Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
For the first time in what feels like forever, we have had some consistent sunny days with the temperatures in the 60s. A sunny day with slight overcast in 60º weather and the slightest of breezes are the perfect conditions for the first forage on Young’s Hill of 2022!
Annie:
Burrito:
Foxie:
Jamie:
Jody:
Missy:
Negra:
Annie and Missy:
We are pretty darn excited about the expansion projects underway at the sanctuary! I predict Jamie is going to LOVE her new patrol routine.
Learn more about all that’s happened the last two years and the future/current projects on the Future of CSNW page on our website.
Construction costs have gone way up, so if you have the ability to donate, we would really appreciate it!
In addition to all of the various ways you can contribute every day, there will be a few special opportunities throughout the year, including the upcoming GiveBig and the in-person HOOT! fundraising fête in September. Reach out if you want to talk to me about donation and sponsorship opportunities.
Today was a warm, sunny, and windy 56F degree weather day, perfect to enjoy from inside the green houses. All three green houses were packed with chimps napping and relaxing all afternoon. Jamie and her six friends went on multiple walks around the hill only to come back and relax again. Willy B, Mave and Honey B got access to the Courtyard where Willy B spent a big chunk of time basking under the warm sun. He did not seem to mind the Spring wind at all. The girls remained in the chute enjoying the day. Lucky, and the other five members of her group spent almost the entire day in the green house as well. With optimal napping spots up in the platforms, and raisin board enrichment as extra enticement, it was no surprise that it was just the place to be all day. Even the cattle and Barn Kitty were spotted enjoying this day in the most relaxing ways.
Gordo using a chopstick to get raisins from the raising board enrichment his group got today
Rayne napping…until she heard the “click” of the camera…sorry 🙁
Lucky resting but watching my every move from the platform in the green house
Dora napping
Jamie on the top platform of the original green house, next to a boot…of course!
The cattle in their most relaxed form courtesy of Caregiver Chad who took this photo today while on cattle care.
Even Barn Kitty was into the sun’s warmth for some nice resting time
Today we will round out our Chimp ID Series of the Lucky Six! Though she is last in this series, she is certainly not the least. Today is all about none other than Dora!
When Dora first arrived here, she was a bit of an enigma to the caregivers. She was very quiet and reserved, and wanted no interactions with the humans outside of meal time. Though she loves spending time with her chimpanzee family, she also enjoys were alone time equally as well.
As the months went on, Dora really started showing her personality to the human caregivers. She let them know that she indeed loves to play.
Just like a certain someone we all also know well, she is tiny but fierce. Dora is in the fact tiniest member of her group. But despite her small stature, we have seen her step up to the big guys in her group if they get too rowdy.
In fact, today Willy B began displaying in the Oakwood Greenhouse while she was grooming Terry in Riverview. As Willy B was displaying, Dora was the first one to begin to respond to his displays with pant hoots and a swift kick to the caging that separates them.
For us caregivers, it is this tiny body that allows us to identify her easily. But as you may have noticed, though she has a tiny body, she has big eyes. Her eyes are very unique to her group. This is another feature we use to tell it’s Dora.
We are really only starting to get to know Dora, and can’t wait to see her shine!
Cy has been trying out different ways of retrieving the walnuts out of the fire hose knot puzzles over the last few months. The last few times that I’ve been in the chimp house when Cy’s group has gotten fire hose knots, I’ve seen him chew the nut while it’s was still in the fire hose, then suck on the fire hose, I suppose getting some essence of walnut out of that process.
Last night, however, I was lucky enough to get this video of Cy’s new, and more fruitful, method of getting that sweet, sweet walnut reward.
It was recently brought to my attention that we haven’t had a lot of blog posts about Foxie lately. So, I wanted to let everyone know that Foxie is as fantastic as ever.
I did try to get some photos of her today, but I only got a couple of mediocre ones with my phone as Foxie anticipated and then ate the avocado that Sofía served at dinner:
There’s virtually no where you can go on Foxie’s side of the chimp house without seeing signs of her. Here’s a few photos of Foxie calling cards that I took tonight while spot-cleaning the loft:
I remember several years ago remarking on Foxie’s suddenly gray hair on her arms, which was an undeniable sign of her getting older.
Just last week, however, Foxie did a full flip from a standing position while playing with me. That old lady still has a lot of energy and is way more fit than I am!
Here’s a selection of Foxie photos from the past:
This photo of Foxie:
taken by Katelyn, was the inspiration for this year’s HOOT! graphic, created by loyal blog-reader, Foxie fan, and graphic designer, Kathleen Corby:
It’s true – we are planning an in-person HOOT! fundraising fête this year on September 16th. Stay tuned for more details.
Thank you to everyone who loves Foxie. She is one-of-a-kind and has a way of stealing our hearts every day.
Sunny days are always great, specially after some days of non-stop rain. Today, the clouds scattered away and the rays of sunshine made an appearance. To say the least, everyone, including the caregivers were very happy to catch a break from the Pacific Northwest gloominess. If only there were away to turn OFF the wind!!! But regardless of the wind, the chimps in Jamie’s group went on countless walks around the hill and spent most of the day in their warm greenhouse. Cy and his friends also spent the day in their greenhouse and every so often you could walk by and someone would pop their heads off the edge of the platforms for a subtle “hello”. Willy B and his friends were very into the raisin boards they got for daytime enrichment, although it is very likely that Willy B got every single raisin.
Annie looking over at the neighbors before sprinting over to catch up with Jamie, who was going on a perimeter walk with caregiver Grace and her sweet new boots:
Honey B sitting on a wooden chair
A Cy close up
Dora was very interested in the mechanics of a phone camera
Jamie observing my every move while I squeegeed in the play room
A sequence of Foxie with a doll in her mouth making her way over to the greenhouse window to meet up with Jamie
Gordo in the platform of the greenhouse very much aware of the display Willy B had going on on the other greenhouse
Jody resting in the greenhouse
Willy B securing ALL the raisins in the raisin board enrichment that his group got today
