Katelyn

It’s a good Sunday

March 6, 2022 by Katelyn

All three greenhouses feel like early summer today and all sixteen chimpanzees have been soaking it up. Birdsong is returning to the sanctuary, the squirrels are up from their long winter’s naps and slowly surveying the world again, and the tiny winged beings are starting to stir. And I saw green grass!

Foxie and Orange Blossom enjoying the morning sunny spot in the greenhouse post-breakfast:

Jamie and I set off around the hill after breakfast and on our way back I spotted Annie, basking in the bright morning sun:

As my gaze drifted past Annie, I was so surprised to see none other than Queen Negra! Up on a structure, taking in the sun next to Annie. Probably willing all that spring grass to get growing tout de suite!:

Annie:

Missy’s group had a lot to say to their neighbors this morning and it created a brief stir of excitement with those on the hill who ran back inside in the hopes to get a better view.

Missy:

Burrito:

Annie:

Meanwhile, Cy seemed to be practicing his selfie game (captured by Sam). I mean, just look at this guy!:

In between the occasional game of chase with their caregivers, all of the chimpanzees have spent most of their Sunday lounging in the hot greenhouses, dozing, and grooming one another. And of course, getting a lot of reading time in (if you’re Cy or Jamie). Foxie’s group is currently heading up the hill on a stroll as I type this. They turned to look at Sam and I watching them, but in a rare instance, the humans weren’t invited. Which somehow made it all the more special, watching them heading off on their own, together. It’s a good Sunday.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

March 2, 2022 by Katelyn

We’re sending out thanks to Brynn Edwards this morning for sponsoring a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in honor of Sarah Sweeney on her birthday!

“Wishing the happiest of birthdays to our dear friend! With love, Pat, Maia and Brynn.”

Happy Birthday, Sarah! We hope your day is a beautiful one! We figure it has to be because you’re in good company with your birthday month twins, Willy B (whose birthday we celebrated yesterday) and Cy, (whose birthday is March 12th)! Thanks to you all for being long-time friends of the chimps and for including them in your lives.

We aren’t in Honey B’s head, but could perhaps guess that as your Chimpanzee Pal, she might tell you in order to have the happiest day, do whatever you want to your heart’s content, all the live long day! 🙂

Honey B and Dora:

Honey B and Mave:

Willy B and Cy:

Burrito:

A Sunday kind of Sunday

February 20, 2022 by Katelyn

While winter and spring dance together outside the chimp house today, the chimpanzees have been quiet and easeful inside. (I am quite sure I’ve jinxed things with that statement, but too late now). We arrived this morning to sunny skies only to have a brief snowstorm blow in in time for breakfast. By lunch ice cold winds pushed the storm southward at which point our raptor neighbors seemed to joyfully fill the sky. Two pairs of bald eagles, two pairs of red-tailed hawks, and a pair of ravens, all swirled together above the chimp house, their calls as piercing as the cold. Eventually two pairs of blue-jays joined in with their calls of mimicry. I just ran outside to fetch snow snacks for Missy and I see the next storm heading this way. The seven have been adamant we collect as many snow snacks as possible from the dwindling supply.

The chimpanzees have taken this all in stride, enjoying their sunny windows and greenhouses when they can, and curling into their blanket nests when the sun disappears.

Dora, Lucky and Cy! I had a couple of photos in which Lucky and Cy had chins raised in tandem, looking particularly tough, but little do people know it’s the tiny, cute lady in the back who is the tough one! Dora, much like her neighbor, Foxie, is definitely of the tiny, but fierce variety when she takes a mind to be. That said, she has been very playful today. She has a really endearing behavior of gently shaking her head at us in greeting (bobblehead-style), which moves throughout her whole body when she’s particularly happy.

After breakfast everyone decided to curl up and rest as the snow came down. Gordo decided to see what all the hullabaloo about Cy’s magazines is:

Heart-melter, Cy:

Resting head to head on the bench with Cy was his sister, Lucky:

Rayne (who spent most of the morning choosing to wear a silky scarf as a skirt):

Not everyone had time to lie around though. Miss Honey B was a blur, zooming in and out of the playroom and greenhouse while the humans took turns chasing along from outside the building:

As I type this, we can see sweet Annie in the cameras as she tries to see into the kitchen to see what’s for dinner, madly stomping her feet. That’s Annie-speak for, “I’m hungry! It’s dinnertime!”

For Mr. B and Mr. E.B.J.

February 17, 2022 by Katelyn

Many thanks to Tobin, friend of the chimpanzees and bovines, and a name you may recognize here among the comments of our wonderful daily blog community, for sponsoring a day of sanctuary today!

“In honor of Burrito, as well as to commemorate my grandfather, Everett B. Jeffries, who was born on this day in 1897.

Five years ago at this time, despondent about the malevolent policies emanating from my nation’s leadership – and their deleterious efforts upon the ecosystem – I went online, looking for signs of resistance and hope. In my wandering, by some miracle I came upon a video which bore the caption: ‘Rescued Chimpanzee Plays with Caregiver.’

Cognizant of how endangered – and abused – great ape species are, I was not certain that I could bear to inquire into the context of this chimpanzee’s rescue from human mistreatment. And yet, I pressed the arrow on the computer screen onto the caption, and in an instant, my life changed. I had learned about a great spirit with the curious name of Burrito.

Like many human primates who encounter Burrito – either in person or through the medium of the internet – I was immediately smitten by him. I had to know more about this freckle-faced, wooden block-chewing, tug-of-war player. Soon I learned that this charming man resided with six other chimpanzees in the Cascade Mountains. As with Burrito, I reacted with awe at learning about his neighbors who had been rescued and given sanctuary in the Cascade foothills. For the next three months, I read everything that I could find about great apes.

Which leads me to my grandfather. The more photographs and videos that I saw of Burrito, the more he seemed to remind me of some human primate in my past. Learning that only 1.24% of genetic material – and five million years of evolutionary history – separate Pan troglodytes from Homo sapiens, I began to discern some remarkable similarities between my immediate ancestor and my distant cousin in the evolutionary tree.

Granted there are numerous contrasts between the two: unlike Burrito, my grandfather was not given to brachiating amongst the rafters of his barn. Likewise, he didn’t display at the Sunday dinner table (i.e. the video from 9.9.2018).

However, they share some commonalities: similar facial structures and hairstyles, a passion for fine dining (in particular, sweet potatoes and squash), and similar throaty laughs. Both Burrito and my grandfather lived and worked in rural environs and shared a household with strong-willed women (my grandmother and in Burrito’s case, Jamie).

Although the internet was not in wide-scale use during my grandfather’s lifetime, I have no doubt that he would have found the daily record of the sanctuary’s website a source of interest. And I am given to speculate, he would have viewed the video of 5.21.2017 and, watching Burrito and Annie play, recalled his courtship of my grandmother.”

We are so glad to know of the connection and joy Burrito and his friends and neighbors have brought to your life, Tobin! Thank you for sharing your heartfelt tribute to the unique being-ness of two special primates.