Jamie is intense, capable, determined, moody, stubborn, and on occasion sweet and silly.
This one is more of an outtake:
Archives for August 2018
Happy Birthday Weekend, Arlene!
The chimpanzees have the best friends! Michael has sponsored the entire weekend for the chimpanzees in celebration of his beloved wife, Arlene, for her birthday! He shared this beautifully touching message for her:
“To my best friend and my soul mate I love you dearly! Have a great birthday weekend!
All my love forever, Michael.”
Michael and Arlene have wrapped their hearts around the chimpanzees and over the years have included them in their lives, celebrations and honoring of loved ones. We’re so grateful for all the love and compassion that surrounds these seven special beings and we’re thrilled to be part of a weekend of celebration of another special being.
Thank you so much, Michael, for including the chimpanzees in such a special time for your family and for the lasting difference you and Arlene make in their lives, expanding their lives and horizons more than they may ever have imagined.
And from our hearts to yours, happiest of birthdays yet to you, Arlene! All of us here are wishing you a weekend full of joy, beauty, and all that you most love. Exactly as you bring to the chimps’ lives.
Missy:
Negra:
Burrito:
Jamie:
Annie:
Foxie:
Jody:
Under 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 capture a lot of this footage.
Checking out the construction process
Many of our supporters have asked how the chimps feel about the construction that is happening at the sanctuary this summer. In general, they have been pretty calm and curious. While the chimps have a view of a lot of the action, they can’t always see all the changes that are happening. They did get a good look at the construction process today when we opened the barn doors to do some work in that area.
Here are Foxie and Jody watching from the greenhouse windows (please excuse the sub-par quality phone pictures):
This is their view (also you get to see a dirty playroom):
Jamie and caregiver bonding time
There is nothing quite like sitting down with your chimpanzee friend for a long afternoon grooming session. Jamie loves to groom her caregivers through the caging using a carefully selected tool, but seems to equally enjoy a relaxing moment where her caregivers return the kindness.
Early morning excitement
The chimpanzees’ open-top outdoor enclosure always changes a bit overnight. We do a daily morning check to make sure nothing has dramatically changed (like a broken fence wire) or a stray animal who can’t quite find their way out, but there are inevitably little changes that occur each day. This morning the sanctuary was cool and calm. The chimpanzees were eager to eat their breakfast that was being served in the greenhouse. Then through all the peace, came a noisy rustle in the brush above Young’s Hill. Having already done my perimeter check of the fence line, I knew that our neighbor’s horses were grazing the top pastures and consequently making a bit of commotion. The chimps needed to see the cause of the disturbance for themselves, so upon receiving access to their outdoor enclosure, all of them (minus Negra) raced up the hill to investigate.
Missy had no time to finish her watermelon, so she took it to go:
Jody led the charge to the top of the hill:
After determining that the all that noise wasn’t actually a threat, the chimpanzees relaxed and decided to head back in and resume their meal service.
On her way back to the greenhouse, Jody discovered a real threat:
I couldn’t see what she was looking at, but she hustled away immediately after this photo was taken:
A quick zoom in on the previous photo, shows a swarm of wasps. No Jodys were harmed in the making of this photo!
The Rescue
Foxie likes to place her dolls in precarious situations and then rescue them. Typically this has looked something like placing them in really high places and knocking them off and catching them, or tossing them in pokey bushes and reaching in to quickly pull them out. Of course she has to feel comfortable venturing to where they are and she doesn’t want any help from the humans. I remember watching her a few years ago when she discovered a couple troll dolls had been placed in a cardboard tube by the humans who thought she might enjoy it. She absolutely did not and was rather incensed that her dolls were in there because she wasn’t comfortable enough to reach in and get them out. Point taken, Foxie! Humans mind your own business!
But all of a sudden, for the first time we’ve seen, Foxie has been repeatedly sticking her dolls in a large cardboard tube the chimps currently have and then seemingly “saving” them. I watched her for some time in the greenhouse this afternoon as she repeatedly shoved the dolls in, gave the tube a good chomping (notice the end) and then pulled her dolls back out, hugging them close to her before inspecting to make sure they survived their ordeal. Whatever the reason Foxie chooses these activities, it’s another big step in comfort and courage for her after all years in her sanctuary home. And as she grows more and more courageous, I guess her dolls do as well.
Everyone was exhausted after that:
A bonus Jody photo! I’m not sure how this is exactly comfortable, but it’s classic Jody style:
