Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
This morning the chimpanzees looked absolutely heavenly with the beautiful grassy backdrop that was Young’s Hill. Being surrounded on all sides by green seems like the absolute perfect way to celebrate Earth Day don’t you think?
“The Earth is what we all have in common.”
—Wendell Berry
Happy Earth Day everyone!
We are really excited because today we put in our first online order for a Charlie’s Produce delivery that will come straight to the sanctuary! Before Covid-19, Charlie’s was our primary source for produce that we picked up at a nearby business. However, when Covid-19 hit, a lot of things changed and we had to start shopping for produce in person. In addition to the convenience for staff, Charlie’s also has an amazing assortment of fresh produce and the chimps will get to have a lot of variety in the food we serve them! On Saturday’s blog, Diana said that it never gets old to watch the chimps forage. That is so true and it never gets old watching them enjoy food that excites them!
There are a lot of different ways to donate to the sanctuary like becoming a pal to the chimps or bovines, sponsoring a day on the blog, but my personal favorite is becoming a produce patron. What is more rewarding than donating towards the thing that brings the chimps the most joy (their food!)?
Whenever I serve the chimps I feel so thankful for everyone’s donations and feel blessed to be able to hear the sounds of the chimps eating. Listening to Jody making dinosaur-like food grunts or Burrito food squeaking for sweet potatoes is simply the best. If you are ever looking to find a way to donate, become a produce patron and just imagine Foxie blowing raspberries for fruit smoothies, Honey B food grunting for a head of lettuce, Or Willy B eating his leeks like Bugs Bunny. That will always put a smile on your face.
Foxie eating her banana this morning.
Negra eating some celery.
And a carrot.
Jamie sitting on the firehose is the best and Foxie holding her carrot with her foot is pretty great too.
As much as I just talked about fresh produces, today’s real theme in the chimp house seemed to be grass. Everyone at some point was out on Young’s Hill foraging for grass!
Jody foraging for grass.
Burrito finding some shade and grass.
Missy searching high and low for some good grass.
Negra has been out morning around on the Hill a lot this spring.
Foxie doing Foxie things.
Today has just been one of those busy days. Every time I would go to get some photos of the chimpanzees, they were in spots that are extremely difficult to get photos from. And the times the Seven were exploring Young’s Hill, I was in the middle of cleaning and didn’t make in time to take many photos. I was starting to get worried that today’s blog would just be a hodge podge of random photos I was able to get. In one final attempt, I just went to check to see what was happening in the Greenhouse. And there was the grooming party of all grooming parties.
Annie grooming Jody grooming Burrito:
Jamie and Foxie grooming:
Burrito left Jody and Annie to groom with Missy:
Jamie left Foxie to groom my boots:
And Negra passed on grooming to monitor the progress of dinner being made. Priorities.
And if you’re wondering about the hodge podge of random photos, here they are as a bonus.
What are some of your favorite Sunday activities? The video highlights some of the residents of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest favorite Sunday activities.
But before anything else, the morning patrol!
Jamie couldn’t wait to do her morning patrol. She even decided her breakfast chow had to wait until she was on Young’s Hill!
Not far behind Jamie was Burrito, Missy, and Jody.
Annie decided to venture off on her own.
Missy found a perfect spot for a little solitude and to take in the morning scenery.
However, Jamie thought this was also the perfect spot to eat her chow.
I mean, who could blame Jamie? This is the perfect spot to take in all of a Spring morning’s glory.
Missy shortly left to zoom around the hill.
While Annie decided to try to spy on her neighbors: Willy B, Honey B, and Mave.
Then there is this guy. With this glance, I know my legs are about to turn to Jello, I will be soon out of breath, and make a few trips around the Hill, which was exactly the case shortly after this photo was taken.
We here all hope you had the most perfect Sunday!
When we set out food forages for the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill, the chimps’ outdoor habitat, especially on a gorgeous day like today, all of the staff onsite tend to gather at the base of the hill near the greenhouse, frequently with more than one of us taking photos.
It never gets old watching forages, and we often narrate out-loud to one another what’s happening. Today, Missy provided some excitement for our (and her) enjoyment.
The lunch forage was whole tomatoes (a Missy-favorite!), big chunks of lettuce, celery, mini sweet peppers, primate chow biscuits, and a few pieces of sweet potato.
Missy was keen on finding the tomatoes, but was also busy gathering lettuce. We spotted her on the treat rock (an artificial termite mound) taking a moment to eat some lettuce.
She must have spotted some tomatoes on top of Negra’s cabin from the vantage point of the treat rock, because she leapt off the treat rock in a way only Missy would. J.B. got a shot of her in motion!
Here’s the zoomed-in version of that photo. I dubbed it Stunt Missy.
Negra was settled in inside her cabin, casually enjoying some chow biscuits and lettuce, when Missy approached.
Missy was determined to climb up the log support of the cabin, even with her hands quite full. The humans watching wondering if she could do it…
Of course she could! She scaled up the log one-handed, not dropping a leaf of lettuce.
and enjoyed the tomato reward when she reached the top
Foxie is a unique character at the sanctuary. She is equal parts friendship and independence, with a dash of eccentricity thrown in for good measure. She loves fresh fruit and creamy avocados and has never said no to a morning smoothie. It’s a rare sight to see Foxie without a prized (and well loved) doll close by. She protects her friends and is remarkably brave, despite her skeptical nature. Foxie’s playful energy is a contagious delight within her chimpanzee family and she brings joy to all who know her. Cheers to Foxie Chimpanzee on this fine spring day in April!
Burrito is the best kind of distraction. This video of Burrito doing a headstand and rolling in paper is a perfect example. He can certainly entertain himself, but it’s hard to get any work done around here! He is always getting someone to play with him, human or non-human. Just ask Chad!
The weather today was amazing. And it looks like it’s only going to get better. We have been trying to take advantage of this weather, so we did a lunch forage again!
Missy was very pleased when she found a head of lettuce!
Burrito had his hands full of tomatoes and lettuce.
This was such a sweet moment, Missy giving Jody reassurance.
Jamie with a beautiful troll scarf.
This is how I found Mave this morning :).
Now I shall leave you with one last photo of sweet Negra.
