Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Keri

Enjoying the Sunshine and the Tea Party

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The chimpanzees were excited to make the most of the sunshine this morning by spending time on Young’s Hill. Jody was the first to venture outside, followed by Burrito, Jamie, Foxie, Missy and then Annie. Negra was close; she made it to the raceway that leads out to the hill, then sat down and looked outside.

Missy and Annie shared a few quiet minutes sitting together on top of the shaky bridge.

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As soon as Missy spotted Jamie, she jumped down from the bridge and ran after her. And then Jamie took turns running after Missy.

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And then Foxie joined Annie on the shaky bridge. (Annie is facing away from the camera)

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In the mean time, Negra sat quietly in the Greenhouse, near the raceway, alternating between looking outside and inspecting her hand.

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Jody gathered some bamboo before heading back to the greenhouse to relax and groom herself.

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Meanwhile, volunteers Erin and Jake set up a tea party for the chimpanzees in the Playroom for today’s “Tea Party” theme. Jamie was all about it. After drinking the tea, she inspected the inside of each cup; turning it upside down, sticking her fingers in the cup and then licking them. She gives meaning to the saying “Good to the last drop”

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And Burrito spent the better part of the rainy afternoon grooming his good friend Foxie.

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Rainy day

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Sometimes on a rainy day, all I want to do is cuddle up with a blanket or two and read a good book or even take a nap. That has not been the case for Jamie today. She has kept herself quite active with the help of volunteer caregiver Becca, despite the rain. She has already walked around Young’s Hill four times in between heavy rain periods. And when it did start raining harder, she took action right away and ran the rest of the way around the hill.

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When she was not walking around Young’s Hill, she was flipping through magazines and inspecting some of her boots. And she even allowed herself some down time to sit quietly.

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Best of today

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There were so many good photos of each of the chimpanzees that I had to share them all on today’s blog. It’s really hard to pick a favorite.

Annie’s beauty is beyond words.
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Missy actually sat still long enough for us to get a few photos.
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Foxie enjoyed her pears at breakfast. Perhaps they taste better by the mouthful.
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Burrito spent part of the afternoon playing with his wooden blocks and his own arm.
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Jamie took a moment to pose for the camera before going for a walk on Young’s Hill.
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Jody took some time to groom herself and ponder her surroundings.
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Negra in her favorite nesting spot on the catwalk.
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Starting the day out right

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Burrito was the first chimpanzee I saw this morning. He was sitting in the last front room looking out the window with the morning light shining on his face. It was such a peaceful moment. And then we made eye contact; and from that moment on, he was ready to go. And by go, I mean ready to play. He took the little toy wooden block he had in his hand and put it in his mouth. Then he got up from the bench, gave a good foot stomp and ran out to the Greenhouse.

Who could resist an invitation to play a game of chase like that? So, I ran out to the human area next to the greenhouse and gave a good foot stomp. He ran back and forth along the platform, continuing to foot stomp along the way. As soon as I would catch up to him, he would quickly change direction and run the other way. In between running back and forth, he did a couple of play bows before running off again. We continued this for a few minutes before he sat down and put his back against the wire fencing, for me to give him a few knuckle rubs.

It’s moments like these that I find it so hard to imagine how he endured year after year, decade after decade in the tiny little cages he (and the other chimpanzees) lived in. Finally, he is able to wake up in the morning and start the day off with a good play session. To be able to run and play with the other chimpanzees and caregivers is what sanctuary is about.

Caregiver Katelyn was able to capture a few photos of him shortly after our play session. By that time he had changed his toy of choice to a hard plastic fish.

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Point A to Point B

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What is the quickest way to get from point A to point B?

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Well, for Missy chimpanzee, that means taking the tight rope walk across the fire hose railing to get to the platform on top of the climbing structure.
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Once she made it to the top platform, she took a moment to look out over the valley.

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In the first picture, Annie and Foxie were also on the climbing structure. If you look close enough, you can see the blue hair of Foxie’s troll doll lying on Foxie’s back.

Annie (bottom left), Foxie (top left), Missy (far right).
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Lips

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I’ve recently been asked about how we receive kisses from the chimpanzees. The simple answer is that the chimpanzees extend their lips through the wire caging toward us and we put the back of our hand up towards their lips. But, words can only describe so much; pictures actually show it. So, today I tried to capture that through photos, but none of the chimps offered kisses to me (perhaps because I had the camera in hand?). So, I had to resort to the next best way of showing how the chimpanzees extend their prehensile lips towards us to give us a kiss. Meal time is the perfect opportunity to capture the chimpanzees extending their lips through the wire caging.

In the following photos, volunteer caregiver Becca served breakfast to the chimps this morning. On the menu were red pears and oranges, along with a watermelon, banana and protein powder smoothie. Each of the chimpanzees are also given fiber pills and vitamins every morning. You will notice in the following pictures that Becca’s fingers never penetrate the caging. For safety reasons, we consider the caging to be a barrier between our space and that of the chimpanzees, therefore we never stick our fingers into the enclosures.

Annie takes her fiber pill at breakfast.
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Annie getting her share of the breakfast smoothie.
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Burrito uses his lips to slurp his smoothie.
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Jamie uses her lips to take her fiber pill.
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Missy
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Jody’s lips are pretty impressive. She seems to have the furthest “reach” with them. What do you think?
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Jody taking her vitamins.
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It’s a forage kind of day

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Today we put out a breakfast forage in the Greenhouse and a lunch forage on Young’s Hill.

Annie enjoyed the tangerines, while Burrito pretty much enjoyed every single morsel of food he could find at breakfast.

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Jamie loved her tomatoes!
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Missy was the first one to find the small sugar pumpkin (part of today’s lunch forage on Young’s Hill) on top of the wooden platform and quickly brought it to the Greenhouse.

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Jody was quick to take over Missy’s find. She proceeded to bring the treat into the Playroom to enjoy.

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Then it was Negra’s turn.

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Jody and Annie were nearby in case Negra decided to share. Here Jody can be seen peering toward Negra.

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