Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Burrito

Sooo sleepy

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The chimpanzees usually start gathering up blankets and heading for their night nests as soon as dinner and the evening enrichment are over. With one exception, that is. Jamie. Even if Jamie doesn’t choose to stay out for walking, she has indoor projects lined up for the evening by the time we leave for the day. But on the nights she does choose to stay out and walk, the chimp house often grows dark as everyone else is curled up in their nests starting to drift off to sleep. But with staff quietly going in and out to walk with Jamie while we wait for her to decide to come in, it’s not always the most conducive to sleeping. And sometimes the chimps just don’t fully settle into slumber until everyone is in for the night.

So when Jamie chose to stay out the other night, every time I walked down the human hallway past the frontrooms where Burrito had made a nest, he’d look at me sleepily and throw his arm out toward me, barely keeping his eyes open, trying to be patient for the boss lady to come in so he could go to sleep.

Shortly before Jamie finally decided to come inside for the night, I found Burrito sitting on one of the benches, sleepily holding onto his blanket and yawning, as if to say, “Please tell her to come in now, I’m sooo tired.”

Rainy Sundays

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Well, today turned out to be a mostly rainy day. The chimps took advantage and tried to recuperate after the crazy party yesterday! Jamie and I got to fit a few walks in luckily, but otherwise the chimps spent their day playing lazy games of chase, napping, and grooming.

Burrito took a mid-day nap on the floor:

Jamie found most of the Playroom forage (big nuts) and snacked on it for a while:

Later, Jamie took a nice relaxing nap with her boot:

Annie also took a minute to lay down and rest:

Jody decided to keep it pretty low key:

Jody and Annie spent a lot of their day grooming and laying in any warm sunshine they could find:

A playful way to start the day

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As I arrived this morning, I found Negra and Burrito grooming on a bench in one of the Front Rooms. This is a popular morning spot since it has a view of both the driveway and the kitchen.

Despite how this looks, Burrito is not in fact a vampire. He is actually more of a Tasmanian Devil. But at this point in the day he is still a very sleepy Tasmanian Devil.

As the other staff and volunteers arrive, Negra looks toward the kitchen and greets them with a soft grunt, and Burrito follows suit.

The arrival of the volunteers means the workday has begun, and that in turn means that breakfast will soon be ready. Breakfast always puts Negra in a good mood so she begins to play.

Negra has a rough style of play. The others tolerate it because of her status, and because they all know that it is a special occasion when Negra plays. Soon she is playfully but forcefully pushing Burrito’s head against the wall.

She thinks that is a lot of fun.

Burrito thinks a bit less of this game and he eventually slips away, so Negra settles for a patented Negra move – the head-butt to the belly. Let the day begin!

In Celebration of Lisa Stuverud and Linda Vizzare

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Supporter Lisa Stuverud is celebrating a birthday today, and her husband Richard sponsored today’s day of sanctuary with this note:

Sending a “little something” for the chimps in honor of Lisa’s birthday. With every blog post we get a “whole lotta something” in return…so much love, joy and good feelings ! Thank you so much for all you do!!

Lisa and Richard are the kind of people that are often thinking of ways to bring joy to others. They’ve brought a lot of joy to the chimpanzees over the years through their support and goodwill.

Today is no exception. Lisa also sponsored the day in memory of Linda Vizzare with this heartfelt and heartwarming message:

Another year gone by without my sister-in-law Linda. She is never far from thought but especially on April 4th when I get to celebrate us on our shared birthday. Linda loved Burrito and his happy dance. We often talked about the chimps and their strength and resilience during her chemo sessions. You just never know where inspiration comes from to get through difficult times. As Burrito, Jamie, Foxie, Jody, Annie, Missy, Negra, the sanctuary and everyone connected to it continue to daily offer strength, resilience, inspiration and much joy they also keep me close to my sister-in-law who every day just hoped for 1000 more days.

There are so many gifts that this job provides, and one of the most significant gifts is being able to honor others. So thank you, Richard and Lisa, for giving us this gift.

Burrito is certainly not one to hide his joy. Here he is in mid-dance:

 

and here he is really excited about something:

 

and here he is just hanging out with his pal Foxie while eating some corn:

Friends make everything more enjoyable. ❤

Spring has Sprung

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Spring has sprung and there is nothing but happy chimps here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest! We had chimps (Negra and friends) baking at the top of the platform in the Greenhouse, Missy asking for the barn doors to be open, Foxie playing wild games of chase, Jamie walking on the Hill & enjoying lots of grooming sessions with her boots, Burrito and Jody hanging out & grooming all day, and Missy and Annie chasing all over the place. Foxie was nice enough to let me get another photo shoot in and Jamie also let me get a few snaps before we started a game of chase this morning!

Foxie:

Jamie:

Jody staring out the Raceway towards the Hill: