Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

auction

Freezing Rain and Flamingos

by

Let’s start with freezing rain.  Because we did, in fact, start the day with freezing rain.  I’m not a fan.  It coats everything, and makes me fall down.  If it’s 27 degrees, and there is precipitation, it should snow (in my opinion).  Right?  If there are any meteorologists out there who want to explain it to me, that would be great.

Enough about freezing rain.

Today, I got to try on one of the items donated through our Comfort & Joy auction, and model it for the chimps.  Sherry R was the generous donor that won the Flamingo Hooded Blanket for the chimps!  It is SERIOUSLY COZY!  Sherry, it’s so cozy, I may pick one up for myself!

Thank you, Sherry R, for giving the chimpanzees a little more Comfort and a lot more Joy with your generous gift!  I’ll bet Burrito curled up in it after making me run around the hill today.  In the freezing rain.

 

Rayne Gets a Gift

by

Today, Rayne’s group got to enjoy the Spring Rayne scarf from our Comfort and Joy online auction! I painted the original artwork for a different auction and was inspired by the one and only Rayne chimpanzee, as well as her outdoor habitat The Bray in all its spring glory. It is neat to see the painting re-imagined as a scarf, and especially one for the chimps to enjoy! While she may look serious in the pictures, I’ll have you all know she was playing with the scarf before I could get my phone out, then it was all business for the photographer! She was wrapping it around her hands and feet playfully, and I’m sure enjoying the soft texture of the fabric. Thank you so much to Grace C. for donating this scarf for the chimpanzees!

As a bonus, enjoy a photo of silly Cy!

Don’t forget that today is Giving Tuesday, an internationally recognized day of generosity. Your support will not only honor Jody, but also the direct care of chimpanzees at the sanctuary. And your gift can be doubled today, thanks to a generous donor! Click here for more.

Finding Comfort & Joy

by

Where does one find Comfort & Joy?

For me, it’s a hot drink, a fuzzy blanket, and a good book on a cold day with nothing important to do.  Caregiver Ellen finds Comfort & Joy in the great outdoors with her pups, or a good meal!  Caregiver Anna finds Comfort & Joy in her ginormous beanbag chair, trash TV and a cup of tea or a relaxing massage.  Caregiver Jenna finds Comfort & Joy spending the holidays at her parents home, thunderstorms, freshly washed sheets and mashed potatoes!  Caregiver Chad, when I asked “Where do you find Comfort & Joy?” answered with “I follow the link.”   I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Chad finds Comfort & Joy snuggling his precious kitty CC (Cat Chad) in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pajamas (Chad says I nailed it!).

Where do the chimps find Comfort & Joy?

I think it’s safe to say that Missy and Annie find great Comfort & Joy in their dear friendship.  Jamie finds Comfort & Joy in a well crafted nest with a boot and a good book tucked into her pelvic pocket.  Foxie loves her baby dolls and a delicious smoothie.  Burrito finds so much Joy frolicking with his many human friends!  Negra is happiest tucked into a cozy nest with just her face peeking out, watching a caregiver dance, and munching lettuce.  Of course, you’ll never find Cy without a magazine in his possession, ideally a good gossip rag!  Honey B, Dora and Mave, collectively known as Mora B, like to spend quality time together thwarting the shifting plans of the caregivers.  Willy B finds Joy watching chimp videos on caregiver’s phones. What brings Gordo Comfort & Joy?  A box, of course!  Rayne also loves a good box, positive reinforcement training, and when her caregivers serve her meal in the correct order.  Lucky loves Jenna, I mean, she REALLY loves Jenna!  And last but certainly not least, our dear Teeny Tiny Terry finds Comfort blowing raspberries, and Joy grooming caregiver boots and licking the backs of our hands!

Where do YOU find Comfort & Joy?  We can help with that!

Our annual Comfort & Joy Quid Pro Throw online auction is in full swing! Register to bid on items for the chimps, that we will give to them on your behalf, and also bid on unique items for yourself or for a loved one! We will be adding new items regularly, so you’ll want to check back in throughout the auction, which ends November 20th.  Our CSNW calendars just dropped at a special pre order price!  I’m pretty sure you need one for every room in your house!  Also, WE HAVE CHIMPANZEE TRADING CARDS!!  What!?  Yep, you heard it here first!  Chimp trading cards!  How fun is that?  I wonder if they include a rock hard stick of gum?  I digress.  Do what Chad says, and follow the link!  The holidays are just around the corner!  It’s a great time to pick something up for the chimps, for yourself and for your most favorite person!  (And, if I happen to be your most favorite person, I’d like the Wearable Hoodie Snuggle Blanket with Chimpanzee Photos for You, please and thank you!)

 

 

 

Phantom Nesting and Coconut Cracking

by

I hope you enjoy the video above and think about the different ways that primates (including human primates) learn.

I was searching for other blog posts where we talked about phantom nesting and found this video from way back in 2010 that shows Burrito and Foxie phantom nesting. It goes with this blog post, which includes some interesting comments. Anecdotally, I’ve talked with a caregivers at another sanctuary who said that they see phantom nesting mostly in chimpanzees who came from the same laboratory where Foxie was born.

I find the phantom nesting fascinating, but also incredibly sad, so I thought I’d lighten the mood a bit with the coconut cracking.

Speaking of lightening the mood, one reason this blog post is a bit tardy is because I was tuned into the end of the Sweet 16 Online Auction. There were so many items in Bid Wars! To add to the excitement, there was an anonymous donor who put us well over our goal with a super generous donation to “top things off” as she said.

I am so grateful for all of the incredibly talented artists who donated items for this auction and to everyone who participated in the auction by bidding and donating. Big congratulations to the winners. I’ll be in touch about getting your art to you!!

Trifecta Jubilee Part 2!

by

Yesterday was a huge day at CSNW! Not only was it the 16th anniversary of the Cle Elum 7 (first group of chimps) arriving at sanctuary, but it was also Terry’s 35th and Negra’s 51st birthday! If you haven’t already watched yesterday’s blog video of the festivities, check it out here. There was so much unused footage from yesterday, that today I am sharing another video made up of yesterday’s celebrations. Enjoy!

Don’t forget – our fully online Sweet 16 auction concludes this weekend (the 16th at 5pm PT)! We are only 1/3 of the way to our goal of $30,000 so we really could use your help! There are so many art pieces and other items that are worth bidding on. Check it out here!

One of my favorite items is the ceramic trolls! The purple one would be perfect as a planter (it’s the size of a real troll doll) and the blue one is teeeny tiny (not Terry) and would be the perfect addition to any bookshelf or table. Every time you look at your ceramic Troll doll, you can be reminded of our dear friend, Foxie. If Foxie could bid on things, you know it would be for these guys!

A non-primate loss and an addition

by

This little announcement is a long-time coming. I have thought about it many times, and have started to write a sponsor-a-day blog post in my head on several occasions, but somehow just never got it out.

You can skip to the end for actual chimpanzee content!

For those who have been following the blog for a while, you might remember a very important non-primate sanctuary resident – office cat LouLou.

Not surprisingly, after a long and good 23 years of life, she passed away early this Spring.

The office is simply not the same without her. She is buried not far away in the little catio that J.B. built for the cats (we used to have three total) outside of the caregiver house at the sanctuary. I planted a small and haphazard garden over her grave this summer that produced a few tomatoes and lovely sunflowers in her memory.

 

Shortly before LouLou passed away, J.B. and I took in a foster dog named Nala from a local rescue called Josie’s Misfit Ranch.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, we adopted Nala shortly after she came to live with us. Now, the caregiver house where J.B. and I reside is full of dog energy (don’t let these calm photos delude you into thinking calm is the norm). If you are interested, the dogs have their own Instagram page here.

There is still some cat energy at the sanctuary, however. Barn Kitty (BK), though he comes and goes as he pleases, still frequents the barn and its surroundings.

As you well know, we have many talented artists in our midst who have donated art for various auctions and fundraisers. When LouLou passed away, I reached out to one of them, Sue Cartwright, about doing a portrait of LouLou and one of a previous office cat, Peanut. Sue did an amazing job! Now all three of our cats our represented to purrfection. In the below photo, that’s a painting of Cuba in the middle by a Seattle artist named Vicki Nelson.

So, this is what is called burying the lead. I’m glad you are still with me!

Sue Cartwright has also painted a stunning and large portrait of Cy for our upcoming Comfort & Joy online auction! Are you ready??!!

For an idea of size, the painting is leaning up against a tall dog crate:

There are more original art pieces and some other fun items that will be part of Comfort & Joy. It that doesn’t cause you to immediately register for the online auction, well, I just don’t know what will.

A VERY Special Message

by

Bidding for HOOT! 2020 opened this morning! If your breath stops for a minute and then your eyes water a little watching the video above, I get it – the same thing happened to me.

Jane Goodall has always been a voice for HOPE even when sharing the desperate reality of what chimpanzees face in captivity and as a species in the wild.

Hope for the future, with a plan to help, is what the chimpanzees and the whole world needs right now, so I hope you will join Dr. Goodall in her support of HOOT! as we work to help more chimpanzees and care for the ten already at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

Bidding ends during the virtual event on September 12th. Auction items are still being added over the next few days, so visit frequently. You can still enter the pant-hoot contest and register for the virtual happy hour too!

Big thanks to Dr. Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute for making and sending us that video.

 

And big thanks to all HOOT! 2020 Sponsors, including:

EVENT SPONSOR: 

SANDRA SHARP

 

HAPPY HOUR SPONSORS:

Poppoff Logo

 

CHIMPANZEE CHAMPIONS:

Marya Barey

Pam Lehnert & Marc Warner

Krissy Brasfield of