I just read this quote: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” –Epicurus
I’m pretty sure Negra would agree:
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
by Jackie
by Jackie
Missy has a way of making almost everything she does, no matter how mundane, silly. She has been thoroughly enjoying putting sheets and blankets over her head lately- both during play and while resting in her nest- and she incorporated that into her nesting technique today. Every addition to her nest, whether it be a sheet, a blanket, or a fire hose, began over her head and lingered for a bit before moving on to the next thing.
Once her nest was just right, she threw one more blanket over her and took a nap.
by Debbie
It’s really amazing to look through some old photos of when the chimps first arrived at the sanctuary. Their skin was so faded, they had so little hair, and they just seemed expressionless. Even after just a few months, we started to see some drastic changes. This post shows before and after pictures of Annie—with only about 3 months between. Well, I took a photo of Annie today sitting in the same exact spot as our “before” picture. It’s pretty striking how amazing she looks after 3 years in sanctuary.
Annie before (June 13, 2008)
Annie now (August 30, 2011)
by Debbie
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!
by Jackie
I take a yoga class once a week and am often inspired by the chimps here at CSNW. Their lives are nowhere near the freedom of Africa, but they have mastered the art of being able to truly relax in their sanctuary. Negra, Annie, and Jody have all been spotted doing “yoga poses” while relaxing (see this post of Jody doing some of my personal favorite poses), but true relaxation involves much more than a stretch or a twist. Today, I went out to the outdoor area and spotted Negra kicking back on the deck. Her ability to let go with her expression is priceless! That is true relaxation.
by Jackie
As you may know, Jamie is an artist, though her medium of choice these days is usually pens and crayons, rather than paint. Perhaps she is more of a writer than a painter?
One of my favorite pieces from Jamie is the mask in this post. I found it while cleaning the playroom and was immediately amazed at how artistic and creative it was, so we’ve decided to frame it and put it in this year’s auction! I can’t wait to see how well it does!
by Debbie
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!
PO Box 952
Cle Elum, WA 98922
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509-699-0728
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EIN: 68-0552915
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