Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Volunteers Steph and Sara made ants on a log for the chimps’ lunch today. It was a big hit. (Seven out of seven chimpanzees agree that the appropriate method for tackling ants on a log is to lick off the peanut butter and raisins first, and go back for the celery later.)
Missy:
Jamie:
Jody:
Today, the chimpanzees were being pretty playful, especially Missy and Burrito. I wasn’t able to get the best video while trying to play tug-o-war with Missy, but I got a short clip. Burrito was playing a lot with Jackie at the barn doors. You’ll want to watch until the very end!
I managed to find the missing footage taken from the GoPro camera earlier this week. I think it’s interesting to see how the chimps see the world from within their enclosure.
As Jackie mentioned, most of the new posts that you can see in this video will be used to support a wood and fire hose bridge made by the Boy Scouts. While the scouts were working on this over the weekend, we put in about 20 other posts that will one day become climbing structures, tree houses, and crow’s nest lookouts. The money for some of these projects was donated during the fund-a-need portion of last year’s auction. Our goal is to connect all of the structures on Young’s Hill with bridges, beams, and fire hose so that the chimps can move around the two-acre enclosure without having to set foot on the ground.
This sanctuary is definitely a work in progress. But I mean that in a good way, in that we will always add new things and change others to keep life interesting for the chimps.
The chimps have had a great party today! The weather has been awesome– right now, it’s 70 degrees and it’s completely wind-less (a rarity these days!). This morning, we set up a huge forage on Young’s Hill- plums, grapes, peanuts, and chow, and the highlight– frozen grapefruit bowls. Last week, I had the idea to cut grapefruit in half and freeze juice and berries inside the peel, and a few days later, volunteers Seana, Lisa and Denice went to work and made it happen! They looked so delicious! Thanks so much for pulling that one off, ladies! The chimps loved them!
Foxie:
Missy:
Jamie collected the majority, of course:
and was very dedicated to the cause:
Annie collected an enormous mouthful of chow!
Last week, we asked our blog readers what they thought we should do for the 4th of July party. We received some great ideas! One was from Sara, who suggested “Firecracker Poppers” (toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper, filled with peanuts, and the ends tied with ribbon. Volunteer CJ and I made these yesterday and they turned out so cute! But I unfortunately wasn’t able to get any photos. So, volunteer Julie is here now and is going to make the chimps’ evening nightbags out of them. Thanks for the cute idea, Sara!
Elizabeth was inspired by blog commenter Annie N’s suggestion to make popsicles, so she froze juice inside Dixie Cups with little popsicle sticks. Again, the chimps were thrilled! Thanks for the idea, Annie!
Missy:
Negra was the most excited about these. While everyone else was exploring for goodies on the hill, she stayed in the greenhouse to have a party of her own– a 4th fit for a Queen!
Field Roast hot dogs have become a CSNW 4th of July tradition. Volunteer Patti brought Field Roast Frankfurters, ketchup, and mustard so we could serve them for lunch. The chimps love Field Roast! They truly savored each and every bite.
Jamie:
Negra ate the bread first
before enjoying the hot dog:
Even Burrito took the tiniest little bites of his hot dog to make it last longer! You don’t see that every day!
Along with making the Firecracker Popper Nightbags mentioned above, Volunteer Julie has also been hard at work making another frozen treat for dinner- limes cut in half and filled with red gatorade (to look like watermelon)! The “seeds” are sunflower seeds!
Happy 4th of July, everyone!
I often use things I’ve seen the chimps do as inspiration to help me come up with enrichment themes. Annie seems to really like beaded necklaces. I often see her playing with them– swishing them around in her hands, using them to play tug of war with her friends, or shoving a bunch in her mouth, filling up with water, and sucking all the water out:
So, today I decided to make it easier for her, and everyone. I took containers, filled them with beaded necklaces and then filled them with water. The chimps must have been inspired because almost everyone spent some time playing with the necklaces. It seems it’s no longer just Annie that thinks water-filled beaded necklaces are fun.
Missy:
Jamie:
Foxie:
The chimps are able to find plenty of native plants to eat on Young’s Hill but they still love cattails, which only grow by the edge of the pond on the sanctuary grounds. So once and a while we cut some down and hide them throughout their enclosure.
Watch Foxie choose her daily trolls from a giant pile in the video below.
As the video mentions, you can send your troll dolls to Foxie at the sanctuary for her birthday and to be used in the Troll Olympics. In addition to troll and dora dolls, we are looking for bakers to bring vegan baked goods to sell at the bake sale that’s part of the Roslyn Doggie and Troll Olympics on July 22nd. Contact Diana: [email protected] if you want to bake or if you have any questions. More information about this fun event will be forthcoming!
