Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
When Jamie gets a new pair of boots, she likes to have a caregiver model them first. Here’s Debbie showing off new boots from Lisa Stuverud yesterday. (Jamie didn’t seem to mind that the boots were too small for Debbie.)
Then Jamie usually demands that the caregiver modeling the boots accompany her on a walk around Young’s Hill. When that’s done, Jamie’s ready for us to give her the boots. She spends some time inspecting them closely. Yesterday she even licked them.
Foxie and Annie both have a habit of getting mouthfuls of water and holding it for awhile. Annie sometimes uses the water later to wash her face, and Foxie tends to just take her time to slurp. Today they happened to both have mouthfuls of water, while in the playroom, and while looking at each other. They look like they’re having some kind of stand off.
Then Annie started to groom Foxie (they still had their mouths full) briefly.
And Foxie looked through some enrichment, testing out the trolls that were in front of her.
Missy and Annie are usually found on the go. Running, leaping, laughing, wrestling, and more running every chance they get. But with the first sudden hints of autumn in the air, I caught them both taking advantage of the lingering end-of-summer days and the warmth of the greenhouse.
Missy, just being her cool self:
And right next to Missy, her best friend, Annie, of course. Relaxing in classic Annie style:
These feet!!
Unbelievably, we will be celebrating this beautiful chimpanzee woman’s 40th birthday on September 10th! Maybe she is resting up for the big party.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed, but the Cle Elum Seven are really attractive chimpanzees. Just look at these beautiful faces:
Negra:
Jody:
Missy:
Annie:
Today we took advantage of the cooler weather and put the chimpanzee’s lunch out on Young’s Hill for them to forage. These forages often consist of pieces of vegetables, fruit and chow and we spread them around the hill for the chimpanzees to find. Sometimes we even put some of the food on top of the treat rock (one of the prominent features of Young’s Hill). Jamie and Burrito are the chimpanzees most likely to be seen climbing on the rock in search of food. But today, Foxie tried her hands (and feet) on the rock after all of the other chimpanzees had gone back inside. This is the first time I have seen Foxie on the treat rock!
Here she is sticking her arm in a hole to grab a few pieces of chow.
Here she is trying to get in better position.
She began traversing across the treat mound in search of more food.
Once she got all of the food pieces, she began to prepare for her dismount from the treat rock.
Finally, safe on the ground, she enjoyed the food she found on her climbing adventure.
I also managed to capture Jody, with her mouth and hands full of red cabbage and brussel sprouts.
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Jessica Larson! Today also happens to be Jessica’s 30th birthday and she shared the following message:
“I honor the chimps who have taught me so much about myself and my world on this day. May they enjoy 30 plus years of happiness and health in the sanctuary.”
We often hear from people how much the chimpanzees inspire them. Even people who have not had the opportunity to meet the chimps in person often share the profound difference they bring to their lives. We are so grateful that the chimpanzees are recognized not only as the special individuals they are, but for the value and significance of what they contribute to life, in no other way than just being themselves.
Jessica, thank you so much for honoring the chimpanzees on your own special day and for your generosity and compassion of gifting them with a day of sanctuary! All of us here at CSNW wish you the happiest of birthdays!!
Many folks have come to know the chimpanzees and their special interests. For instance, Foxie and her love of troll and dora dolls, Jamie and her love of boots and Negra and her love of nesting with a lot of blankets. Well, today, the chimpanzees decided to mix things up a bit.
Annie is usually shy in front of the camera, but not today. Here she is blowing bubbles.
Then she licked the bubbles,
and then blew more bubbles,
and even more bubbles.
Foxie, who can usually be found with a troll or dora doll had one of Burrito’s favorite toys in her mouth.
Jamie usually lets us know when we pick out the right boot she wants us to wear for walking around Young’s Hill. Today she did not seem content with just one boot. After I showed her each boot in her boot bin, she continued to stomp on the second story of the playroom floor and motion toward her bin of boots. Turns out she wanted two boots not just one!
The boots on my feet during a walk around Young’s Hill with Jamie.
Jamie with her boots after the walk around Young’s Hill.
And finally, while cleaning the Playroom, we discovered an unusually large nest of blankets in Negra’s favorite nesting spot. Thinking that it was a little bit on the large side, we decided to count the number of blankets and found that she had made her nest with 31 blankets!! Throughout the course of a day, we place a total of 60 blankets in the Playroom, Greenhouse and Front Rooms, so a 31 blanket nest is quite large and probably quite comfortable. I wonder how many blankets she will use to build tonight’s nest. Unfortunately, I did not think to take a photo, but thought I would share that with you.
