There’s one item that’s part of any self-respecting Pacific Northwest chimpanzee’s diet.
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Not Your Typical Monday
Today was not your typical Chimp House day. I had to do some door maintenance, which meant the chimps could only have access to certain areas at a time. Let’s just say that they (Jamie) were not the happiest about their schedule being off. Jamie kept herself busy surveying mostly me but also anyone else who stepped out of line, I mean isn’t that her job! However, we have amazing volunteers here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest who busted their behinds to clean the enclosures fast so the chimps could go back to their normal routine! And don’t worry we also made sure these chimps were preoccupied with lots of enrichment! Once the chimps received access to all of their enclosures they spent their snowy day nesting and grooming, especially Jamie – she was wiped!
The lovely Negra:
Jamie insisted on getting her magazine back from the playroom to pick up where she left off:
Someone left some steamy footprints:
Burrito quietly played with a scarf in the corner of Front Room 4:
Happy Birthday, Sherry!
A lovely friend of the sanctuary, Sherry Berman, sponsored today with this special message:
“I finished the book, “The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary” and stumbled upon CSNW. I had 3 surgeries and was house bound for 1.5 years. Seeing the fab 7 daily was one of the highlights of my long days. It has been years now and I do not miss a day of following the 7, especially my lovie, Mr. B. So happy to be able to support the chimps and the humans that take care of them. So, I want to share my birthday with Annie, Missy, Foxie, Negra, Jody, Jamie and Burrito. Love to the chimps and the humans who care for them.”
Happy Birthday, Sherry! Thank you so much for sharing your joy with the chimpanzees, and us all! A beautiful full circle. All of us here are wishing you the most wonderful day of with all that you most love (in which case, Burrito probably hopes there is a lot of food involved). 🙂
Burrito:
Cautiously Carefree
The chimpanzees still don’t do much lounging on Young’s Hill. They spend quiet moments outside, to be sure, but it’s rare to see any of them just fully relax like they do when they’re indoors. Even when we’ve put out blankets, we haven’t seen them really nest.
Perhaps because they spent decades living indoors in laboratories without access to big open spaces, the outdoors seem to require more vigilance. I guess I feel the same way, come to think of it.
This morning, I did catch Foxie lying down way up high on the structure donors named “Jamie’s Lookout”.
You might notice that she’s still holding onto the ladder.
Even with this tether to security, you can tell that she is happy because she’s rubbing her big toe and second toe together – a classic and unique sign of happiness for Foxie.
Missy noticed Foxie in repose, and came over with a big playface. Then ensued a very short tickle/wrestle game (so short I didn’t capture a decent photo).
Missy then spied on J.B. who was with the cattle on the other property,
took a moment to sit next to the now upright Foxie,
and resumed her position on the other side of the lookout.
Foxie did some careful inspecting of the structural integrity of the platform before making her way back down.
Commander Jamie
When your boss orders you to stop cleaning and start playing, you make time!
Happy Birthday, Meg!
A day of sanctuary was sponsored by the chimps (and humans!) good friend, Meg Lunnum! Meg shared this message about her gift:
“It is my birthday again! I want to say I am SO EXCITED about contemplating new chimpanzees coming to the sanctuary. That is where I dedicate my birthday. More Chimps!!!!!! And cows, and monkeys and whatever else needs rescuing.”
Meg, thank you so much for all you do for the chimpanzees, for all you contribute to their lives and their home, and their future family! We hope you have the best birthday yet! Happiest of days to you from all of us here!
Annie, Missy and Foxie
Burrito and Negra:
Jamie:
Jody (Burrito, background):
Continued construction progress
We have a lot of people to thank for helping us work on this important stage. As you may already know, staff caregivers operate the chimpanzees’ current doors using a remote controlled pneumatic lever system. In our new Phase 1 chimpanzee area, we will be using a hydraulic door operating system. As you can watch in the above video, we got to see the first door in motion this morning!
To get this first door up and moving, Ozzie from Spencer Fluid Power donated a hydraulic power unit to the sanctuary. Gary and his team from Sage Mechanical donated and installed all of our hydraulic pipe, fittings and covers. The actual doors were given to us last winter by Central Washington University before the former Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute building was demolished. Here’s JB’s post about it from February 2018. We are so grateful to all the members of our community who have been so willing to donate their time and money to helping with this exciting expansion project. We can’t wait to Bring them Home!
