August 23, 2021 - Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Today, we celebrated Missy’s 46th birthday with a tomato-themed bash.

Paulette Wrisley made us smile by generously sponsoring this day of sanctuary in Missy’s honor. To make today even more special, our good friend Monica Best also sponsored this day of sanctuary for the same reason! Thank you for thinking of Missy, Paulette and Monica!

As many of you already know, tomatoes are Missy’s favorite food and she gets unashamedly excited about them. In fact, Missy’s love of tomatoes has single-handedly convinced the aforementioned Monica to give these odd fruits another chance (with some success).

Keeping this in mind, Enrichment Coordinator Chad created a chimp-friendly menu of fresh produce centered around whole beefsteak tomatoes. The meal even had an appetizer: a zesty gazpacho-like soup consisting of red bell peppers, celery, coconut milk, garlic, sweet onions, and tomatoes.

All three groups of chimpanzees enjoyed their own parties with the same menu, and the soup was an unexpected hit with some individuals while others ran around gathering sweet peppers and tomatoes. Of course, Missy seemed to have the best day of all. She zoomed around the Greenhouse and Young’s Hill, scarfing down dozens of treats and devouring several large beefsteak tomatoes on her own.

Chad took the following photos and I asked him if I could include them in today’s post! Even if Chad had said “no,” I would have stolen the images from him and taken credit anyway.

Burrito (doing his best impersonation of Missy)

We’re so lucky to have such amazing supporters who make days like today possible, and we can’t possibly express our full appreciation for Paulette, Monica, and everyone else. Thanks you all for loving Missy and her companions as much as we do!

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P.S. I wanted to title this blog post Soups!… I Did It Again but I did some research and that pun is already in use. Apparently, there’s a Wisconsin company using that name for their brand. They actually make soups. I’ve been bested at my own game. Soups.

We’re so thankful to you, Paulette Wrisley, and your lovely big heart for sponsoring this special day in honor of beloved Missy on her 46th birthday!:

“Let’s all put on a pair of knee highs and raise up a tomato in honor and love for MISSY’S BIRTHDAY!!!”

Missy is a true gem. Because she’s a woman of few words, a rather aloof person who usually prefers the company of her chimpanzee friends to humans, doesn’t often appreciate being in front of the camera, and is usually zooming past in a blur, I’m not sure we are always able to fully convey how amazing she is.

Missy is wicked intelligent (we can see where her daughter, Honey B, gets it). She’s best friend to dear Annie, right-hand gal to boss lady, Jamie, and she fiercely believes in backing up her chimpanzee friends during any perceived slights from the humans, no questions asked. And if you wonder what that looks like, imagine her tiny, but insanely mighty body launching onto the caging, mere inches from your face, and kicking it with all her might while barking salty threats at you. I can assure you, it never gets less intimidating. She’s brilliant when it comes to navigating chimpanzee politics, and she’s the queen of defying gravity, daredevil feats of parkour, and seemingly aging in reverse. I always say I wish I could spend just five minutes in her body to know what it feels like to move through the world as her strong, graceful, beautiful, zooming self.

When we’re very lucky, she gives the humans the honor of allowing us to sit quietly with her and groom for a spell. Or of occasionally playing with us (even though she will rarely let on that she’s having fun, too, and maybe even initiated it), all the while pretending she doesn’t even see you right there, tugging on the scarf she’s holding tightly with her little runner’s foot, looking in the opposite direction as though she could.not.be.more.bored. And then all of a sudden, she’ll look right at you with a slightly intimidating deadpan stare (again, Honey B?!), then laugh, and zoom off, throwing you a last glance to make sure you’re fast on her heels. Especially if you’re headed toward the kitchen and there’s a stash of tomatoes in the fridge.

Speaking of which, naturally, there’s a mountain of tomatoes with Missy’s name on them and party plans are under way, so be sure to tune back later today to join the celebration of, and for, this incredible chimpanzee woman!

We love you so very much, Miss. Happy Birthday!!