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forage

Marmots and Dolls

April 20, 2025 by Diana 18 Comments

As I was putting the video together today, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole, or, more precisely, a marmot hole.

Did you know that marmots, which are rodents (technically large ground squirrels), are also called rock chucks and whistle pigs?

The territory of yellow-bellied marmots in Washington overlap with hoary marmots, with the yellow-bellied variety making their homes in the lower elevations of the state. They live an average of 15 years and generally hibernate for eight months, reproducing within weeks after emerging from hibernation and giving birth to a litter of 3-8 after a short 30-day gestation period. Their social structure is varied and complex, prompting some researchers to use social attribute models, frequently used when studying primates, to examine their social structures. I haven’t read every word of this, but if you are interested, take a look at this paper. Now I think someone should be studying the marmots we have on the property!

You’re welcome for that marmot lesson. If you are still with me…

After my marmot deep-dive, I was looking at photos of infant chimpanzees clinging to their moms, when somehow I came across this really interesting story about adult male chimpanzees “kidnapping” an injured first-born infant from her young mom (don’t worry, everything turns out okay).

This is why you are here, right?

Our fellow animals who we share this big blue marble with are so fascinating. I never get tired of watching the chimpanzees at the sanctuary, whether they are expressing an instinctual behavior like carrying (their version of) a baby on their back, or they are just chewing a leek.

Thanks for taking a deep-dive into Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest through this blog.

There’s more! If you didn’t receive the e-news last week, or if you need a reminder, here’s a couple of things to have on your radar:

First:
We are hosting a virtual visit this Wednesday for Love a Chimpanzee Day! You can learn more and sign up for as little as $5 on this donation page: https://giving.chimpsnw.org/page/LoveChimps25

Second:
You can help a NAPSA sanctuary of your choice win a really cool mirrored enrichment item from Wildlife Toybox! Make a donation to the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance and nominate one of the following sanctuaries by writing their name in the message box on the donation form: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Primates Incorporated, Black Beauty Ranch, Fauna Foundation, Project Chimps, Chimp Haven, Save the Chimps, or Center for Great Apes. If you donate $1,000 or more, you’ll be featured as a sponsor of NAPSA’s upcoming Workshop! The first named sanctuary to hit $2,500 will win a Looky Lou feeder.

Filed Under: Chimpanzee Behavior, Forage, Foxie, Free-living chimps, Latest Videos, Wildlife Tagged With: dolls, forage, Foxie, marmot, spring, yellow-bellied marmot

‘Tis the Season..

March 6, 2025 by Sabrina

It has warmed up enough here that the snow has mostly melted, the temperature is comfortable and the sun is out which can mean only one thing.. it’s time for lunch forages to resume on Young’s Hill!

Filed Under: Food, Foxie, Missy, Negra, Young's Hill Tagged With: forage, Missy, Neggie

A Very Merry Forage

December 13, 2024 by Ellen Brady-McGaughey

Today the chimps enjoyed some delicious dried fruits and veggies, thanks to Carol H. who won them in our Comfort and Joy Auction! Thank you, Carol, for bringing joy to the chimpanzees today in the form of a delicious morning forage! We also were able to purchase some dried fruit powders (cherry, tangerine, dragon fruit, and strawberry! So exciting!), which we used to make juice for the chimpanzees. Today, Foxie and friends tried the cherry fruit powder turned into juice, and Foxie was especially excited for this special treat.

I also wanted to share a big thank you to Kathleen C. for her winning bid in the Comfort and Joy Auction for carabiner clips! These are a gift for the humans of the sanctuary, as well as the chimps, and we are so excited to have them. We use carabiner clips every day to hang enrichment puzzles for the chimpanzees and having to search high and low for that last needed clip is never fun. We now have plenty of carabiner clips for our current enrichment needs, and we are so very grateful!

Filed Under: Enrichment, Food, Forage, Honey B, Thanks Tagged With: carabiner, comfort and joy auction, dried fruit, forage, Foxie, Honey B, thank you

A Moment with Gordo

October 15, 2024 by Grace

Today has been a very busy day here in the chimp house, so I am here with a photo blog from today’s lunch forage! It’s been a bit of a rainy fall day here, but the rain came later in the afternoon so we were able to do lunch forages for both groups. I took the camera out to see what everyone was up to and boy, was Gordo ready for a close-up!

Also- a reminder that one of our favorite holidays is right around the corner, Jamie-ween! We have some new boots for her up on our Amazon wish-list, because what better way to celebrate than a new pair of boots? 🙂

A montage à la our handsome Gordo:

Bonus shot of Lucky in the latest fashion:

Filed Under: Chimpanzee, Gordo, portrait, Sanctuary Tagged With: chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, forage, Gordo

Scenes from a Thursday Morning

October 3, 2024 by J.B.

Jamie inspecting the garden progress, Burrito tiptoeing through the tall grass, Rayne practicing her acrobatics, Dora all packaged and ready to ship, and the chimps enjoying the box that the enrichment came in—just another Thursday morning at the sanctuary.

Filed Under: Burrito, Latest Videos, Play, Rayne Tagged With: chimpanzee, forage, garden, northwest, Play, rescue, Sanctuary

August slipped away into a Moment in Time

August 29, 2024 by Anna

As August slips away from us we’ve already been feeling those cooler nights in Central Washington. A little preview of what’s to come next month I’m sure.  Summer’s not quite over yet though as we’ve still got some hot temps on the horizon for this labor day weekend. This weather is perfect for forages and outdoor exploration.

I got a couple of photos of Annie during today’s lunch forage. This timeless lady turns 50 in just a few short weeks. Can you believe it?

Missy and Annie

Just Missy:

Foxie and her chow collection (doll in tow).

Negra eating her forage (also with doll in tow):

Bonus! Cy lounging in a paper filled front room:

Filed Under: Annie, Cy, Forage, Foxie, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary, Weather, Young's Hill Tagged With: august, chimpanzee, forage, paper nest, Sanctuary, weather

Missy’s 49th Birthday!

August 23, 2024 by Jenna

Today is Missy’s 49th Birthday!

Unlike previous birthdays for Missy, today was chilly and rainy. However, that didn’t stop the chimps from foraging out on Young’s Hill!

If you aren’t familiar with Missy’s interests, she is our tomato enthusiast. She had at least one form of tomato for each meal so far today. As we speak, caregiver Ellen is making a tomato-based soup for all the chimps to enjoy at dinner. I know Missy will be over the moon!

Happy Birthday to our tomato-lovin’, tree-climbin’, athletic, graceful, birthday girl, Missy! I can’t believe she is 49 years old today. She ages so gracefully. 

Photos from today

Annie foraging:

Foxie climbing up a structure:

Foxie moving grass out of her way, but looks like she’s doing karate:

Jamie on top of a structure:

Missy and Annie sitting on the artificial termite mound:

Missy enjoying a juicy tomato:

Missy:

Negra:

Filed Under: Annie, Food, Foxie, Missy, Negra, Party, Young's Hill Tagged With: birthday, birthday party, forage, Missy, missy and tomatoes, tomatoes

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