Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Burrito

This, That, and the Other

by

You have probably read before that caregivers usually have mounds of unused photos and video clips. There are multiple reasons why they don’t make it to the blog: they didn’t quite fit that particular blog so they get lost to the wayside. They are too short to include into a full video. The reasons go on. Here are some clips I found on my phone that have yet to be used. Minus the Rayne clip, which I grabbed from the security cameras today.

Earlier today, you may have read it has been one year since we lost our beloved Jody Chimpanzee. I will be honest, it still is extremely hard for me to talk or even think about that day. This entire 365 days has felt like it was just yesterday, yet at the same time 1,000 years ago. There is literally not a single day that passes in which I don’t think about her.

On Jody’s burial spot, we planted some lilac trees, if you may recall. Right after planting the trees, they lost their leaves and seemed to be dead. We hoped that wasn’t the case and that Fall was just doing its thing. As the months passed and no sign of life, we began to lose hope that they survived. Well, I am happy to say, they in fact did not! On the contrary, they are thriving in this early Spring. When I noticed it as I was doing my morning run around Young’s Hill with Burrito, my eyes immediately went from dry to emitting a salty watery discharge.

Jody’s Lilac Tree with a smaller one in the foreground

Since noticing it, my entire day was filled with thoughts and memories of Jody. All the thoughts of our Joji gave me the idea to do something she loved: foraging. But I didn’t want to just do a normal forage as usual and call it a day. No. I decided to spice things up a little bit. I hid several “jackpots” around Young’s Hill. The more difficult to get to, the better the jackpot. Most of the jackpots were whole carrots and potatoes. But there was one jackpot that took a keen eye to spot and some athletic agility! (<– BIG foreshadowing of who got it.)

The prize?

A whole opal apple in one of the trees at the top of the hill! I will spare you the details of how I got it up there and got it to stay.

One person came to mind of who would reach it first. To no surprise, that person knew I was up to something at the top of the hill and it was worth skipping the bigger forage at large and see what was up there.

Missy!!!

Initially, she found one of the easier to reach whole carrots. When she looked up though, she dropped everything and raced up the tree. I wasn’t able to get photos of it on account that I am not as fast as Missy and couldn’t make it up the hill in time.

Mmmmmm… The sweet taste of victory

I did, however, follow Missy the rest of the forage. During that time, Missy when to every single structure to see if any more big prizes were to be had. (Unfortunately for her, there wasn’t since some of the places she looked, I wouldn’t have been able to reach.)

Missy climbing down from the very top platform of the Twister structure
She did end up going back to reclaim the carrot she dropped
She found another one of the jackpot carrots on top of Negra’s Cabin

It was well worth climbing to some pretty hard to reach areas to watch Missy seemingly having a forage that was designed for her, unintentionally.

Good job, Missy!

Here are some bonus photos from today!

Burrito

Scooping a pile of chow biscuits into his mouth
During our morning run today with Jody’s lilac tree in the back ground.
Annie even joined

Missy

Nothing like pre-breakfast grass to start the day

Gordo

Gordo seems to agree about the pre-breakfast grass. So far, he is the only one in his group we have seen collecting grass to eat.
Don’t forget you keys!

Rayne

Taking in the morning sun in some solitude on the Bray
Rayne found all the jackpots during her group’s forage

Jamie

She took a slight detour during today’s morning patrol through the logs

Negra

Hiding behind some logs watching the neighbors

Foxie

That blur in the background is Missy making her way to the top of Young’s Hill

Terry

Teeny Tiny Terry not looking so teeny tiny during lunch

Unlike most, Terry is very delicate with his nightbags to pick out his favorites first

Love a Chimpanzee Day 2024

by

Earlier today, Diana posted about the history of Love A Chimpanzee Day and how it came to be. With the day marked on the calendars, it was time to start planning. Luckily enough, Monica already had an idea in mind. With the theme chosen, caregiver Ellen began planning an prepping.

Today’s theme was a flashback to the 80s! With that theme in mind, Ellen thought of the idea to have the party influenced by the ever so popular rollerskating rink! And first task was to think of the menu. Today’s menu was based on foods you can find at a roller rink. There were boxes of popcorn and plates of “nachos.” The nacho chips were made from the crumbs of the chimpanzees’ chow biscuits, topped with “nacho cheese sauce” made from roasted bell peppers and tomatoes, with a side of guacamole!

Be sure to watch the video to see how the chimps thought of the festivities!

Also, today is the first day for to be able to support us during the GiveBIG campaign!  Though you can begin donating for our nonprofit in GiveBIG, the main event, so to speak, is May 7-8! There are two pages in which you can support us! The first is the sanctuary’s GiveBIG page, which can be found here! You can also support Monica Best’s and Diana’s campaign page for the sanctuary! Monica and Diana created their own campaign to support Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest for their birthdays. So mark you calendars to donate to our campaign page before May 8th! Or you can donate to Monica and Diana’s page in honor of their birthdays! (Just make sure you leave them a birthday message! Monica’s is today and Diana’s is one week from today’s) Help us reach our goal this year to continue to provide the best care that we can to these amazing residents of ours!

And, as always, here are some bonus photos from today’s festivities!

Gordo

Jamie

Rayne

Terry

Burrito

How do you know when Burrito wants to play?

by

We are always thinking about how we portray the chimpanzees. It’s easy to forget that our videos and social media posts reach people who don’t know much about the sanctuary, or sometimes much about chimpanzees in captivity in general.

When I was starting to put together today’s video, I had that in mind, and instead of just sharing a charming and playful Burrito, I decided to put some context around my interaction with him.

What do you think?

 

Morning’s on Young’s Hill

by

Burrito’s group of six have been loving their early morning excursions out onto Young’s Hill. In today’s video most of the group goes on a patrol of parts of the hill while Negra hunkers down to enjoy some grassy snacks.

Negra enjoying the early morning out on Young’s Hill:

And later she indulged in a little grass forage:

Forage Season!

by

We love forage season! It’s the best time of the year, when the weather is warm enough for chimps to hangout outside! Personally, it’s my favorite time of the year to take pictures of the chimps! I love seeing the grass contrast in the background. Please enjoy these photos of the chimps having a great day!

Burrito getting a bird’s-eye view of his neighbors while eating his kohlrabi:

Later he snagged some sweet potato:

Jamie did very well for herself (the green onion in foot is the best):

Annie bird:

Negra was the first one out this morning and the first one out for the forage:

Foxie eating a carrot:

Foxie in the green grass:

We even got a glimpse of Rayne from Young’s Hill:

Rayne really enjoyed the forage:

Bonus photos of Mave working on a Giant Kong:

*Event coming up* if anyone is in the Washington or Seattle area, we will be tabling at the Planted Expo at the Seattle Convention Center this Saturday, April 20th and Sunday, April 21st from 10 to 5. This will be our first time at Planted and we are really looking forward to it, so come say hi!

A Pear-y Good Forage

by

Earlier this week, I was conducting my security checks to enure it was safe to give the chimpanzees access to Young’s Hill first thing in the morning. As I was checking a few locks that lead to Young’s Hill, Negra was sitting at the door that leads to the outdoor enclosure, clapping at me. This is more often than not Negra-speak for “Hurry the expletive up!” (I just assume Negra curses like a sailor when communicating with the humans.)

As the good loyal subject that I am, I obeyed my queen’s wishes and put a little more pep into my step. When I finally got the clearance to let them outside, Negra was the first one out, and she was moving with a purpose. Why did she want to go outside so badly? She had left some things out there from the day prior. (Also note, please watch J.B.’s video from yesterday.)

Cauliflower! Negra remembered there was leftover cauliflower from the previous day’s forage. And Negra was on a mission to find all the leftovers, regardless of the fact breakfast was about to be served.

This was a little different than the normal foraging for morning Spring grass. Just like Burrito this morning.

Burrito’s morning forging was interrupted by screaming from his neighbors, so he jettisoned back to home base to watch.

With all this foraging, I decided, “What the heck? I’m sure they’ll like another one. I’m sure there will be something leftover for her tomorrow morning.”

And just like the other day, Negra was the first one out. There was chow biscuits to be had and neighbors to snoop on after all!

Even Missy made sure to keep an eye on her neighbors to not miss anything exciting they might do.

But to others, the food was more important. Especially when one of those food items is pears!

As some of you know, Jamie is a fiend for pears.

We are pretty sure Jamie was able to find every pear slice out there.

For Foxie, her pears were carrots.

And for Burrito, his pears were shallots.

My apologies! I could have sworn I got photos of Annie, but I guess I was mistaken. Just know that she was eyeing all the kohlrabi.

With one final grab at a whole kohlrabi, Negra headed back inside.

She didn’t even break eye contact from the Bray on her way in.

Cy

As the day begins to wind down and dinner is being prepared, I will leave you with two bonus photos!

Jamie fishing some raisins out of a pool we left her.

And Missy, right above Jamie, fishing raisins out of a raisin board.

Ain’t No Foolin’

by

Happy Day After April Fools Day! Hopefully nobody pranked any of you too bad!

I apologize for this very brief blog! Caregivers had their biweekly staff meeting, and today’s went a wee bit longer than anticipated. So please forgive me.

I do have photos though! I hope they paint a better picture of today than any words I could conjure up!

Negra

Annie grooming Negra, who was the first one out onto Young’s Hill this morning.
Of course a morning snack of grass was to be had!
After breakfast, it was time for a nap.

Missy

Missy returning from a morning race around Young’s Hill. She was waiting for her competitor (who will appear shortly).

Chasing a trespasser as Foxie looks on.
Can you find the trespasser in this photo?

Crow

Here they are!

Jamie

Missy actually was just finishing what Jamie had started.

Foxie

Annie

Burrito

Burrito trying to catch up to Missy during this morning’s race!

Cy

Cy being groomed by Rayne on Ryan’s Lookout.
Gordo joined.

Rayne

Rayne taking a midday rest on the Lookout.

Mave

No. Your eyes aren’t fooling you. That is Mave on the Bray! Granted it was a skirmish that initially brought her out there. She chose to hang out a bit when things died down. When the skirmish picked back up about 5 minutes later, Mave casually walked out there to give Terry and Gordo some reassurance. I decided to include this photo since it is rare to come by one of Mave on the Bray.