Negra was first outside this morning and she had one goal: eat lots of wild prickly lettuce! This plant grows naturally on Young’s Hill and is a go-to treat in the spring time.
chimpanzee sanctuary
The day after the party
All of the chimpanzees slept in this morning. While it’s not unusual to come in and find a few people still in their nests, it’s a little unusual to find everyone not only still in their nests, but most of them sound asleep. Even as I began quietly unlocking doors and starting the morning task list, it was a few minutes before anyone woke up.
Foxie was curled up on the heated floor with her doll, still in dreamland, and when she eventually stirred she sat up sleepy-eyed, hair on end in excitement, and trundled over to say good-morning, eyes barely open, but full of joy. Negra even skipped the first part of breakfast and chose to take advantage of having the greenhouse all to herself to get a few more minutes of sleep. But I think we can all relate to the day after an exciting party event.
And yesterday’s birthday lady, Jody? Well, see for yourself…
Jody’s 44th Birthday!
Today we celebrated Jody’s honorary birthday by scattering large amounts of whole fresh produce and browse across Young’s Hill. The chimps each collected their own individual lunch bouquet (a perfect tribute to Mother’s Day).
Negra and Missy each had their own respective lunch forage hauls.
But when Missy made it back to the greenhouse with corn and lettuce, Negra pulled rank and ordered Missy (somewhat reluctantly) to turn over her lunch:
Missy made up for her loss by gathering almost every single lilac we had put out in the greenhouse:
Annie was on high alert due to a snake sighting early on in the forage:
Eating on an elevated platform seemed like the best choice for her today:
Jamie has been collecting corn on the cob all day! She seems to keep finding a piece, every time she goes outside.
Then there was the birthday girl… This day was truly her day.
Happy Mother’s Day Lynda!
This special day was sponsored by Jamie Ferguson in honor of her mother, Lynda Ferguson! Jamie shared this beautiful message for her mother:
“What better day than Mother’s Day to honor and celebrate the woman who instilled in me my love for animals and passion for animal welfare? My mom, Lynda Ferguson, has always loved animals and it’s because of her that I grew up respecting and loving them too. While she loves all animals, she absolutely adores the chimps of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and she delights in seeing the photos and videos you post each day about their adventures. She introduced me to the chimps as well and, of course, I fell in love with them too. Happy Mother’s Day, Lynda Ferguson! Thank you for sharing with me your love for animals and for truly being the most loving, selfless and generous mom anyone could every ask for and for being my best friend. I love you!”
Jamie, thank you for honoring your mother in such a gracious way and adding even further to the chimpanzees’ lives. We’re so thrilled knowing how much they mean to you both.
Happy Mother’s Day, Lynda! Thank you for loving the chimps and for the difference you make in the world for so many by sending that love through your heart and your daughter.
Mother’s day is a very special day here at the sanctuary. Annie, Foxie, Jody, Missy and Negra are each mothers and we honor them and their children today, as well as each of the chimpanzees and the childhoods they themselves lost. Mother’s Day is also the day we chose to celebrate Jody and her official-unofficial birthday and as such, Jody is 44 today! Jody is the self-appointed “mother hen” of the group, always ensuring that everyone is safe, present and accounted for.
Jody and Foxie:
Who doesn’t wish they had a turtle pool to relax in?
When she’s not rounding up her family members or luxuriating in one of her creative nests, she finds time to maintain her title of Queen of Foraging:
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone celebrating today! We celebrate and honor all the many nurturing, supportive and loving forms which mothering comes in and wish you each a beautiful day.
And Happy Birthday, Jody!! We love you so very much! Everyone tune in later today to see the celebration. 🙂
A Study in Contrasts
Ya’ll, even though it’s only May, it is summer weather out here today at the sanctuary.
Foxie was getting the most out of the airy greenhouse and lazy summer vibes by literally putting her feet up.
With a doll, of course.
Jody was doing the same, right next to Foxie.
But this is my favorite photo of the bunch. It shows Foxie, the picture of carefree relaxation, in stark contrast to Jamie, who broke herself away from a perfectly calm grooming session to take the opportunity to try the scare the living daylights out of the caregivers cleaning on the other side of the door.
To each her own, I say.
What’s Your Strategy?
Today, while observing the chimpanzees forage on Young’s Hill, volunteer Patti said she likes how Negra goes about things.
While Missy is running from one structure to another, finding all of the food that was placed or hidden high up on the structures or the treat rock:
And Jody is busy running around collecting as much as she can, mostly from the ground (low hanging fruit, you might say):
Negra wanders about until she finds some food:
And then she plops herself down and simply enjoys what is at hand (in this case, a beet that she seems to have splayed open and a prized pineapple top):
After finishing, she’ll sit for a bit and look around before moving on to the next station:
J.B. described this as a lack of a strategy, but I think it’s still a strategy to have a laid back, “see what happens” way of approaching the forage.
Either way, she looked very happy out there. ❤️
Sleeeeepy…
The toastiest of toasty greenhouses, a full belly, a good friend (annnnnd…a blanket?!?!) equals the sleepiest of sleepy Foxies:
If you’ve been following the chimps’ lives for awhile you’ve probably seen us write about the fact that Foxie is the only one of the chimps who chooses not to nest with any blankets. She’s quite comfortable curling up in her tiny chimp way with her dolls on the heated floor or a sun puddle on a platform. I took all these photos, speaking to her throughout and even resized them for the blog before it suddenly dawned on me that she was sleeping on a blanket! I ran out to the greenhouse to see if maybe it had just appeared that way in the photos, but nope! There was not one, but two blankets curled around her. Not in full nest fashion like most of the other chimps, but decidedly under her. !!!
You may think, “What’s the big deal?” In the grand scheme of things, nothing really, as she’s been perfectly content before. Foxie has appeared happy and at ease nesting as she chooses sans blankets for almost eleven years now. Perhaps her whole life. And while it’s merely emotionally appealing to the humans to think she might be extra comfortable with blankets, she obviously knows herself best. But I’ve observed Foxie choosing to incorporate a few new changes into her days recently.
Foxie has also been known not to like to engage much with enrichment or reach into things, like boxes or bags, even if her beloved dolls are in them. The other night we gave the chimps grab bags for their evening enrichment (brown paper bags filled with toys and treats such as seeds and nuts, peanut butter pinecones, etc) when I heard a flurry of ripping and tearing. Grab bags are coveted by most of the chimps, but especially Jamie. I assumed it was her creating the commotion and when I went to see what all the hullabaloo was about, there stood Foxie, bipedal, tugging with all her might to extract several bags from the food chute and then proceed to go through each one and pull out all the items she wanted. My heart swelled.
Foxie has also demonstrated sudden progress in PRT (Positive Reinforcement Training). PRT allows us to work with the chimpanzees and invite them to participate in their healthcare which ideally makes simpler medical interventions easier and often dramatically reduces their stress when treatment is required. Foxie and I, along with Missy, are partners. We’ve been doing PRT for a few years now and as you may already be guessing from the above, Foxie isn’t really a fan. Of course, it makes perfect sense given her history. But low and behold, with the support and assistance of Missy, and sometimes the other chimps, demonstrating that a little spray here and there isn’t really a bad thing, Foxie is now participating more than she ever has. She’s not always thrilled, but she does it and continues to engage. There are even times that her relief and satisfaction in having participated and coming through “unscathed” seems almost palpable, as if she knows she accomplished something that required a lot of courage and it wasn’t so bad after all.
All these years later since arriving to the sanctuary, the chimps continue to amaze, surprise and delight us with their new found interests and courageous adventures. Even if the chimps try something new and choose never to do it again, their universe and spirits expanded from all the courage it took to try. Reaching into a bag, allowing a blanket to touch you, comfort you, may not seem big in the grand scheme of things. But for Foxie and her family, these seemingly small steps continue to be big ones in their healing. And for me, my heart shoots off silent fireworks, I want to jump and shout from the rooftops, because I’ve had the privilege to witness the bravest of brave souls expand.
