Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Can you tell who is who? Today at CSNW we have a challenge for you! There are four pictures and we want you all to try and guess which chimps are in the photos.
A freckled face:
Two mystery girls lounging together:
And who could be under this blanket:
Someone holding a troll doll:
Additional photos just because!
Foxie:
Jamie nestled with a boot:
Jamie finally off duty:
And last one because who wouldn’t want to see one more:
Burrito is a man of many charms.
We have a very touching day of sanctuary to start this Jamieween day sponsored by Anne Roberson, Cheryl Baldwin and Debbie Watt in honor of one of our wonderful volunteer caregivers, Patti Sims, and in memory of Patti’s mother, Doris Sims. They shared this touching message about their lovely gift:
“We are making this donation to honor Patti Sims in memory of her mother, Doris Sims, who died on October 13th. We selected October 31st because it is Jamie’s 40th birthday and we thought that would mean a lot to Patti. She loves Jamie and all of the chimps so much.”
Anne, Cheryl and Debbie, what a lovely thing to do for Patti and the chimps. Thank you so much for honoring Doris in such a thoughtful and compassionate way.
Patti, we are all holding you in our hearts and thoughts and we’re so glad to be able to honor your mom with you today. You do so much to make a lasting difference in the lives of our fellow animals in the world and we hope this Jamieween brings lightness, comfort and some happy to your big, compassionate heart. Thanks for being part of our chimp family.
Patti, Lynn and the birthday lady, Jamie:
Jody and Missy:
The chimps have been enjoying another low-key beautiful autumn day and when they aren’t zooming around Young’s Hill, they are napping in a sun puddle somewhere. Many of the chimps chose to nest at the top of the sunny greenhouse for much of the day and among them we noticed a popular lavender-haired companion.
Annie:
Negra:
Good thing the chimps are resting up and enjoying these golden days because the chimp house is all a flurry with preparations for “Jamieween” tomorrow, Jamie’s 40th birthday! Pumpkins are roasting, gift bags are being stuffed and new cowboy boots are being shined. Happy Jamieween Eve everyone!!
The countdown to the spooktacular Jamieween has begun and we only have 2 more days left. The anticipation has been building and there are a lot of excited chimps and humans waiting for Tuesday to come. The chimps have been very active this morning and everyone has been exploring Young’s Hill. Unfortunately there were not many photo opportunities, but the chimps decided to save some energy for Jamieween and have been napping and grooming the rest of the afternoon.
Jamie walking the hill and staring out at the view (there were some cows in the field across the highway):
Burrito playing with one of our volunteer caregivers:
Negra:
Jody grooming herself:
There is still time to celebrate Jamie’s big day by becoming Chimp Pals with Jamie or any of her friends!
A generous anonymous donor has come forward with a $5,000 challenge donation to support Burrito and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest today, on Giving Day for Apes!!
But wait, here’s the thing – there’s a Power Hour coming up from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm PT (that’s 7:00 – 8:00 pm for those on the other coast). The sanctuary that raises the most in donations during that hour will get an addition $2,500.
We didn’t win the last Power Hour (congrats to Center for Great Apes!), but we did really good, thanks to everyone who gave.
What do you say, will you make a donation in honor of Burrito and towards the future between 4:00 and 5:00 pm today?
Here’s a video in case you need a little Burrito-inspiration:
We’ve already seen some snow in the surrounding mountains and apparently have a long stretch of rain on the way, but for now the days have been dawning with beautiful blue skies and crisp, frosty mornings. Despite being able to see our breath in the morning air, the chimps have been loving being on Young’s Hill and waiting to warm up in the bright sun:
Peas-in-a-pod, Annie and Missy, climbed up together to enjoy the view in the cold autumn air:
Jody sat for ages in the morning sun then ventured up the hill for a snack to bring back to the top of the greenhouse where she could warm up:
And much to my surprise, when Jamie and I were returning from a walk around the hill, I spotted Negra of all people enjoying the sun and the view despite the cold temperatures:
I think Foxie was just as surprised to spot Negra out on such a brisk morning and decided she and her current favorite doll would check in on Negra:
Double-decker chimps:
In other news, Jamie has been doing something new this year! As a little background, if you’ve been a follower of the blog for very long you are probably aware that Jamie often enjoys late evening strolls with her caregivers. After dinner, after the other chimps have gone to bed, and past the time that her caregivers are supposed to go home for the day. We can’t blame her, evenings at the sanctuary are lovely, peaceful times and during summer a welcome relief from the heat of the day. We’ve adjusted our schedule so that we all rotate to cover PM on call in the evenings and two of us can be with her in the event that she (or anyone else) chooses to stay out past the end of our shift. This is one of many beauties of sanctuary; the chimps get to choose when they want to come in for the night. And it’s really a heartfelt joy and honor to be able to provide such a home for them.
Up until this year, we knew that even if Jamie wanted to stay out late, once it got dark she was ready to come inside. Well, that’s no longer the case! Back in August, and again last night, Jamie decided to brave walking around the hill with us in the pitch dark! The first time Jamie did this she was clearly nervous, but clearly wanted to go so Kelsi and I grabbed the spotlight and scanned the hill for her so she could see everything and know she was safe. It took her awhile to build up her courage, but once she made up her mind we were off! Kelsi held a light for us to see where we were going while I held the spotlight just ahead of Jamie to light her path. At every corner of the perimeter we’d stop and I’d light up the entire path ahead of her to remind her she was safe and then we’d venture on.
It’s phenomenal to me when I think how much courage this took for her to do. Not only is it entirely unnatural for a chimp to be on the ground outside in the dark (let alone one who spent three decades in a small cage in biomedical research), but she had to trust us enough to hold the light for her all the way around and not leave her. But once we made our way safely around she was thrilled, ready to go again! We walked around and around that night, carving a path with the light until 10:30!
So last night Jamie decided she was ready for another brave adventure. In the spirit of spooky, magical autumn nights and the month of Jamie-ween (we celebrate Jamie’s birthday on Halloween) here is Jamie in the pitch dark of the green house last night gesturing for Kelsi and I to put on the cowboy boots and get ready to run around the hill again. To say she was thrilled with the evening is an understatement. You can see the light from the chimp house through the doorway behind her where everyone else was cozy and asleep in their night nests. And what better way to celebrate Jamie’s birthday month and get into the spirit of Jamie-ween than a photo a little reminiscent of the “Blair Chimp Project”:
