Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for July 2021

Corn in the USA

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Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your day. I know we did here at the chimp house. The first part of the celebration involved all of the chimps receiving a mid afternoon treat of dixie cups scattered around their enclosures. These were filled with blue Gatorade, strawberries, and blueberries to follow the theme of the day. This was a big hit and Rayne was sooooo excited! She was the fist one over to get as many Gatorade cups as she could.

All of the chimpanzees enjoyed a celebration lunch of corn, tomatoes, and heads of Romaine lettuce. The corn was a huge hit all around! A few of the Lucky Six were a little weary of the corn at first until they got a taste of it. Then it was pure excitement. There was a nice breeze today and it was “cooler” than last week, so the seven got to enjoy their lunch as a forage on Young’s Hill. During forages I like to see what each chimp searches for first. Today it was everything! They were gathering as much corn and romaine as they could carry in their arms and mouth! The tomatoes went very quickly and Missy was quite happy. A lot of the chimps take their findings back to the Greenhouse and eat in the shade.

Cooler weather and celebrations make some pretty happy chimps and that makes us caregivers happy as well.

 

Blue Gatorade with strawberries and blueberries in each one.

Jamie enjoying the Gatorade and fruit.

In the excitment before their forage on the hill I caught Burrito and Negra in a play session.

Burrito enjoying the first head of Romaine he found.

Negra went straight to this spot.

Jody usually wins the award for most food she can carry.

Foxie climbing to grab more corn on the platform above.

Annie enjoying her corn back in the Greenhouse.

Look at Missy’s pile!

Jamie found lots of corn to keep her occupied for awhile.

Diana helped get photos of the three while serving lunch. They were also super excited about the corn!

Mave

Willy B

Bonus photo of Rayne that JB was able to capture yesterday.

Thank you, Dean!

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Our many thanks to friend of the chimpanzees, Dean Featherstone, who sponsored this day of sanctuary and shared this lovely heartfelt message:

“In honor of all the folks at CSNW, Project Chimps and the caretakers who stayed on at Wildlife Waystation. Independence Day is very important to me. Freedom comes at a cost and is unique to each individual. Having said that, caring people from three points of the Nation’s compass came together to provide a new freedom for the Lucky Six. They all still work to better the lives of all chimpanzees in captivity. (I don’t normally get this mushy, but today is special, lol)”.

Willy B hootin’:

Lucky and Dora on their arrival, their first day touching grass:

Burrito:

Negra:

Terry:

Foxie, last Fourth of July:

Annie and Missy zooming:

Missy Annie running behind

Full Hearts

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Getting to know the new Lucky Six chimpanzees is an incredible experience. In some ways, it seems like they’ve been here much longer than one week. But it’s true that we barely know them. So each new observation, every moment spent with them, fills our hearts.

The thing is, it’s still the same with all of the other non-humans in our care. They are all such interesting and unique beings; we can never know everything there is to know about them, and we still delight in the little moments.

I’ve been reflecting on little moments lately because our dog Wilson, who I’ve written about on the blog before, passed away this week. He had numerous medical issues over the years, and far outlived anyone expectations. His end was sudden, but not surprising, and J.B. and I were both with him. Though his body, specifically his heart, was failing him, it never slowed him down or changed the goofy, lovable, big-headed, empathetic dog that he was. Our hearts are broken, but that’s because they were filled with so much love.

We’re surrounded by life at the sanctuary. Grief is a strange bargain we make, but it’s worth it to feel so much love.

 

Dora Chimpanzee
Dora watching herself eat dinner
The one and only Jamie. She tied this scarf on with purpose and wore it all afternoon.

 

Jody

 

Wilson

 

The Terry and Cy Show

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For their first 30 days here, our new arrivals will be in quarantine to protect the health of the chimps already at the sanctuary. In addition to keeping the groups physically separated, the staff must change scrubs, gloves, boots, and masks anytime they go between groups in order to prevent cross-contamination. To make life easier, we dedicate two staff members each day to work with the new guys while the rest of us care for everyone else. You can imagine how badly those of us not working with the Lucky Six want to pop over and say hello!

As it was not my turn today to work with the new group, I’ll have to share some photos I took the other day. I’ve been reminded a lot this week of when the Cle Elum Seven first arrived back in 2008. We were all so eager to get to know them, but whenever we tried to spend time with them there was one chimpanzee – Jamie – that hogged all of our attention. Likewise, as much as I’m dying to get to know Rayne, Lucky, Gordo, and Dora better, for me this whole week has been The Terry and Cy Show.

Terry enjoying some chewing gum:

Fun fact: Terry really wants to lick everyone:

Cy, the alpha of the group:

By the way, if you haven’t noticed already, Terry and Mave are brother and sister from another mother and mister. They even do the same “smoosh face”, wherein they greet you with their faces pressed up against the caging.

While Willy B has been putting on some of his best displays to make himself known to the chimps on the other side of the wall, Mave has offered up only the occasional recumbent pant hoot to back him up.

Thankfully, our record-breaking heat wave is over and we’ve returned to a seasonally appropriate level of too hot. But it is a relief in comparison and the chimps have been spending a little more time outside.

Foxie:

Missy and Annie:

Burrito:

 

In celebration of July birthdays!

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Happy Birthday to all of you out there celebrating a July birthday!

As you may have seen last month, for many years we’ve sent out birthday cards to those of you who have chosen to share your birth dates with us. We just appreciate you all so much and as we move forward we’d like to have the opportunity to celebrate all of you, our amazing friends and supporters who make everything here possible, whether you share your special days or not. And to further make the best use of our resources, human, paper and otherwise, we’ve decided to try out monthly blog posts in lieu of mailing birthday cards.

So seriously, how is it July?! I’ve been thinking a lot recently how midsummer, more than any other time, just seems to burst at the seams with abundance of every kind. When life in all it’s forms of good, terrible, beautiful and painful – is being lived at it’s zenith. I think it must be an incredible time to celebrate one’s own special life.

And you also share a birthday month with one of our newest family members, handsome Gordo (who turns 33 on July 19th), and beautiful Betsy (who turns 14 on her honorary birthday of July 20th)! Naturally, Enrichment Coordinator, Chad, already has party planning well underway!

We’d love to hear from you however you choose, so please feel free to share a comment, join in the parties, or celebrate quietly from afar, and know that we are celebrating *you* and all you make possible in the lives of the chimpanzees and bovines who call the sanctuary home. Your life makes a difference in their lives, every single day. Think about that. That’s a really incredible thing and we’re beyond grateful to you for being here.

May your special day be filled with what makes your heart sing like the summer air, and each passing year, more full of life than the last.

Gordo:

Gordo and Dora:

Betsy:

Betsy and her son, Nutmeg:

Betsy, Nutmeg, Meredith and Honey:

For those of you looking for unique ways to celebrate, we have Chimp Pal options (info pages and Pal options for Cy’s group are in the works and will be available for you to check out soon!). Or if you feel inspired to share your birthday (and beyond) with Betsy, or any of her family members, you can check out our Bovine Buddy program here.  You can also celebrate your special day (or someone else’s), a special person, or a special memory, by Sponsoring a Day of sanctuary and we will share a blog post in your honor!

Thank you, Caroline!

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Many thanks to you, Caroline Hero, for your kind and loving words and support, and for sponsoring this day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees and bovines! And humans! 🙂 We truly appreciate it. And Happy Canada Day to you, and all our friends and neighbors to the north!

“I would like to sponsor this day in honour of Diana, J.B, and the entire wonderful staff of your sanctuary at Cle Elum. You all work so hard each and every day to give these beautiful animals a better life filled with love, respect, trust and security, did I mention love? I thank each and every one of you for your dedication, love, and strength of character, you are my heroes! I am a proud supporter and will continue to do so as long as I am able, and so that I may play just a small part in helping you care for this wonderful chimpanzee and bovine family! You have my love, thanks and deep respect for everything that you do, and I dedicate this day, this Canada Day to you all. Have a wonderful day, Respectfully yours, Caroline”

Your beautiful Bovine Buddy, Betsy, cooling off in the stream with Meredith:

Gordo and Dora:

Mave:

Foxie and Orange Blossom:

Jody:

Willy B: