Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Katelyn

Happy Christmas Eve Eve

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Beautiful Ms. Foxie, working the camera. I have to say, Foxie is pulling off the one-eared look quite well, somehow looking more adorable than ever. But then she is Foxie. She can’t help it, she was just born that way.

As I write this, Burrito is having his first double play date with Foxie and Jamie and not only that, but they are in the greenhouse in the midst of a slow motion game of chase, Burrito laughing and breathy panting his heart out! We are trying to capture photos with the beautiful new camera lens we received (thank you!!!).

The human-side of the chimp house is also a hub of exciting activity right now as we act as the chimps’ elves unpacking all of the amazing gifts that keep arriving for Christmas, thanks to you. It’s a flurry of opening boxes, rifling through paper and the hammering together by Chad of one tiny, pink car that we can just picture Honey B zooming around in.

**As a side note, if you’ve sent gifts via our Amazon Wishlist (or otherwise) you’ll be receiving acknowledgment of your wonderful gifts as soon as this particular staff catches up on that end of things. We don’t always receive supporter information with Amazon gifts so feel free to reach out if you’re wondering and thank you in advance for your kindness (and patience!).

And for all the folks holding fundraisers and donating through Facebook, thank you! Facebook does not share contact information with us unless donors choose to do so, so if you need a receipt please feel to free to reach out to us or the fundraiser coordinator so we can get you one. It’s so important to us to acknowledge each of you and the generous contributions you make to the chimpanzees’ lives so in the meantime, please know how very much we appreciate your generous, heartfelt support in whichever form it is so graciously shared.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve everyone! No matter how, or if, you celebrate, may the magic you bring to the chimpanzees’ lives be cast over your own lives as well.

Happy Winter Solstice!

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Dylan Most sponsored a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees in celebration of the winter solstice!

Dylan, thank you so much for helping the chimpanzees, and us all, celebrate this turning of the wheel, the gradual return of the light and all the wonder that comes with this special time of year. Happy winter solstice from all of us here!

Winter, as does each season, holds a magical beauty all its own and for the most part, the chimpanzees seem to look forward to many of the same adventures and comforts we humans do during the season.

Of course, our newest family members, Mave, Honey B and Willy B, who hail from southern California, aren’t yet on board with all that is winter in the Pacific Northwest, but just as our beautiful bovine family, Honey, Meredith, Betsy and Nutmeg have done after their first year in their new sanctuary home, we anticipate they’ll adjust and embrace the new and strange curiosities in their lives in delightful ways. Chimps are magical like that.

Foxie:

Annie and Jamie:

Negra:

Nutmeg:

Missy:

Honey B (Missy’s daughter) and her incredulous stare (which I sometimes relate to) toward the snow on offer:

Jody foraging for the highly prized ice snack from the tire swings on Young’s Hill:

Trollcones, naturally:

Jamie from last winter:

Happy Birthday, Linda!

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Aimee and Adam Kaufman for Linda Webber! Aimee and Adam, thank you so much for celebrating Linda and her love for the chimpanzees in such a generous way!

“Happy Birthday Linda Webber! We hope you enjoy your day and love your gift as much as you love all of the chimps at the sanctuary! Love Adam and Aimee”

Linda, thank you for holding the chimpanzees in your heart and being a part of making a lasting difference in their lives. We hope you have the best birthday yet!

Miss Honey B:

Jamie:

Sweet Mave:

In honor of Carole Galuska

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Janice Clayton sponsored this day of sanctuary in honor of her dear friend, Carole Galuska. Today also happens to be Janice’s birthday! She shared this lovely message about her gift:

“I would like to dedicate today to Carole Galuska, who would go to the ends of the earth for a friend.”

Janice, thank you so much for celebrating friendship in such an inspiring way. And on your own special day! Happiest of birthdays to you from all of us here!

Carole, we hope you enjoy this beautiful day! We’re so grateful for your and Janice’s long-time friendship with the chimpanzees and truly appreciate the lasting difference you’ve both made in their lives.

Beautiful Jody, the most wonderful friend to her chimp family:

Foxie, Jody and Jamie:

Foxie’s the best medicine

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As you may have seen on the blog over the past couple of days, we’ve begun 1:1 “playdates” between Burrito and the girls. Burrito feels that he is absolutely ready to be out of his recovery rooms and back with the six girls. I absolutely do not blame him. He’s had a long, tough road and he’s handled it better than anyone could ask of him. His foot, however, says otherwise and we want to make sure the stubborn infection hanging on is resolved before he returns to the group. He’s oh so close. Other than that Burrito is more fully Burrito with each passing day and to say that is a profound and joyful relief is an understatement.

Burrito and Foxie are really close friends and they haven’t been together in a long time with the exception of meetings at the mesh. I’d hoped that Foxie would be interested in joining him for a visit today. She was, but Foxie is also leery of unfamiliar things and routines so she opted not to come in at first. Jamie though, ran right in, naturally. But after awhile Jamie decided she had more pressing business to attend to (Willy B was in the chute outside the playroom and all the girls were screaming like they’d seen a rock star). I figured that was it for visits for the day, but much to my surprise and delight, Foxie ran in to replace her!

When I opened the door separating her and Burrito, well, OH. MY. HEART! They both screamed, Burrito held his arms out and Foxie ran right into them. They were inseparable! Hugging, hanging onto one another, grooming, softly “hooing” to one another, holding hands. Two old friends together again. Foxie’s the best medicine.

A note on that hand. Yes, I imagine it looks pretty bad from where you’re sitting, but trust me, it looks absolutely fantastic compared to what it was and is healing beautifully so don’t let it alarm you.

And a couple of bonus Annie photos! We’ve had a particularly wintry season so far with a fair amount of snow and lots of freezing fog. But today was sunny, bright blue and coooollldd! But that didn’t stop the girls from ripping and running and climbing all over Young’s Hill. Checking tire swings for ice treats, eating snow and I suspect, just feeling the pure relief of sunshine. Annie is often the one we find braving the coldest of temperatures at the very top of a structure, just taking it all in in solitude. And today was no different.

And double bonus! I was scurrying in and out of Phase 1 where Mave, Honey B and Willy B reside trying to figure something out with the heating and had to rudely keep turning the lights on as they’d gone to bed for the night. I happened to glance over on my way out and saw Mave in her amazing nest!

Goodnight, folks. May you all be as warm, safe, and cozy this cold wintry night as beloved Mave.

Happy Birthday, Linda!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Linda Crawford! Linda shared this lovely message about her generous gift:

“Today’s my birthday, and nothing would bring me greater joy than to have the chimps partying with me! But since they’re so far away, and sponsored parties aren’t an option any longer, I’ll sponsor a day, and hope that there is either pineapple or coconut involved, and to see the Tiny One busting open the troll dolls I sent! Something to make their Sunday a little special, the way they, and you, all make most of our days special by sharing a glimpse of your work and their lives in sanctuary!”

Linda, thank you so much for your heartfelt care for each of the chimpanzees and the unique individuals they are. We so appreciate you thinking of them today, your compassion and your gracious contributions toward their well-being and happiness. All of us here wish you the happiest of birthdays yet! May your big heart come back to you tenfold as you celebrate your special day, and all days. Happy Birthday!

Tiny, but fierce. Beloved Foxie:

The Burrito barometer

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Burrito still has a ways to go in his healing process, but more days than not we are beginning to see the return of all the little things that make Burrito, Burrito and endear him so to us. Tiny things, such as he loves to play a game I refer to as “up high, down low” (for lack of a more creative name) in which he sits at the caging with us and pokes his fingers out of the caging “up high” then “down low,” waiting for us to follow suit so he can tickle the back of our wrist.

Another Burrito “thing” is, of course, always having a small plastic or wooden toy to bite on, especially while he’s in a playful mood. Or making a play face while covering his face or play-biting his own hand from afar, a silly gesture he gives us even if he doesn’t feel like getting up and coming over. All of these seemingly insignificant gestures are the daily markers we grow accustomed to seeing on the Burrito barometer of wellness. I’ll be honest, we haven’t been seeing a lot of these small things from him for quite some time as he’s been busy with the work of healing, resting and regaining his strength. Even knowing this, from the humans’ perspectives, it’s difficult not seeing these behaviors from the chimps that we know indicate that they’re feeling happy, well and at ease. Small moments that translate to our own hearts feeling happy, well, and at ease.

Burrito’s coming back to himself, little by little each day. And our hearts couldn’t be more relieved, more happy.