Archives for October 2021

The Holdouts and Foot Boxes

October 26, 2021 by Kelsi

On any given day you can bet that we are cleaning around Cy and Lucky. These two are known holdouts and when they decide to stay somewhere they settle in for the long haul. Pretty much if they decided to stay in the front rooms you have no luck in cleaning the front rooms. Though this may throw a wrench in our schedule, they are great company!

Cy reading his magazine in front room 6 while we clean front room 5 and the chute.

Lucky taking a little snooze next to Cy.

Today we also put a “Foot Box” in front room 5 just like on the other side of the building. The purpose of the foot box is so that the chimps can present a hand or foot and we can get a x-ray. Obviously the foot box is new and it has to go through a rigorous inspection process by the chimps. I would say it passes their inspection standards as you will see in the video above.

Rayne and Gordo looking in.

Terry taking a little peek!

Bonus!

Missy, Jody, and Burrito have a very nice grooming session.

Missy and Annie grooming themselves.

I Spy: Movement Up the Mountain

October 25, 2021 by Sofia Castro-Loza

Last week one of our supporters very excitingly asked when expansion work was going to begin, and I’m happy to inform everyone that today was the day. During the morning, Gary’s Sage Mechanical crew came in to do some work on top of Young’s Hill. This meant that Jamie and her six friends could not go out on the hill during that time but that did not mean that they were unaware that some humans were in need of chimp supervision. After work concluded and it was safe to give them access to the hill, Jamie, Annie, Missy, Foxie, Burrito and Jody sprinted up the hill to assess the situation. Jody went back inside the safety of the green house shortly after, might have been too scary of a situation. On the way up Missy asked for reassurance from all her friends. First from Burrito, then Jamie, and finally from Foxie who gladly complied. Annie was the first one to arrive and climbed up the Twister to get a better view. Jamie, of course, was very excited to see new people but more excited about seeing new boots.

Foxie reassuring Missy on the way up to check out the expansion work.

Missy and Foxie looking at Jody as she turns around to go back into the safety of the green house.

Foxie and Jamie looking at J.B. and the members of Sage Mechanical…and their boots.

Gary’s nephew, who has a background in forestry, Gary, and J.B. smiling for the camera.

Annie supervising from the Twister platform.

After brief visual inspection, the construction boots pass the test and are worthy of a run around the hill.

On the other side of the chimp house:

Rayne eating green apples during breakfast this morning. Courtesy of caregiver Sam.

Dora resting in one of the front rooms.

Rayne in the green house taking advantage of the break from the rain that we got today.

Happy Birthday, Pam!

October 25, 2021 by Katelyn

Many thanks to Mary, Jessy, Rita and Toni for choosing to sponsor a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in honor of Pam Lehnert on her birthday! It is so kind of you to celebrate Pam in this way!

“Happiest of birthdays to our dear friend Pam Lehnert, who has contributed many hours of support to the chimp sanctuary. Mary, Jessy, Rita and Toni.”

Pam is a dear friend and former volunteer of the sanctuary and has helped to make many of our (pre-pandemic) HOOT! Galas the successes they’ve been. She and her husband, Marc, are among the original supporters of the sanctuary and they’ve been, and continue to be, part of making so much possible not only for the original seven chimpanzees, but for the nine chimpanzees who’ve also come to call the sanctuary their home.

Happy Birthday, Pam! Thank you for being part of our chimp family and for bringing so much to so many lives. We hope you have the most beautiful day of celebration!

Missy:

Annie:

Negra:

Burrito:

Jody:

Foxie:

Jody, Missy, Annie, Burrito and Foxie:

Musical boxes

October 24, 2021 by Katelyn

A huge storm is blowing into the Pacific Northwest and here at the sanctuary we have a much needed week ahead of rainy and blustery weather. We arrived to darkened skies and all the lights in the chimp house flickering. Perfect spooky Jamieween season weather!

All of the chimpanzees have stayed cozy and warm in their indoor areas today (with the exception of Burrito, who has been relatively undeterred by the stormy weather and making dedicated volunteer caregiver, Lizz, race to and fro around Young’s Hill in the rain and wind).

Beautiful Lucky:

Cy caught up on his reading:

Gordo sat out the afternoon portion of the stormy day from his box once again:

The chimps were very excited to get a visit from Dr.’s Erin (Zamzow) and Jen (Wallace). Terry arrived late and thought he’d missed them so Erin and Jen made sure to come back and see him:

Gordo finally left his box and Rayne immediately pulled it over to sit in for her visit with Jen (L) and Erin (R):

This box was prime realty today! During dinner Dora hopped in the box!

Bonus photos from caregiver Sam!:

Terry, with a mouthful of water (one of which he spat right in my eye this morning!):

Gordo!

In other news, our little bovine family, Honey, Meredith, Betsy and Nutmeg, were moved over to their winter pasture today with quite the hullabaloo, as cattle are wont to do with new pastures. J.B. sent me these stills of a video he took. Meredith (look at her tail!):

Nutmeg!!

And! There are only SEVEN days until Jamieween!!! We caregivers appropriately spent this dark and stormy day sharing spooky stories so now we have to just think of this sweet picture of a wild Nutmeg so that we can sleep tonight!

strolling through the years

October 23, 2021 by Diana

I had so many thoughts going through my head when I was taking the walk in the video above.

I believe that the true beauty in this world is in these small, transitory moments and recognizing how quickly time passes. I feel it with the seasons too. I see the leaves changing, their colors taking my breath away, understating that a big part of the spectacular beauty is knowing that their display will soon be gone, and the next season, the next year, the next decade, will arrive before I even have time to process that one moment in time.

It’s cliche, but life is brief. We are so fortunate to have this outlet of the blog to capture and share the small moments and invite you to take a minute to appreciate them with us.

If you subscribe to our e-newsletter, you should have received an email this week that included information about National Estate Planning Awareness Week. This week is all about acknowledging the briefness of life and preparing for the future.

We are so grateful to be able to honor supporters and supporters’ loved ones in various ways at the sanctuary, including receiving some legacy gifts that have helped care for the chimpanzees. As I said in that email, whether or not you include Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in your estate planning, I do hope you will take advantage of the free tools we offer to create your will and set up your estate in whatever way you desire.

Take a moment to do something really important–you won’t regret it.

Back to those precious fleeting moments, I give you Gordo in a box: