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chimp
Tricks!
We’ve been up to some tricks today…
Jamie Chimpanzee’s Hallowbirthday 2013
At Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest we take parties pretty seriously, and on this day, we have two occasions to celebrate: Halloween and Jamie’s 36th birthday. Consequently, we went a little wild with the festivities today.
The chimpanzees are lucky to have some really great friends, and today we want to thank three of them in particular for making the day so special. Supporter Jayne Roepke mailed us several boxes full of the most fun and creative enrichment for today’s party (and treated the chimps to some delicious and festive party food!); Lisa Stuverud sponsored today in Jamie’s honor; and volunteer caregiver Stephanie brought some more party decorations, food, and enrichment, including this hand-carved birthday/Halloween pumpkin:
The pumpkin was the star of the show, as you’ll see in the video below. But first, some photos of the party this morning.
Negra with a gift bag:
and with a chunk of the giant pumpkin:
Jody enjoying some cran-pomegranate juice:
and deconstructing one of the cute ghost pinatas that Jayne sent:
Jody also loved the giant pumpkin:
Foxie with the giant pumpkin (are you sensing a theme?):
Burrito taking a brief break from foraging:
Annie drinking some juice:
And if you’re wondering about Jamie, the birthday girl, she thoroughly enjoyed the festivities. Here she is looking cool with a party straw:
foraging for berries:
inspecting some new presents:
and treating herself to a “martini”:
One of the highlights of the day was watching the chimps dig into the pumpkin. They all eventually had their turns at it, but Negra was the first to enjoy the spoils.
If you’re signed up to receive our e-newsletter, you know that we’re holding a competition to see which chimpanzee can get the most Chimpanzee Pals by the end of the year. Wish Jamie a happy 36th birthday by signing up to be her Pal today!
Happy Jamieween, everyone!
the walking club
Unless this is your first time visiting the blog (if so, welcome!!), you probably know about Jamie’s obsession with walking around the perimeter of Young’s Hill while one or more of her human caregivers walks around the outside of the perimeter while wearing a cowboy boot.
She has been doing this multiple times a day with all of her caregivers since the spring. While Jamie is quite demanding about taking these walks 4-7 times a days, it’s admittedly not a dreaded task for us humans. It’s hard to describe how great it feels to not only be making Jamie happy, which is pretty much a CSNW caregiver’s definition of a successful day, but it’s also just a very peaceful way to spend 15 or so minutes. It’s particularly great right now because the weather has been amazing this October, and the hill and the surrounding property is beautiful, even awe-inspiring at certain times of the day.
We actually dreamed of doing these perimeter walks before Young’s Hill was a reality. When it was in the design phase, we wondered if the chimps might patrol the perimeter of the hill, similar to the way chimpanzees in the wild go on patrol to check the boundaries of their territory. So when Jamie started doing this, it felt right.
While spending time with the chimpanzees one-on-one, like walking with Jamie while the other chimps do their own thing, is personally fulfilling, what’s 100 times more rewarding is observing the chimpanzees with each other and seeing their bonds strengthen and their friendships expand.
Which is why we’ve been thrilled that other chimpanzees have been joining Jamie on her walks lately. J.B. captured some clips on his phone and put together the video below.
Maybe, just maybe, one day the chimpanzees will go off on their own with each other to walk the perimeter of the hill, leaving us humans behind.
Redfin Party Video!
We had some awesome donations from Redfin left over from the party a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to throw a second Redfin party!
We managed to get some video too (see below). Negra was definitely the star of this party, and both she and Jody got the most out of the terrific house piñatas.
Thank you, Redfin for all of the party supplies and for making such a special day for the chimps not just once, but twice!
Foxie and Annie Playing
If you’re subscribed to our e-newsletter, you read about this rambunctious play between Annie and Foxie yesterday and what it says about how things have changed between these two in the last few years at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Subscribe here if you’re not already signed up to receive updates!
an unfortunate privilege
We were fortunate to have spent a bit of time with Dr. Sheri Speede and some volunteers for IDA Africa when they were in the area the last few days as part of Dr. Speede’s book signing tour for her new book Kindred Beings. She relayed something that we all had in common. It’s related to Debbie’s post from the other day. Here it is: working with chimpanzees is an incredible privilege. It’s not something a lot of people get to do. When I’m walking with Jamie, playing with Burrito, passing a troll to Foxie, taking a photo of Jody, having a quiet interaction with Annie, admiring Missy as she runs on the hill, or simply looking at Negra with my heart swelling with love, I often think about this. But here’s the thing – this is a privilege that we shouldn’t have. I know we’ve expressed this on the blog in direct and indirect ways before. It’s one of those thoughts that you carry with you everyday as a caregiver in a sanctuary. No matter how great the moment is, no matter what amazing and wonderful thing has happened – there shouldn’t be a need for us to have jobs like this, and the chimpanzees we care about so much shouldn’t be here.
But they are here, and so are we. So we do have this privilege, and we are able to pass along this privilege vicariously to you through this blog – to tell their stories and explain what’s it is like to care for chimpanzees. The greatest aspect of working at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is that we all feel this way, really without even thinking about it. We all understand that we are here for chimpanzees who deserved better. They are not here for us. And we will continue to be here for them and make their lives in captivity as good as they possibly can be.
Jody lying down:
Jamie walking on Young’s Hill:
