When presented with an edible landscape, what is one to do?
Perhaps first, a moment of reflection:
And then a careful up-close contemplation:
And, finally, a decision:
Animal Welfare
A Picture Worth…
I had the hardest time decided what to do for the blog today. There were many moments worthy of sharing and even more thoughts floating around my head. I could have written a novel.
Instead, I decided to let the two images below speak for themselves. What do you see?
Lord Byron’s poem “She Walks in Beauty” came to mind with the photo of Negra.
P.S. The “featured” image above of Annie’s profile reminded me of a Victorian cameo. I’m not sure why the chimpanzees brought to mind the 1800s today.
Behind the Scenes
Morning is the busiest time at the sanctuary. Here’s a photo tour of the first few hours of the day today.
Coming up the driveway to the sanctuary, you can see (L-R) the trailer that houses our mobile medical clinic (which will soon be replaced with a stationary medical clinic in the new expansion), the enrichment shed for storing extra toys and blankets for the chimps, the gate to the chimp house, and the barn, which is now used to store hay and straw for the cattle. Young’s Hill, the chimps’ two-acre outdoor habitat, is out of frame to the far left.
For the chimps’ safety and privacy, the sanctuary is not open to the public.
Today staff member Anna is Lead Caregiver.
The first order of the day is to greet the chimps and work through a brief morning checklist. (That’s Annie in the background.)
Meanwhile, volunteer Linda starts preparing breakfast.
This is usually how we find Negra first thing in the morning: huddled in a pile of blankets in her favorite spot on the playroom catwalk.
And this is usually how we find Burrito: working up into his morning display.
Anna checks the day’s enrichment for safety before it’s given to the chimps.
Anna and intern Rose check some doors and locks in preparation for entering the greenhouse for cleaning:
Linda, Rose, and intern Sofia start in the greenhouse…
…while Anna brings out a basket of clean enrichment and blankets.
These guys are the true MVPs of the sanctuary. They run every hour of the day.
When greenhouse cleaning is done, Anna gives the chimps access to the greenhouse, and Linda starts serving breakfast in the front rooms while Anna closes off the playroom for cleaning.
Burrito and Annie (if you look closely you can see a tiny Jody behind them in the greenhouse):
After some more door and lock checks, it’s time to clean the playroom.
Enrichment gets a thorough cleaning, too.
While Linda, Rose, and Sofia get started in there, Anna starts the trek up the hill for her Young’s Hill perimeter check…
…and back down the other side.
Once she determines that the hill is secure, she unlocks and opens the door.
Missy, Foxie, and Annie can’t wait to get out and explore a little.
Some chimps preferred to remain in the warm front rooms.
After playroom cleaning, Anna double-checks some locks…
…and then gives the chimps access to the playroom and closes off the front rooms for cleaning.
Jamie found a new book on predators that she was captivated by.
In the kitchen, the volunteers start preparing tonight’s evening enrichment (peanut butter pinecones) and lunch.
After some checks to make sure the front rooms are chimp-free, Anna unlocks them for the next round of cleaning…
Home
Every chimpanzee deserves a territory – a home space worth defending. One measure of welfare in a captive chimpanzee is whether they demonstrate territorial behavior. If they take ownership over their home, that’s a sign that they consider it home.
Here at the sanctuary, boss Jamie does the work of defending her family’s home. Every day, often multiple times a day, in all weather conditions, day and night, Jamie takes perimeter walks around the two-acre outdoor habitat to make sure everything is on the up and up. Sometimes she brings friends, and sometimes she goes it alone.
Boyish Charm
Burrito, the one male chimpanzee at the sanctuary, is turning 36 tomorrow!
When describing Burrito, I wouldn’t be able to count how many times I have said his age and then inserted the caveat, “but he acts more like a teenager.”
When he arrived to the sanctuary in 2008 at age 26, even then he was well into adulthood; but his boyishness was apparent. Actually, it was apparent to me when I first met him at Buckshire.
Below are a few of the early photos we took of Burrito. There’s just something absolutely irresistible and, yes, cute, about this guy:
Don’t get me wrong, he is a chimpanzee and behaves accordingly. He has his Tasmanian devil moments (no slight or stereotyping of Tasmanian devils intended).
He still regularly spits on me when I’m operating doors, especially in the morning.
But often immediately afterwards he wants to play a game of chase or tug of war:
Burrito’s je ne sais quoi clearly reaches beyond those who are lucky enough to meet him in person – he has many fans, including official Chimpanzee Pals, out there. Being able to share Burrito’s youthful spirit is one of the very best parts of my job.
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share the similar boyish charm of two other male non-humans at CSNW.
A few years ago, J.B. and I adopted a dog from Lady’s Hope Dog Rescue. He had been a stray and spent some time at a couple of different shelters before he caught the attention of Lady’s Hope. He was a handful for a variety of reasons, but he quickly started to remind me of Burrito in that boyish charm sort of way.
I mean, just look at this face:
This is what Wilson wants to be doing most of the time:
Coincidentally, Wilson was diagnosed with heart issues after Burrito’s diagnosis. They take some of the same medication. Thankfully, at this point, neither of them are symptomatic and likely have no idea that they have an illness.
Because J.B. and I occupy the house on the property, Wilson is a part of the sanctuary too. He and (even more likely) his canine companion and savior Abbey can often be seen in their yard by the house, checking in on who’s coming up the driveway and watching all of the goings-on across the property.
And now we have a third young male who lives at the sanctuary. We’re still getting to know Nutmeg, the one steer who is part of our new cattle family. Somehow, he also has this young-at-heart innocence that was immediately apparent and has won us all over.
He also has one of the greatest hairdos of anyone I’ve ever met:
Nutmeg dutifully ambles along after his mom Betsy, adoptive aunt Honey and more feisty cousin Meredith. Being a male born to a cow genetically bred for the dairy industry, he’s a big guy, but I don’t think he realizes his size.
I don’t know how we lucked out with these three or why they all have a similar enchanting youthful demeanor, but I sure am glad I know them.
I’ll end with a look back at a couple of videos that illustrate the easy task of enticing the silliness out of Mr. B.:
A big happy birthday to Burrito tomorrow! May your heart always remain young, and may you, Wilson, and Nutmeg continue to charm anyone who takes the time to get to know you.
Blown Away
Wow, everyone! I am overwhelmed. It’s difficult to find the words to express my gratitude and amazement and joy at the outpouring of support for our very ambitious year-end fundraising campaign. Thankfully, Katelyn found some beautiful words yesterday.
This lofty year-end goal started with a donor who came to us with a big offer and who wanted to encourage others to give.
A few weeks ago it seemed we were very far away from matching that original donor’s $250,000 pledge. And that’s when a second donor contacted us with a $110,000 donation that would get us MUCH closer to that big goal.
There was still quite a ways to go, though. And that’s where so many others played a role. Donations came from as close by as our neighbors up the hill to as far away as Taiwan; from donors under five years old to 85 years old; from donations of $5 to $5,000; from supporters who just learned about the sanctuary to those who have followed the Cle Elum Seven since before their arrival in 2008.
You all made this pipe dream come true. We are grateful and humbled and full of hope.
It’s clear that you want this sanctuary to expand and to bring more chimpanzees HOME, and we will be putting our efforts full-hearted towards that goal in this new year.
Thank you!
Fleeting Moments
This morning the sanctuary was encased in a thin layer of delicate ice.
Here’s Annie taking in the scenery:
Each tiny twig and blade of grass seemed to have suddenly discovered an independence, briefly standing on it’s own, separated from the whole:
It was clear this was going to be a very temporary state – a moment that vanished so quickly the shutter of the camera was scarcely fast enough to capture it.
The air turned warmer and the icicles began to disappear one drop at a time. As I walked around the perimeter of the chimpanzees’ outdoor habitat, I could hear cracking all around me as the trees shrugged off their icy coats.
After taking in the scene, Annie quickly decided to partake in the moment before it was gone.
Soon the sun stood boldly in its place in the sky and transformed the landscape.
Still, in the places that stubbornly hid from the sun, the ice-covered snow remained.
Missy realized that she didn’t need to venture outside herself, she could instead request that I gather handfuls of the delicacy for her.
A lesson for us all, as another year comes to end (a lesson that I’m in need of remembering): appreciate what the day has to offer and enjoy the fleeting moments before they disappear.
Speaking of fleeting moments – we are just days away from December 31st and the end of the huge year-end matching challenge! I don’t know if you’ve looked recently – we are now less than $40,000 away from reaching the goal.
I honestly am not sure what is going to happen. Can we actually reach that lofty goal?! This is where I turn towards you all and ask that question!
