Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
A little wind didn’t stop Burrito’s group from enjoying a lunch forage on Young’s Hill today.
Jody was the first one to bring her bounty back to the greenhouse. She efficiently collected her peppers and cucumbers before hustling inside to eat her meal:
Missy inhaled many Roma tomatoes before settling down to savor her cucumber:
Burrito and his armful:
Foxie likes a good cucumber:
Annie looking for primate chow:
Negra, a mouthful of chow and a sea of green:
Many thanks to Rita Laws for sponsoring our second day of sanctuary today, in honor of Sue Curtis!
Thanks to both of you for your long-time support of the chimpanzees and for all the hopes turned into realities that you’ve helped us bring to their lives. Sue, we hope you have a wonderful day!
Jody, Missy, Annie, Burrito and Foxie:
Missy:
Negra:
Cy:
Mave and Honey B:
Grant Crosier sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees and bovines in honor of Jessie Crosier!
“Happy Birthday Jessie!”
Thanks so much, Grant and Jessie, for choosing to celebrate a special day in such a kind way. We truly appreciate you helping to make so much possible in the lives of the chimps and the cattle.
Have a wonderful day, Jessie!
Annie, Negra and Jody:
Rayne relaxing in her greenhouse box:
Sweet Terry:
Honey B:
Honey Cow:
Are you superstitions? New World Encyclopedia says: “The earliest superstitions were created as a way to deal with the ignorance and fear of the unknown. Chance misfortunes could be ascribed a cause, and the potential to avoid or control them was created. Superstitions are thus a way of attempting to regain control over events, particularly when one feels helpless.”
I wouldn’t say we are superstitious at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, but we are careful about saying how successful the integration is going. I guess you could say we don’t want to jinx anything. Anna pointed out a quote from Michael Scott on The Office that describes us best in our current situation: “I’m not super stitious, but I am a little stitious.” Recently, I find myself knocking on wood if I say the 9 are doing well, just in case something goes wrong. Which is why a recurring phrase you have/will hear from us for a long time is: We are cautiously optimistic! We don’t know what the future holds for these 9 chimpanzees, but for now things are looking up and we are just a little stitious.
I wanted to capture some photos of the 9 grooming and playing, but they were all doing those things in hard to reach places. However, I was able to capture a few individual photos today!
Dora peacefully napping:
Lucky:
And Willy B admiring his own reflecting:
Today is also Wish List Wednesday!! We recently just updated the wish list!
Today is all about the simple pleasures in life. I learned a lot about my caregiver coworkers when I briefly interviewed them for their simple pleasures. Kelsi told me that her simple pleasures include sitting by the ocean, listening to Jody make dinosaur noises when she is very excited about food, and a nice quiet walk around the hill with Jamie. When I asked Katelyn she responded that hers is being out in the woods alone. JB’s simple pleasure is walking their dogs Abby and Benny, and Diana’s simple pleasure is tending to her growing collection of houseplants. Anthony’s simple pleasures are iced coffee and going on road trips. Grace mentioned hers were reading a good book in silence and having a good margarita…also in silence. Raise your hand if you just added these last two to your own list! When I asked Chad for his simple pleasures he responded saying his were the sound of rain, Rayne, and Burrito, of course. Some of mine are fresh clean sheets, and going to sleep listening to the calls of the Puerto Rican native coquà frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui) back home or through a playlist.
Gordo has a few simple pleasures we have all noticed since his arrival. Some of these are hanging out in the green houses, sitting in boxes, eating all kinds of produce, and the love of his life: Mave.
Terry likes staring at caregivers boots, laying and grooming with Mave, having the “bros” all back together and kissing the back of his caregivers hands.
Mave’s simple pleasure is hanging out with Dora and happily over-grooming everyone.
Rayne’s simple pleasures are drinking her delicious morning smoothies and nesting high up in the leaf structures of the play rooms. Here she is grooming herself in the platform of Oakwood green house.
Willy B’s simple pleasure is nesting with his leopard blanket, food, and watching videos on cellphones.
Comment your simple pleasures in life below!!!
For today’s blog post, I’m sharing this video of Dora being casually goofy with caregiver Grace.
Enjoy!
___________________________________
P.S. I apologize for the title pun. I don’t even like that song.
It has been a busy day here in the chimp house! After the morning cleaning, it started to rain and since then the chimps have been keeping us busy. Burrito is being his normal playful self (which has involved at least five runs around the hill with the caregivers), Foxie is blowing raspberries to try and get Caregiver Katelyn’s attention, and Jamie is observing all. On the other side of the chimp house Terry is looking for shoes to groom, Willy B would like to see our camera reels, and Lucky is hoping to snag some extra tomatoes. While we work to get our daily tasks done we’ve also been snagging photos – so today’s blog is a montage of short stories from throughout the day. 🙂
This morning, Caregiver Katelyn and I gave Foxie two new Strawberry Shortcake dolls. When Foxie saw them she expressed her excitement with a ceiling punch! She quickly came downstairs to get them and give us some happy grunts. Katelyn snagged this photo of Foxie and her new doll shortly after in the Greenhouse and we just can’t take it!
This morning was overcast and cool – a nice morning, but damp from last night’s rain. I thought that Jamie’s group wouldn’t be waiting for Young’s Hill access, since it was so wet, but when I opened the door everyone proceeded to head straight out! Annie went almost straight for the hammock, where she picked some grass before going for a stroll around the hill. Annie has been disappearing during the mornings lately to enjoy some time by herself on the hill- you can read more about that in Kelsi’s blog here.
Negra also went straight out on the hill… and kept going… and going! Negra will often go onto Young’s Hill and stop a short ways out where she will sit and enjoy the morning, but today she joined the rest of her group and enjoyed the morning out far on the hill. Spring has really sprung!
We weren’t the only ones surprised to see Negra so far onto the hill – Jody also came over to make sure all was well with Negra. Caregiver Chad caught this sweet moment of Negra reassuring Jody that all is well, before they both went back to their respective morning hill activities.
I found Dora in the Oakwood Greenhouse this afternoon. The sound of the rain on the greenhouse panels was peaceful and calming, which matched the sight of Dora and Terry grooming. After Terry left, Dora continued to sit and relax in the greenhouse.
Have a great evening, everyone!
