Katelyn

Girls’ Club

February 22, 2021 by Katelyn

After catching Burrito enjoying his new fort on Saturday, the humans decided to christen it “Burrito’s Fort – No Girls Allowed.” Well, you might imagine that the girls had other thoughts!

Jamie is often more of the mindset of something along the lines of, “Jamie’s Property – Stay Out.” She LOVES a good fort and happily nested with it for awhile yesterday:

Burrito’s buddy, Chad, set it up again today, but Jody forged the “moat” and helped herself to the handful of forage items inside:

Nothing is sacred when you live with a chimpanzee family. 😉

Speaking of our fellas, next Sunday, March 1st, is Willy B’s 31st birthday!! We are already busy planning his celebration and have added some things to our Amazon Wishlist we think he might enjoy that *should* arrive just in time for his party! If you are interested and able to do a little birthday shopping, we’d so appreciate it!

And on the note of Wishlist requests, we just want to say once again, THANK YOU, to everyone who has helped us stock up on one of Foxie’s beloved dolls! It’s hard to express the lift in our hearts of being able to put out a call for Strawberry Shortcake dolls for Foxie (because *gasp* her favorite dolls are getting harder to find!) and receiving, literally, a mountain of them! Kelsi posted this photo last week and it’s grown since!

It’s hard to put into words the feeling of knowing how supported and loved these ten (soon to be sixteen!!) chimpanzees are and all that you have made, and continue to make, possible for them. Our hearts have gone out this week to many of our fellow primate sanctuaries in the south who have been deeply struggling in the midst of unprecedented winter storms. Every day that I read of all they face and all the support they’ve been receiving, it’s made me think of what an incredible feeling it is knowing the ones whose lives and well-being we dedicate our own lives to caring for, are surrounded and held up by a circle of love and support wider than you could ever have imagined. Be it the size of a tiny, 6″ doll, a new addition for six more chimpanzees to call their home, or the desperate need for help during an all encompassing emergency. Please don’t ever for one single second think any of it means anything less than the world to us. From our hearts, thank you for being there, in all the beautiful, kind and varied ways you are.

Ice Queen of the North

February 15, 2021 by Katelyn

Apologies for the blog delay, everyone! With another winter bluster in a string of many hitting later than expected today, roads closing, and plows seemingly busy elsewhere, once the chimpanzees were settled in safe, cozy and content for the night, Chad and I made the non-executive decision to scurry on down the driveway immediately at the end of our shift this evening. The humans are home safe and sound and the chimpanzees are all snoozing in their nests (I just checked in on our cameras), so I’m writing this from home.

We received a little additional snow overnight! This is heading up Young’s Hill to do the perimeter check this morning. The angle makes it appear a little more dramatic than it was, but it was still plenty deep:

Once I got around to the other side (chimp house below) I was thrilled to see the sunrise poking through – there is nothing like snow-covered land lit up by bluebird skies and sunshine:

And even better is how much the chimpanzees spirits seem to soar in all that light. Sweet Annie enjoying the sunrise and grabbing some snow from the raceway which leads to Young’s Hill from their greenhouse:

Beautiful Jody, enjoying her oranges from breakfast:

These magical icicles were ripe for harvesting so we decided to make ice castle snow snacks for the chimps!

They are sprinkled with frozen raspberries and drizzled with left over Gatorade from the chimpanzees’ Valentine’s Day party yesterday. Hhmmm…Now that I look at them from this angle, they could possibly appear a little macabre…but trust me, they were truly things of beauty! Although, this could also be part of why Jamie was hooting her head off with excitement. (If you’re new to the blog, you may not yet have seen that Jamie is known for (among other things) her fascination with books about things like skeletons and mummies). Really though, it was about the ice castle toppings. 🙂

As you might imagine, Jamie proclaimed herself Ice Queen of the North and surrounded herself with all the ice castles. Every time the other chimps would tentatively pass by as they foraged, testing out their chances of being able to join her, she would reach out and pull the treats closer. But not to worry, there were mini-castles upstairs and lots of cabbage, so everyone got to partake. And these were being snacked on by everyone all day long!:

Missy, being excellent at chimpanzee politics and often serving as Jamie’s right-hand woman, was allowed to grab a snack to go:

Willy B, Honey B and Mave are still moderately offended by such things as offers of snow treats, but they enjoyed some other treats, spent a lot of time supervising J.B. working in the new expansion, playing chase with their caregivers, and enjoyed a lot of lounging and grooming with one another. All perfect snowy day (er, week) activities.

Willy B (yes, after a long game of chase, he’s watching his stories!):

Whatever life is throwing your way right now, and I understand it could be so much, may you find the beauty around you, no matter how small. Sometimes, when the world around you feels overwhelming, it’s just there, in that brief stilling, deep breath and smallest of details, where magic and enchantment live. All we have to do is notice it. I wish you that. Goodnight, all!

Thank you, Manda!

February 14, 2021 by Katelyn

We are so grateful for all of the love and support that finds its way to the sanctuary and all who call it their home. We have two gifts of sponsorship for this Valentine’s Day and for our first, we send many thanks to Manda Crawford for her kind sponsorship of this beautiful day of celebration “In honor of All who love all God’s creatures. For all that is Love, Hope and Joy.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Mave grooming Willy B:

Burrito and good friend, Jody:

Foxie and her dolls:

Betsy and her son, Nutmeg:

Best friends, Annie and Missy:

Running from the cold

February 8, 2021 by Katelyn

As many of us across the US are preparing for the arrival of an Arctic blast this week, here at the sanctuary the north winds are right on cue. Yesterday, the snow fell in great, thick swirls of wind all day long. A large herd of deer came through the sanctuary and you could barely make them out through the heavy flurries:

The snow didn’t begin actually sticking until overnight, but it stopped in time for us to arrive to a snow-covered sanctuary lit up by a bright winter sun. But you know what was swirling on the cold winds this morning? The familiar first song of spring from the returning red-winged blackbirds by the pond! Their tenacity and fortitude never ceases to amaze me. As I stood at my car silently cheering their arrival, a flock of Canada geese flew overhead, returning from their winter lands as well.

Later in the afternoon I tried to run up to the pond with the hopes of catching a photo of the blackbirds, but all was still and silent in the bitter cold. I was freezing and decided to scurry back to the chimp house and just as I turned to go, out of the corner of my eye I caught movement. I wasn’t the only one running to find shelter from the first polar winds. As I stood shivering by the pond, I caught a glimpse of Meredith and Nutmeg racing toward their barn. Go, Mere, go!! She actually passed Nutmeg up!:

Somehow, the chimpanzees still managed to make brief, but frequent trips outdoors, the seven to Young’s Hill and the three to their outdoor chute. Even in frigid temperatures, blue sky and sunshine can feel pretty amazing. We all need to feel the elements sometimes. At one point Foxie was the only one on the hill braving the cold to scoop up snow snacks. I could even see her rubbing her toes together as she sat, hair standing on end (pilo-erect – which is similar to us getting goosebumps) with a mouthful of snow. And if you don’t already know, rubbing her toes together is Foxie-speak for being happy and content. But it didn’t take more than a few blasts of that wind to send her running back inside to the warmth of the chimp house and her good friend, Orange Blossom:

(And no, your eyes do not deceive you, Foxie is not in a nest. The cozy wolf blanket is pushed to the side and she is soaking up the warmth from the heated floor in classic, nest averse Foxie-style):