We tend to get a lot of empty boxes around here at the sanctuary, and the other day Denice thought the chimps might enjoy this especially giant box. She was right, it turned out to be a lot of fun. Who knew a plain old leftover box could be so entertaining!
chimp
Running around
I just wanted to report that I did in fact run around the outside of Young’s Hill the other day. I was so grateful for all who donated to Missy Games, I felt I owed it to you.
There is a video of it, but it’s frankly pretty boring – just me moving (not nearly as fast as it felt) around the fence in struggled silence. It seemed like it took forever and the uphill was pretty challenging. I tried to go as fast as I could. The video says it took almost exactly 2 minutes. I should have timed it before we hooked up the fence to the raceway, but I’m guessing it would have taken 20 seconds or less to run around the entire building. What I’m trying to impart is that Young’s Hill is enormous. It’s really difficult to capture the size of it in photographs. I tried a few weeks ago from across the river – see the photo below. Just compare the size of the building in that photo to the hill.
Of course the indoor space will always be important for the chimpanzees, particularly in the winter. The design of the building incorporates vertical space, which is crucial to chimpanzees, and has a lot of options. It’s temperature-controlled and stays pretty cool in the summer and nice and warm even when it’s cold outside.
It will be so interesting to see how the chimps use the hill – where they hang out and what they do out there. There’s endless improvements and structures that can be added, but I think it’s a really great start to more freedom than Annie, Jody and Negra have known since their capture in Africa and more freedom than Burrito, Foxie, Jamie and Missy have ever known.
The next birthday that is coming up is Annie’s on September 10th. The hill won’t be complete by then, but it will be closer. Any suggestions for how we should celebrate?
Birthday Coconuts
Missy’s birthday party was today. First, in the playroom, Jackie and I put almost entirely SOCKS out for the enrichment (we also included some boots and trolls, which are essential for enriching Jamie and Foxie). After we cleaned the outdoor area, we set up a huge forage of watermelon, lychees, bananas, bell peppers, green beans, and of course everyone’s favorite—coconuts! We also put out amazing gift bags put together by Robbi and Dick with all sorts of new enrichment. As we were setting up the forage, the chimps watched from the windows and were food grunting and squeaking.
Jackie took dozens of pictures of the chimps foraging through Missy’s birthday party, but sadly, the camera “decided” to re-format the card! So we lost all the pictures. Luckily when we realized this, the chimps had brought their coconuts into the playroom, and I was able to get a few photos of that.
Here’s Missy opening her coconut (notice she’s holding it steady with her foot!)
Foxie:
Burrito:
Burrito had an interesting method of trying to open his coconut. First, he was dragging it across the ground, and started rolling it back and forth. When that didn’t work he tried tossing it around and around:
He still hasn’t gotten it open but he is keeping it close to him. Hopefully he’ll get it open at some point!
I didn’t get a picture of Jody with a coconut, but here she is enjoying some leeks from our garden at the end of the party forage.
Happy Birthday, Missy!
Jackie and Diana are going to be goofy in Missy’s honor in about 10 minutes, and I’m sure it will be quite the sight to see. I’ll be photographing the event, and hopefully we’ll get some good shots posted tomorrow. Thank you to everyone that has pledged or donated to today’s Missy Games!
Another use for butcher paper
Butcher paper is not just for arts and crafts. Jamie and Jody find it very nest-worthy. They both had nests that resembled paper mountains!
As I shifted the chimpanzees from the front rooms to the playroom, Jody grabbed this heaping pile of paper to use for later in the day.
Missy’s birthday & foolish caregivers?
Missy’s birthday is this Tuesday, three days from now. Jackie and I were talking the other day about ways we could celebrate. Of course we’ll have a big party for Missy and the other chimps – Robbi and Dick have already delivered bags overflowing with awesome new toys and party supplies.
We had the Troll Olympics to celebrate Foxie’s birthday. Jackie and I were both there, but didn’t participate in the games because I was overseeing the events and Jackie was filming and taking photos. We both had a great time, but, to be honest, we were a little jealous of the participants.
So, we came up with a plan…. we will take pledges from blog readers in any amount for Missy Games.
If we get a total of $500 pledged, we will run a Missy obstacle course on Young’s Hill that J.B. will design for us. If we get $1,000 pledged, I’ll “run” around Young’s Hill on the outside of the fencing. If that doesn’t sound like a big deal, well, it is. The hill itself is really steep and it’s quite the distance for a non-athlete like me, but I should start getting in shape to prepare for games of chase with Missy!
We’re really going to be making fools out of ourselves, but with your support, and in honor of Missy’s athleticism and goofiness, we’re willing to do it.
You can pledge by commenting on this post or emailing me: [email protected] and jackie: [email protected].
We are planning our outfits already – sweatbands and socks that Missy would like are a must.
Troll hair
Foxie’s trolls often end up “scalped” and lose their hair. It seems like both Jamie and Jody might do the troll-scalping, although we don’t always catch it happening. One afternoon Jackie and I witnessed Jody rip this troll’s hair out while casually resting on top of the wooden platform outside.
We have some troll dolls that are quite odd in my opinion—they don’t really resemble the traditional troll doll and have a different type of hair. For some reason these trolls don’t lose their hair as often, if ever. In this troll line-up, you can see a traditional troll still with its hair, one that’s been scalped, and two of the “odd” trolls still with hair.
Foxie still interacts with these ones…
and maybe she’s on a mission to begin their hair removal too?
Seattle Bake Sale September 3rd & 4th
The Chocolate Shoebox in Seattle is having a bake sale on Saturday September 3rd and Sunday September 4th from 11 to 7pm to benefit Precious Life Animal Sanctuary and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. They are still welcoming bakers for fabulous vegan baked goods. See the poster below for more info.
Enter it in your calendars now! What could be better than eating baked goods to benefit two sanctuaries?
