Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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animal rescue

Jamie’s not-so-serious pants

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There are some people who are simply intense, even their resting face is intimidating to the uninitiated! Their approach to life and every experience in it can seem so serious that it’s hard to imagine them ever being a kid. If you asked my husband, that’s a fairly accurate description of me. If you asked me I’d say it’s a fairly accurate description of both Jamie chimpanzee and me. I do love Jamie’s serious face. Isn’t it intense?

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But I also know that, just like me, Jamie doesn’t always wear her serious pants. We’ve often posted about Foxie’s ability to draw out Jamie’s silly side but, really, she can be silly all on her own when she chooses. Today, during cleaning, Jamie initiated an exuberant game of chase, roll, repeat with me and I was happy to oblige. Taking Jamie on her own terms allows her to express her complex character completely and I’m so thankful to provide her that opportunity, especially when it involves laughter!

Here’s photo evidence of Jamie with a not-so-serious face. You may notice that the only photo evidence I could find of Jamie with a playface was in the company of Foxie!

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My friend, Foxie

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One of the most common, if not impossible, questions I get about the chimpanzees is, “Who is your favorite?” Impossible! They each are, for their individual uniqueness. To me it’s a privilege just to be in their presence let alone be able to call them my friends. We all have different relationships with each of the chimpanzees, built in their own time and way. Some of the chimpanzees choose to engage with their human caregivers frequently, whereas some of them prefer the company of their chimpanzee friends. And just as with human friends, you find that for whatever reasons you seem to just “click” or bond with certain individuals in a certain way. You’re especially happy to see each other when you’ve been apart, you enjoy just spending time in each others company, you learn from each other, respect each other for who you are, and you laugh together often. Maybe one of you even does pirouettes and back flips when you see each other! For reasons you cannot often articulate, you consider them one of your dearest friends. And so it is for me with Foxie. Sometimes I feel my heart will burst with all the love I have for this chimpanzee woman.

While we all hope that we are making each of the chimpanzees lives better given their life circumstances, we certainly wish they had been able to live the lives they were meant to. When acknowledging that their lives would have been better off not knowing humans at all, it can sometimes be difficult to also acknowledge that this includes me. And while I wish Foxie’s life could have been different, I am so honored to call her my friend.

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In memory of Simone

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Today, tomorrow, and the next day (!!!) are sponsored by Tracy Dunham. Tracy shared this wonderful story about Simone:

“In memory of Simone who came to me because one person saw something in a dog that had a ‘1000 mile stare’ and was so afraid that she crawled instead of walked. She spent her last days walking the beach on the Oregon coast, greeting every human with kindness and listening to the ocean with her head in my lap. Thank you to all the wonderful people who have given the chimpanzees a chance to enjoy life. I would like to sponsor 3 days for the last three days Simone and I spent on the coast.”

Tracy, we are so touched that you chose to not only sponsor 3 days for the chimpanzees, but also to include them in such a special memory of Simone. Thank you so much!

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Thank you so much, Paige!

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Today was sponsored by Paige Powell in honor of the staff and volunteers here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest! Paige, this is such a kind and generous thing to do.  I am pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say the honor is all ours.  And we couldn’t give the chimpanzees all that they so deserve if it were not for the care and support of so many amazing people such as yourself.  Thank you so much, Paige, from the humans and chimpanzees alike!

And here is the beautiful cover girl herself, Jody, who was featured in an article on the front page of yesterday’s New York Times! Learn more here!

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Foxie and the garter snake

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Chimps are very investigative, defensive, and at times aggressive. Combine all these characteristics and add a small garter snake into the equation and you get a whole group of chimps ready to attack an intruder! This morning a garter snake made its way into the greenhouse and the chimps were on high alert. Everyone took a second to peer at it, but most kept their distance. Foxie, however, showed a lot of bravery and was doing her best to protect her home by trying to attack the snake (but without touching it).

The chimps encounter snakes every now and then. They’re very careful not too get too close to something that raises so much alarm, which is a smart instinct. Thankfully, garter snakes are completely harmless so there’s nothing to really worry about if they do touch it. In fact after filming this attack, I closed off the greenhouse and picked up the snake (who was still alive) and took him to a nice garden area that I thought he’d pretty happy about. I apparently don’t have a huge fear of snakes because I was holding him for awhile, talking to volunteers Patti and Connie about how we were going to set up today’s lunch forage, when they said “will you just put that snake down already?!” Like I said, harmless 🙂

The snakes seem to be good at “playing dead” so as not to actually get killed. At the end of the video you’ll see that Jamie was fairly convinced Foxie had taken care of the problem, and then left it alone. I was glad to be able to rescue it and find that he was not at all harmed.

Help others Take Action – share Eyes on Apes!

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CSNW is a really unique place. We have seven amazing beings under our care, whom as you know are of utmost importance around here and truly run the show! Well, Jamie does anyway 😉 And we love to share stories about each of their personalities and their day-to-day lives.

For instance, today has been a continuation of the heat wave that has hit Cle Elum, but before the hot afternoon sun came around we did a breakfast forage on the hill which everyone loved. Here’s Foxie enjoying a piece of grapefruit:

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After we cleaned the playroom, Denice and I filled a kiddie pool with cool water, and harvested some black currents we have growing in the garden. We spread the currents around as a forage and also dropped some into the water. Jody and Jamie especially loved it!

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CSNW is also pretty big on education and advocacy. Eyes on Apes is our advocacy group and we really want to help make a difference for apes everywhere. The Cle Elum Seven truly serve as ambassadors for the life that all chimpanzees in captivity deserve, and for their wild counterparts who need our help to protect their habitat. This is only something we can achieve with your help! If you haven’t joined the Take Action e-mail list, do that today! Share our Facebook page, and re-tweet our plea for more followers on Twitter.

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