Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

forage

Lunch with Honey B, Willy B, and Mave

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Yesterday, I served Honey B, Willy B, and Mave lunch. Honey B could not have been more excited about sweet potatoes! She was food squeaking and breathy panting before I could video most of it. It is a true pleasure to serve the chimps meals. I can be so fun because it’s the simple things like sweet potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, or even ice that they just go crazy for. Today was another busy day of construction on the new playrooms and a staff meeting. So please enjoy this video of chimps eating and some photos!

This morning Missy and Annie were playing. I tried to snap some photos, but the lighting wasn’t great. However, these silhouettes photos actually turned out kind of cool!


Missy has such a great play face in these photos.

Missy in the green house.

This morning as the seven where given access to Young’s Hill, Jamie took a friend along. Foxie has been obsessed with this St. Patrick’s Day themed soft troll, but this morning Jamie was carrying it around :).

Jamie taking a nap in the playroom.

Or so I thought…

The weather was so amazing today. While the three were hand served and soaked up the sun in the chute, the seven had a Hill forage.

Burrito found some lettuce in Negra’s cabin.

With a mouth full of lettuce, he went to find some more!

So, he climbed.

And climbed!

Negra was spotted foraging for one of her favorites, lettuce.

Jamie of course got a good haul.

While we cleaned the playroom, I found a ripped out page from Jamie boot book in a very cozy nest. I am not sure if I should feel humbled or nervous. Is this a message of some kind ;)?

I will leave you all with a kiss from Burrito.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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My goodness today was a busy day! We had two great parties for the chimps and a staff meeting too! The seven celebrate with a Hill forage and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. On the other side Honey B, Willy B, and Mave celebrated with some pots of gold in the chute as well as a St. Patrick themed meal. What was on the menu you might be asking? Of course, there was lots of cabbage, beets, potatoes, and corn! Since today was so busy I thought maybe I would let the photos speak for themselves.

Here is a photo of the three’s pots of gold(en potatoes). It was a great day to eat in the chute and sit in the warm sunshine.

And another photo of what was for lunch!

Negra was the first one out for the party!

Jody got a few good hauls of cabbage.

Burrito didn’t do too bad either.

Missy zipped around everyone snatching up cabbage and potatoes left and right!

Annie took a more low key approach than Missy.

Foxie took a birds eye view approach.

And Jamie, well Jamie did every well for herself :).

I love this photo of her.

The three didn’t really want their photos taken today, but I managed to get a few.

When Mave saw lunch she got very excited! You can see she is pilo in this photo. Mave was hooting and asking for reassurance.

Willy B enjoying some corn!

And Honey B enjoying her pot of gold(en potatoes).

Rejoice

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Spring is still in its infancy in Cle Elum. The nights are cold, and we will likely see more snow, but it will be the kind of snow that is there one minute and gone the next. There’s no holding back the change in the seasons now.

This change from winter to spring is often the most dramatic. It surprises me every year. I don’t forget that the days gradually stretch in synchrony with the plants reaching for the sun, but I do forget what it really feels like. I can’t seem to conjure up the experience unless it’s authentically occurring.

I remember that the group of seven chimpanzees spend more time outside, and that we often scatter their meals out across Young’s Hill, the two acre habitat. We have thousands of photos of this. But still, watching and feeling the first forages of the season is familiar, but also new all over again.

This winter was, overall, remarkably mild. You may recall that we had a very notable Christmas celebration forage on the hill on December 19th. It was notable because Negra climbed up to the lookout for the first time in pursuit of a pineapple top. Go ahead, go re-live that glorious day.

Today we set out a lunch forage for the group of seven. Negra was the first one out of the raceway and onto the hill. She didn’t go even halfway up the hill, but she did seem to be remembering, like me, what spring feels like.

I couldn’t help but take a ridiculous number of photos of her as she sat, as she stretched to reach pieces of food, and as she walked, in all her glory, back inside. I encourage you to pause on each of the photos and remember. Remember that feeling of warmth and life and hope.

Maybe there are more pineapple climbing adventures in Negra’s future. But, even if there are not, today’s emergence was fulfilling.

 

On the other side of the building, Willy B spent some time sitting on the boardwalk.

We did a forage of a different sort by placing lettuce on top of the chute. I didn’t get any great photos of this forage, but Honey B, Willy B, and Mave all partook of the bounty, with Mave in particular getting into the foraging spirit.

In just a few months, the three will have new spaces to explore while we will work on creating their version of Young’s Hill that will be called The Bray. And six more chimpanzees will join that side of the building.

There’s a lot of hope in the air.

A Jamieween Tale of Two Scarecrows

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Today was Jamieween, a day unlike any other.

Today we celebrated Jamie Chimpanzee’s birthday and Halloween. And boy did we celebrate.

All of the humans truly outdid themselves this year. Enrichment Coordinator Chad has been thinking about and planning some special surprises for Jamie’s 43rd, and there was a lot of improvised fun sprinkled on top. Caregivers came in on their day off to help and share in the celebration.

I’ll start with Jamie. She had a particularly fantastic day. It was chilly early this morning, but as soon as I opened the hill for the chimps, Jamie bolted out and I joined her on the first walk of the day. The morning light choosing spots to illuminate on the hill was so beautiful (the photo below doesn’t quite capture it, but I posted a short video clip on Instagram), and I was glad she invited me along to enjoy it.

There were many gifts for Jamie throughout the day (thanks to those who purchased items from our wish list for Jamie!). These gifts were left for her in different areas for her to find. Katelyn noticed that Jamie had a particular interest in mummies a while back – she was carrying around a national geographic and paying special attention to some photos about mummies. So of course mummy books were a part of her celebration.

Kelsi and Anna created a “haunted box fort” for her in the playroom so she could enjoy some of her new books.

Later, after a refreshment…

…she checked out another one of the mummy books in the greenhouse:

Yesterday the winds were howling, but today was still and crisp and even warm, so of course we had to set up some Halloween food forages outside. The chimpanzees got to enjoy their very first pomegranates of the season – whole pomegranates! Jamie was quite pleased.

If you have seen past Jamieween celebrations, by now you might be wondering about the pumpkin and Jody…

This year, Chad had the idea of making scarecrows for the chimps with edible heads, so the pumpkin stood in as the head of the scarecrow on Young’s Hill.

Behold:

Due to her actions in past years, Jody has been bestowed the title of Great Pumpkin Thief. It wasn’t certain that she would be holding that honorific this year, however, because while Jody was off collecting pomegranates, Annie took an interest in the jack-o’-lantern (minus the lantern):

 

Annie also un-stuffed the scarecrow a bit and founds some hidden nuts.

But in the end, Annie left the pumpkin in place for Jody, the true thief, to strike again.

There was no obstacle, including one Burrito Chimpanzee, that would stand in her way:

Just look at that determination:

Everyone, as in years past, eventually got to enjoy the fruit of Jody’s labor by partaking in some of the pumpkin. Queen Negra nibbled on some from her bed, sharing with Missy:

For the other group of chimpanzees, we decided to use a head of cabbage for the scarecrow noggin. Chad added the jack-o’-lantern touch and Anna secured the scarecrow to a post:

I can’t look at that and not laugh. On the other hand, I can also imagine a horror movie with that character.

Willy B may have thought the same. He did not want to interact with the scarecrow, but made a quick job of devouring the cabbage:

Mave and Honey B were enjoying a lettuce forage in the chute while Willy B had his personal Jamieween treat, and later all three had a little party in the mezzanine with sparkling cider and popcorn:

Mave hoots while Honey B eats popcorn

Then for lunch they too got whole pomegranates. These, however, were extra special as they had had a visit from carver Chad. I’m sorry I did not get any photos of Willy B putting a whole pomegranate in his mouth and attempting to chew.

For dinner, Willy B, Mave, and Honey B got their own taste of pumpkin, which they devoured. Here’s Honey B:

Jamie ended her day by grabbing one of her new boot books and collecting some corn cobs in a box to enjoy in the front rooms, emitting low, contented moans as she ate.

All of the chimpanzees had a day of non-stop partying and are now sleeping soundly. There were many other photos as well as videos of the day, but I see that it’s dark and late and I should get home to my own haunted home.

I hope you all had a fun treat-filled day like the chimpanzees and that it continues into the night!

If Looks Could Kale

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Jody has a healthy appreciation for fresh, hand-picked greens.

Recently, local volunteer Krissy has been delivering bags of primate chow to the sanctuary’s front gate. More often than not, she also leaves behind a large bin of produce from her home garden. This weekend, we added the generous assortment of leafy greens to the chimps’ lunches, which we then dispersed in Young’s Hill so that they could spend the afternoon foraging.

Most greens are cultivars of one species: cabbage. In its wild form, cabbage (Brassica oleracea) grows on the seaside cliffs of Europe. Over millennia, the domesticated variants have become a common food crop for humans around the globe. Despite their distinct grocery names, kale, collared greens, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts are all just types of cabbage that have been shaped by artificial selection. Of course, “Farmer Jo” loves them all equally.

Today, Jo did her usual thing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) and gathered up an impressive bundle of greens. Although it was an unusually quiet day at the sanctuary, even around the chimps, the loud crunch of woody stems filled the Greenhouse for a short while. Negra spent the early minutes of the forage collecting the grapes and chow biscuits nearest to the Greenhouse, but missed out on the kale. Upon returning, she sat behind Jody and begged for a piece. Jo ignored her, but eventually discarded enough leafless stalks to satisfy Neggie, who promptly scooped them up and waddled inside.

Compared to the usual dynamics, today’s drama was relatively tame.

Cabbage for Breakfast

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Volunteer and friend of the sanctuary, Krissy, recently dropped off some garden-grown cabbage for the chimps. Some of you might not consider cabbage to be breakfast food but the chimps would beg to differ. In fact, it may have been more popular than the oranges, apples, and primate chow.

A rare photo of all seven chimps together on Young’s Hill.
Annie in the foreground, with Jody and Missy behind her
Negra, pre-cabbage
Negra, post-cabbage
Jody, gathering all the cabbage and apples she can hold…
…and making a beeline to the Greenhouse.
Burrito, trying to conceal the fact that while the others found cabbage leaves, he found an entire head. Just play it cool and don’t make eye contact.

In addition to everything she personally does for the chimpanzees, Krissy also supports the chimpanzees through her business, The Whole Pet Shop (in Woodinville, WA and Roslyn, WA), which is a Chimpanzee Champion-level sponsor of Hoot! 2020. Have you checked out all of the incredible items up for auction now through September 12? Your support will not only help keep Negra up to her ears in cabbage, but it will also help us provide a home for even more deserving chimpanzees.

 

Some good news for Jo

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We have some good news to share about Jody. The biopsy and other tests of the mass on her foot indicate that it is inflammatory in nature and likely not cancerous (cancer is rare but not unheard of in chimps and a previous test had raised the possibility). The challenge now is to get her, and her pal Dr. Missy, to leave the surgical site alone long enough for it to heal. That is a lot harder than it sounds.

Additionally, based on the most recent ultrasound, radiographs, and blood work, we will begin treating Jody with birth control, iron supplements, and herbal medicine for her fibroid and related mild anemia.

We’re so grateful to Dr. Erin and her colleagues for their continued care of Jody. Not that you would know there was anything wrong with her, the way she took charge during today’s lunch forage…

Missy and Annie:

Foxie with a slice of eggplant:

Negra:

Jamie:

Burrito was a joy to watch today. He immediately found two heads of lettuce and tried to eat them before anyone could even think about stealing them from him. But he couldn’t eat them fast enough.

Missy was fast approaching. She wouldn’t normally steal food from Burrito, but he employed a defensive move just in case. You can never be too careful.

As soon as his hands were free, Burrito climbed onto one of the platforms and continued to forage.

He came across a few pieces of chow in a pile of chow dust (what’s left in the bottom of the bin) that I had placed on the end of the beam and proceeded to vacuum it up.

He made his way back towards the greenhouse with his potato, eggplant, and Brussels sprouts, but the chow dust was too difficult to contain. With each breath it spilled out of his mouth and into the grass below.

Oh well. It was worth a try.