Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

Today is for Nicole Moore!

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Caralene Fleming and Hanna Moore in honor of Nicole Moore! We are always touched by the circle of love that surrounds the chimpanzees and all the ways in which they are made even more special and included in the celebrations of those who love them.

Hanna shared this lovely message for Nicole’s special day: “For Nicole’s birthday she wanted to sponsor a day for her best buddies. She checks in on the chimps every day and they always bring a smile to her face. She cares so much for animals and people and a few years ago these chimps were the latest to steal her heart. She is so excited to get to come visit this summer and hopes that her pals have a great day on her birthday.”

Caralene and Hanna, thank you so much for generously sponsoring today for Nicole and the chimps! And Nicole, thank you for sharing your love of the chimps and for all you bring to their lives. All of us here at CSNW hope you have a beautiful, happy birthday!

Beautiful Jamie:

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Happy Easter!

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Party! Forage! Easter egg hunt! Rest! Repeat! This has been a beautiful and peaceful Easter Sunday here at the chimp house, but that said, it’s also been a day of non-stop celebration and relaxation for the chimps. Their day started off with a breakfast forage in the greenhouse consisting of Easter baskets filled with Easter grass (lettuce), strawberries, blackberries, clementines and watermelon. They also had Easter egg hunt #1 and gift bags filled with pistachios:

And this has been Queen Negra’s day! She’s been the first to show up at all three parties today and had been all over the place! She was so excited as we set up breakfast in the greenhouse as she watched from the playroom window:

And she found one of everything and the perfect spot to sit and enjoy it all:

Burrito enjoying his basket in classic Burrito style…

…head first:

Foxie enjoyed her basket and was smitten with her new Dora doll:

Jamie was all over the place and at one point we saw her climbing up to the top of the greenhouse carrying at least three Easter baskets, but we managed to catch her briefly:

Missy found a gift bag:

The chimps also had some wonderful handmade pinatas from a good friend of theirs and we’ve been giving them a few for special occasions. Burrito was completely in love with this one and carried it EVERYWHERE for the entire morning:

As the breakfast party wound down, Annie contemplated building a nest right in the middle of it all:

And so she did:

Jody managed to get to the top of the greenhouse where Jamie had left her stash of Easter baskets so was out of sight of the camera for the breakfast party, but believe me, she had a good time!

The chimps spent the rest of the morning racing around Young’s Hill and resting up for their Easter lunch forage and Easter egg hunt #2 on Young’s Hill. The weather was perfect chimp weather in the 50’s and it’s the first forage on the hill this year which was pretty exciting for us all! We’ll have photos of the rest of the celebration tomorrow!

But in the meantime, we’ll leave you with party #3 and the chimps’ Easter dinner. They enjoyed roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, onions, and red peppers topped with a smidgen of avocado and accompanied by a 2017 wild berry tea:

Burrito was okay with party #3:

Here he is looking for evening enrichment (tonight it was peanuts in Boomer Balls, wrapped in scarves):

And Missy:

However you celebrate Easter, or whether or not you choose to, we hope you all enjoyed a day as beautiful, peaceful and joyful as you all have made possible for the chimps. We are so full of gratitude to each of you for filling their days with hope, love and excitement.

Spring, storms, this and that.

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Springs storms are rolling through the area today and in typical fashion we go from sun, to cold wind, to rain, to hail and back to sun.

But spring hail (if you live in Cle Elum :)) brings the first tiniest of spring flowers:

No matter the weather, Missy asks to have the barn doors at the end of the playroom open and checks the garden every day!

And every time we open them up for the chimps to have a peek, it creates quite a ruckus and Missy is thrilled. She and Missy immediately began chasing each other around the playroom, laughing:

Jamie was keeping a close eye on the approaching storms from the chimp house windows after an aborted attempt at walking around the hill. She left me standing half way up on the windy hillside calling after her as she high-tailed it back to the greenhouse. Maybe she’s becoming a fair weather chimp?

It’s been a quiet afternoon with the unpredictable weather and the chimps have mostly congregated together in the toasty greenhouse to groom. If you are new to chimpanzee behavior, grooming is extremely important in chimp society. It’s a way to clean themselves and one another as well as to attend to any wounds, but it’s primary importance is that of building and maintaining their bonds with one another. Chimps use grooming to build relationships in the hierarchy and “get in good” with the more dominant chimps, it’s how they maintain bonds with friends, it’s how they soothe and calm each other and it’s how they make up after a fight. And here at CSNW, sometimes the chimps will choose to include their caregivers in their grooming. The chimpanzees relationships with one another are always the priority, but it’s always special when they include us.

Missy likes to groom herself with a small stick (seen here grooming her own arm) and invited me to do the same. For safety reasons we never allow our fingers to pass through the caging and the chimps know that if they want us to groom them or give them a knuckle rub, they have to press their body against the caging. You can’t see it here, but I am only using my forefinger and thumb to hold the tool – we keep as many fingers as we can tucked back for safety…That leg!

Here Annie (using her lips on her arm) and Jody are self-grooming:

Burrito was resting in the corner while Foxie groomed him, but he eventually moved down to groom with Jody:

The chimps have been loving the greenhouse today and even after an exciting dinner forage of roasted onions, pears, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes, they all took their evening enrichment of peanut butter in containers out to the greenhouse to enjoy. This is pretty unusual because they are typically building their night nests about this time. Keri and I said goodnight and received “crickets” in response. 🙂 Goodnight chimps! Goodnight friends of chimps!

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

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We have a lovely accompanying sponsorship for today’s day of sanctuary! This special gift is for Lisa Stuverud herself (sponsor of today’s earlier gift in memory of Linda Vizzare) from her husband, Rich, with this touching message:

“In honor of my wife on her birthday because I think this Chimpanzee Sanctuary has saved her heart and soul and that’s an amazing birthday gift for us all.”

Rich, what a sweet gift. We’re so happy to be celebrating with you all today and can’t thank you enough for including the chimpanzees in this day of family that means so much to you both.

Happy Birthday, Lisa! All of us here are wishing you a joyful day of celebrating life, family and loved ones. Thank you so much for all you do to make sure the chimpanzees are able to celebrate the same things. And here are some birthday hoots and smiles from your pals. Have a beautiful day, Lisa! We’re so grateful you both are part of our chimp family.

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Missy (well, she’s smiling inside 😉 ):

In memory of Linda Vizzare

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by the chimps’ long-time friend, Lisa Stuverud, in memory of her sister-in-law, Linda Vizzare. Lisa and her husband, Rich, have been a big part of creating a life of sanctuary for the chimps and helping them celebrate each day. Lisa shared this beautiful message about Linda:

“Today, I’m honoring my late sister-in-law Linda who I miss very much (she loved Burrito)…this was always our day to celebrate…and I’m choosing to share it with the sanctuary because everyday since becoming aware of the Cle Elum 7 and everyone involved with CSNW…I have witnessed the ability to overcome and rise above, to appreciate every warm sunbeam and ripe tomato, to have a selfless passion to help others and I feel that I am a better person and my dear sister-in-law would be very proud.”

Lisa, thank you for including the chimps in your family and for doing something so beautiful as to ease your heart by sharing your love with them and adding to their lives. We hope all the joy that comes to them today brings you peace, comfort and joy as you remember Linda and celebrate all she meant to you. Our thoughts are with you and your family today.

For Linda,

Today’s happenings

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Hands down, today is the loveliest day we’ve seen in quite some time. The air is fresh and the with only a slight breeze. The chimps have been enjoying themselves with a variety of choices today, from roaming Young’s Hill throughout the day to nesting and grooming in the toasty sun-warmed greenhouse, to crazy games in the playroom.

Foxie began her day by tossing her new France Dora doll on her back (this is how chimp mamas carry their young) and heading up Young’s Hill for a morning stroll:

Missy has been asking for weeks to have the barn doors at the end of the playroom open so she can see if the garden popped up overnight yet. We usually give her a quick peek, but it’s still too cold to leave them open for more than a few minutes. But today was the first time it was actually warm enough to leave them open for about an hour so the chimps enjoyed sitting in the sun and watching Keri begin garden preparation!

Missy took a break from garden duty to head over for a game of ghost tug o’ war with me. You know that game, right? Put a blanket over your head and play tug o’ war? And then stand on your head, of course (Missy, not me!).

Of course, Jamie made sure to supervise Keri with all those tools (someone had to):

Jody enjoyed snoozing in a sun puddle:

And I think dear, sweet Annie summed up the day best for all of us as she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun:

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Some days are best for a nest

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The sun has filled the chimp house with light and the chimps with high spirits and shenanigans, but the spring wind is chilly today so the chimps have spent the afternoon enjoying sunny spots from the comfort of their nests this afternoon. Much how I spent my weekend, so who can blame them?

Jamie:

Jody enjoying a magazine:

Burrito keeping an eye on good friend, Jody, from afar:

Negra:

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