Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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fall in love

Be Mine, Honey Cow

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You know how last week in our Be Mine series, I said that Betsy was easy to get to know because of her gregariousness towards humans? Well, today, let me introduce you to her cow opposite in that respect – Honey Cow!

If you want the quick and delightful overview of all that is wonderful Honey, watch her Fall in Love video that Grace made last week, then read on:

Honey was likely born in 2007 and we choose to celebrate her birthday on November 10th.

(Allow me to pause here and skip ahead a bit to tell you that, shockingly, Honey Cow only has three Bovine Buddies currently – Monica, Jackie, and Jennifer (thank you to them!!). So, if you are looking to add a cow friend to sponsor (and why wouldn’t you, for just $10/month?!), I definitely recommend you read on and choose Honey for your Buddy!)

Honey, as we’ve explained through Betsy and Nutmeg‘s Be Mine blog posts, is mom to Meredith. Like Betsy, she was used in the dairy industry before being purchased for use in the reality TV show Utopia. In fact, Honey gave birth to Meredith during the filming of the series. When Utopia was cancelled after just two months, Betsy, Honey and Meredith all went to Farm Sanctuary’s shelter in northern California (you can read more from Farm Sanctuary about how they ended up at that sanctuary here, a profile of Honey from Farm Sanctuary here, and a mention in the Hollywood Reporter here). They were soon joined by lil’ baby Nutmeg (who is now big baby Nutmeg 😉 )

Honey and little Meredith at Farm Sanctuary:

Honey is a fan of alfalfa, and she also likes to lick up salt and mineral supplements. We have these in block form for the cattle to lick whenever they want to, and we also add loose salt and minerals to their grain in the wintertime when they are relying on dry hay for nutrients rather than grazing.

 

In the winter, when the temps drop, the cattle start to get a thicker coat of hair. On Honey in particular, her longer hair develops a wonderfully luxurious wavy pattern.

Like Betsy, Honey is very curious:

Unlike Betsy, Honey is somewhat suspicious of humans and has a certain disdain to be touched by them. I would venture to say that one of her favorite activities is looking scornfully at people. She will definitively let you know when you have invaded her personal space with a shake of her head or a head butt.

I’ve mentioned before that the more “difficult” animals, the ones who have to be won over, always seem to find a big place in my heart, and this is certainly the case for Honey Cow.

I love that she’s sometimes annoyed by my presence! And I love even more that I can now touch her or brush her head and, though she still acts annoyed, she usually doesn’t stop me.

Once again, I encourage you to choose Honey for your Buddy!

Here’s a bonus photo taken during our deep freeze this winter. Similar to when we exhale in the cold and there’s a cloud of our warm respiration, Honey’s exhale created a nose halo of face frost.

 

Be Mine, Foxie

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“Foxieee!!…” is an unapologetic and relatively common fan-girl level squeal you might hear ringing through the chimp house on any given day I greet her. Given that we’re both grown women, it’s ridiculous, but the joy in seeing this effervescent sprite of a person will not be contained. Nor should it be. Foxie’s typical response to this is for her hair to stand on end (pilo, in chimp lingo), run toward me, toss me her doll du jour, and sprint or pirouette off for a game of chase. If I’m extra fortunate, she might pause long enough to push her lips through the caging and greet me with a breathy pant and a kiss to the back of my hand. Oh, and I’m pilo, too, but unfortunately my hair doesn’t stand on end. 😉

I have had the profound privilege and joy of knowing Foxie and her beloved group members for around 13 and a half years or so now. For those of you who may be newer to our blog, they were the original group of seven chimpanzees who arrived to the sanctuary on June 13, 2008. It’s equally hard to believe so much time has passed as to imagine any time without them. When I look back on photos from earlier years I see a lot less gray hair on both of us, a little less hitch in our giddy-ups, but speaking for myself, always a heart the shape of her.

We’re asked all the time who among the chimpanzees is our “favorite”. Foxie is not my favorite. She is my family.

I cherish, no less, each of the unique relationships I have with the chimpanzees, a gracious gift of their choosing from them to us. And just as with humans, for whatever ineffable reasons, sometimes you just connect with one another in different ways.

Foxie was born on August, 8, 1976, to her mother, Winny, and her father, Brian, at the then Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (now Texas Biomedical Research Institute) in San Antonio, Texas. Winny gave birth to 11 children and she died while living at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico in 2013. Our records don’t indicate where Brian wound up, but it was unlikely in sanctuary. As is common for all chimpanzees used in biomedical research, Foxie has numerous full and half-siblings. Most are only listed as numbers. Her one younger sibling who we do have information on is her half-sister, Sophie, who was also born to Winny and thankfully resides at Save the Chimps in Florida.

What I find particularly delightful and interesting about Sophie, who would not have known Foxie, is that she also loves her dolls, especially stuffed monkeys. (Of important note if you are going to be Foxie’s friend: she DETESTS stuffed primate dolls and they are guaranteed to meet a swift and violent end involving immediate de-stuffing and beheading, so don’t even THINK about sending her one! 🙂 Foxie is a troll>Dora>Strawberry Shortcake & friends purist.).

Sophie and her monkeys. (Photos courtesy of Save the Chimps):

And my personal favorite, carrying her giant witch:

Foxie herself went on to be used in biomedical research for thirty years before arriving to her sanctuary home. Used as a “breeder” (lab terms) and in hepatitis vaccine research, Foxie gave birth to two sons, David and Steve, a rare set of twins, and two daughters, Angie and Kelsey. And like most chimpanzee mothers in labs, her children were stolen from her within days of birth to continue the cycle of research. Devastatingly, David and Steve died while still in the labs. And thankfully, Kelsey eventually made it to Chimp Haven in Louisiana (Caregiver Sabrina was so fortunate to work with her!). It’s our understanding that Kelsey has since passed away, but we’re profoundly grateful she had a chance to experience a wonderful life in sanctuary. And Foxie’s only remaining daughter, Angie, is living happily at Save the Chimps.

Kelsey (photo courtesy of staff caregiver, Sabrina):

Angie (the 1st). Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps:

When J.B., Diana, and Sarah (our former Director) met Foxie’s group, they had been living in a windowless basement of the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania (which leases animals to labs for research) for over two years. Their cages were the size of bathroom stalls and they were lined up next to one another.

Foxie arrived here in 2008 as all her group members did, ghosts of themselves:

Foxie, nearly sixteen years living in sanctuary later, because of you:

I’ll never know how Foxie, or any of the chimpanzees, found the inner strength to survive a day in the labs, let alone over thirty years. But I hope she somehow always knew the magic she holds, the wondrous person she is. I think she did. She is one of the most intuitive and loving friends a chimp or a human could hope for. She is brave, cautiously adventurous, joyful beyond imagine, and she has a closet full of sassy pants and she’s not afraid to wear them while spitting in your face or round kicking steel doors to rile the neighbors.

As previously mentioned, probably one of the most well known and endearing facts about Foxie is her unwavering love (and to be honest, sometimes, love/hate) for her dolls. An intrigue first sparked shortly after her arrival, on July 13, 2008 (according to one of the very first blog posts!) by the chance meeting of Trixie the Troll, who staff happened across at Goodwill and thought the chimpanzees might be interested in. Foxie was interested. And she scooped Trixie right up:

All these years later, Foxie has hundreds of dolls (thanks again to you) and it’s rare to find her without one. She still enjoys her trolls, but some years ago she discovered Dora the Explorer dolls (she was over the moon for France Dora!) and now she’s primarily committed to Strawberry Shortcake and her friends. Of course it’s emotionally appealing to make the common assumption she’s replacing her lost children with the dolls. Does Foxie often exhibit mothering behavior toward her dolls? Yes. And does she also bite, beat and stomp the bejebus out of them? Yes. We can never know what’s inside her head, she’s her own person after all, but they clearly provide her with comfort, joy, and sometimes a means of expressing some very strong emotions. And that’s all we need to know.

One of Foxie’s favorite games is to pass her dolls back and forth through the caging with us as we chase her with them. These games are often raucous games complete with backflips (her, not me), hanging upside down and kicking about (still her) and wildly laughing hearts (both of us). But some of my most cherished times are when we’re just sitting together quietly, her hugging her doll close to her before handing them to me, then I in turn hug and “kiss” them before handing them back. Even now I think what an absolute act of courage for her to part with something she so dearly loves, feeling safe in the trust we will return what is rightfully hers to her as soon as she asks.

While I’m hugging the doll, Foxie will often nod her head and smile, softly hooing, or sometimes serenely gaze into the distance, lost in a passing thought. And so it goes for some time. Every outstretched hand, doll, and gaze, I hope, a sacred weaving, the tapestry of her strong spirit healing and reinforced with each thread of love and honoring from my heart to hers. Eventually she’ll tuck the doll into her, hold my gaze as she gently touches the back of my hand with her fingertips and then move on to her other important chimp business.

Foxie just being Foxie makes our hearts sing, but her courageous and curious spirit is something to witness. She’s one of the few chimpanzees who declines building a nest, preferring, nay, insisting, on sleeping on the bare ground. She doesn’t like blankets, or most things, touching her (and don’t try to tie any such thing around her dolls, either!). She’s not comfortable on structures that move and tests new ones out step by step, bite by bite. All of this makes perfect sense given her history. But what I love is that she doesn’t allow her fear or discomfort to deter her. She can be fearless! She just does things in her own way and time. Which is exactly what sanctuary is all about.

In 2016, long-time supporters made the Twister, an amazing structure on Young’s Hill, possible for the chimps. It’s an amazing tower of firehose with a crow’s nest at the very top. Occasionally we’d see Foxie attempt to climb up with her friends, but she always got part way and headed back down, vexed by all the moving parts.

Well, fast forward to a summer day two years later. I was walking around the perimeter with the chimpanzees when I noticed Foxie heading toward the Twister, and Jody, her dear friend, right behind her with a look of pure determination. What was going to happen?! I could see it as if in slow motion…as if Jody was telling Foxie, “That’s it, Foxie, today’s the day you’re going to the top!” Foxie climbed a few feet up one of the beams of the structure and hesitated. Jody came up right alongside her and ushered her, to my complete thrill and amazement, all the way to the top! I couldn’t believe it! I whooped and hollered and threw my hands in the air, announcing it on the radio, so proud of her! She glanced over at me and pounded her fists on the platform. I still remember the look of satisfaction and awe on her face as she took in the view. I’m forever grateful to Jody for that day. That’s just who she was to her family. To us all.

We hold immense gratitude for all of you who have made Foxie’s life here in sanctuary possible. Countless moments of adventure, choice, hope, healing, and love, all in her own choosing and time. YOU changed her life. And our special thanks go out to Foxie’s Pals: Vicki, Monica, Chris & Lee Ann, Donna, Sharlene, Donna, Jon & Sandra, Linda, Penelope, Jordan, Sara, Connie, Virginia, William, Nancy, Kimberly, JJ, and Jayne.

I believe the world became a more magical place the day Foxie was born. And though it would be some thirty years later before I would know it, so did my heart. If you find yourself in need of  some Foxie level enchantment in your life, please consider becoming Foxie’s Pal, too. From our hearts, thank you for being here.

Be Mine, Jamie

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If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times, Jamie is a complicated individual.

I love her for (and sometimes relate to) her complicated nature. She has intense interests in very specific things – like boots, and books, and bonobos. And occasional interest in even more things, like mummies.

She is demanding. She gets upset rather easily, and doesn’t shy from showing when she’s upset.

She loves pears, and smoothie, and food puzzles. She’s so intelligent, sometimes it’s scary.

Funny story about the above image – we used to give the chimpanzees raisin board food puzzles that were portable, but Jamie realized that she could use the space above the playroom doors to throw things at the humans from above. A flying boot is one thing, but a flying hunk of Trex is actually pretty dangerous. Since then, all of the raisin boards are on chains and affixed to the caging with a secure lock.

Jamie with food puzzle

I don’t fault Jamie for being on the grumpy and demanding side. She is in an unfair situation, and I think, more than other chimps (as I’ve written about before), she is aware that her situation is unfair.

Jamie began her life, as far as we know, living with an animal trainer. She spent nine years in this world of limbo – somewhere between being a chimpanzee and being a human, and then she was sold to a research facility where she was used for hepatitis testing. You can read more of Jamie’s story on her bio page on the website or this post from many years ago.

But today, Burrito worked his wiles on Jamie and got her to smile and play. Here is the video:

Today was a good day. A relaxed and playful day. But even a challenging day with Jamie is a gift.

For me, Jamie was an easy chimpanzee to fall in love with, despite her challenges:

Thank goodness I’m not alone. Huge thanks to Jamie’s current ten Pals: Monica, Donna, Pam & Marc, Carrie, Sharlene, Kris, Therese, Dusty, Cori, and Heidi.

More people should become Jamie’s Pal!! She is the boss, after all! If my words about her have moved you, perhaps you will become her pal or gift a pal sponsorship for someone you love in honor of the month of love.

Road to Chimpanzees

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Originally, I didn’t know I wanted to work with chimpanzees. From a young age, I was drawn specifically to orangutans. I have a vivid memory of being probably 8 years old, my mom and I were at the mall and we were in a candy shop that, in addition to candy, also sold random stuffed animals and Beanie Babies. There was a large size orangutan Beanie Baby (think the size of a 6 month old infant) that I BEGGED my mom for. It was $39.99, which was outrageous for a stuffed animal of any kind. Luckily for me, my mom gave in and bought it for me. This stuffed animal was just the beginning of my fascination with apes. I went on to do book reports in high school about orangutans where I would rave about how amazing they are.

Fast forward about fifteen years, I stumbled across the primate behavior program at Central Washington University while I was researching graduate programs and it immediately caught my attention. When I applied and even began the graduate program at CWU, I assumed that this was the beginning of the road to working with orangutans.

That is until I went to Fauna Foundation for a summer internship.

My internship at Fauna Foundation was the first time I had been around chimpanzees. I don’t think I had ever even seen a chimp in-person, as the Phoenix Zoo (where I grew up) only had orangutans and other smaller primates. I remember on the very first day of the internship, myself and the four other interns, were led around property by Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold. When we approached the chimp house, Tatu and Loulis greeted us from the outdoor aerial tunnels. Tatu began using American Sign Language to sign to her long-time friend, Dr. Jensvold. Dr. Jensvold signed to Tatu that we interns are new friends. I will never forget this interaction.

There was another memory from that summer that will always stick with me. We were doing a behavioral observation study where we were recording the chimpanzees’ activities throughout a day. We were creating a baseline for them, so their “normal” activity level would be recorded. Therefore, for about fifteen minutes at a time, I would observe a chimp’s activities and record them on an iPad. This one day in particular, I was observing Rachel. She was out relaxing on one of the islands when I walked up. After a few minutes of me observing her, she gathered her two stuffed gorillas and headed over to sit in front of me (her on the island behind the fencing, me on the sidewalk). Rachel sat there and stared at me for awhile. I tried not to stare back too much, as to not make her uncomfortable. It was clear to me she just liked being in the presence of someone. It’s a moment that is hard to describe, now that I’m behind a keyboard. Truly, it’s like everything clicked when I was sitting there with Rachel: how human-like chimpanzees are, how chimpanzees shouldn’t be in captivity, how they are just. like. us.

Ever since that summer, I knew I wanted to work with chimpanzees for the rest of my career.

Working with chimpanzees can be dramatic, stressful, exhausting, but it also is the best thing I have ever done.

When did you fall in love with chimpanzees? Comment below!

Burrito:

Negra: