem to love cool overcast days the most.
Whenever I go up to the chimp house, I expect that I will go on a walk with Jamie – it’s what she likes to do. On this day, Burrito was even more eager to walk than Jamie! In fact, as the video reveals, the three of us did three rounds around the hill, with some meandering in between for those two.
I know that Burrito had no idea we were promoting his story and people were donating in his honor, but it was fitting that he was in such a great, enthusiastic, full-of-life, mood.
Thank you again for everyone who donated and helped exceed our goal!
Enjoy your walk with Burrito and Jamie!
Busy work
We had this giant box of shipping/moving paper saved up with a fun enrichment project in mind. After Jamie and Burrito dismantled the box, Missy was more than happy to recycle the paper as lining in her giant nest!
