Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Last week our local fire department came to visit the chimps! Theses firefighters must know the way to Jamie and Foxie’s heart, because they came bearing gifts of boots and troll dolls! We are so appreciative of our first responders, not only for the work they do but also for taking the time to learn about the chimps that we so love! As you will see in the video, Foxie approved of them and the troll dolls!
Foxie’s new dolls:
Look at those TOES!
Bonus photo of little Honey B:
A few weeks ago, Krissy posted a blog titled ‘Wrestle Mania!‘ about a morning here in the chimp house where we had three different pairs of chimps in Jamie’s group playing in three different front rooms. Today, I wanted to share some more footage with you from that fun morning- plus a few more clips I’ve snagged since then! Despite both groups of chimps having access to multiple enclosures, indoor / outdoor spaces, and their big outdoor spaces, there’s just something about the front rooms that they all seem to love. 🙂
Bonus Photo:
Rayne sitting in her tub (in the front rooms, naturally)
Yesterday we received a very exciting package in the mail. A kind and thoughtful supporter picked out a brand new doll just for Foxie! Everyone, meet Ariel. Foxie has many dolls in her collection, but she has not had this one before. This doll is also the perfect size for passing back and forth through the caging, just perfect for Foxie and her team of babysitters (aka caregivers). She and her new doll have had a wonderful day!
A quick selfie of caregiver Ellen with Foxie’s new doll during babysitting duty.
Foxie received her new doll during breakfast, right after she polished off her morning smoothie, and her new doll has accompanied her throughout the rest of the day. She took a nap with her in the greenhouse, gave her to volunteer Dusty to help Dusty scrub the floors in their playroom, and played a quick game of chase with Burrito, keeping Ariel in hand. She passed her off to me briefly when her and Burrito’s game of chase turned into some tickling which required both hands to be free to get Bubba with!
Foxie resting in the greenhouse, with her new doll tucked into her hip.
Enjoy today’s video of Foxie and her new doll, Ariel. Thank you so much to our supporter who sent this thoughtful gift just for Foxie!
We have a lot in common with the chimps, so this will come as no surprise when I tell you all that some chimps do not not like to have their photos taken. That may sound familiar because I think we all know the people who shine in front of a camera, while so many others loath getting their picture taken. This may also explain why you all see more photos captured of some chimps than others. Cy is very photogenic and never minds a photo shoot. Whereas Missy always seems to disappear when the camera comes out. However, today Missy did not mind letting me take a few portraits while she ate her onions from her forage. Often, when Missy does let us take her picture, she will politely turn away to let us know the portrait session is over. I say this is polite because most chimps try to poke the camera once they have decided the photo session is over, which I can not blame them for!
Please enjoy the Missy and Negra series of portraits and some bonus photos!
Missy portrait series of her eating an onion:
Negra watching her group go out onto Young’s Hill:
Negra at the lunch forage:
And a well deserved nap:
Foxie foraging:
Annie and Foxie foraging together:
Burrito with a handful of forage, watching the neighbors also forage:
Rayne on top of a structure eating her apple out on The Bray:
After relishing in a decent streak of sublime weather, that streak came to an end today. With the chilly air and dark clouds over head, I don’t think anyone can blame the chimpanzees for staying indoors all day (albeit the first morning patrol). In fact, not a single person is in an area that offers optimal viewpoints to observe them. They are all tucked in for a nap.
Since I wasn’t able to get many photos today, here are some I captured of Burrito during yesterday’s lunch forage.
*RECORD SCRATCH*
Ok. Never mind. As I was writing the above, I glanced at the security monitor and saw someone move through the outdoor chute onto The Bray.
It was Cy! He was on his way to his new spot.
After watching him up on the new structure, with magazine in hand, it hit me as to what he was doing. It was nice and quiet at the top of the Bray, and away from the ruckus down below. He spent roughly ten minutes seemingly just taking in the view and peace. He decided to leave when he noticed part of his group decided to also head outside.
On his way back, he crossed paths with his sister, Lucky.
As did Terry.
At the bottom of the Bray, on the boardwalk, Willy B was watching Missy’s group. (Gordo and Rayne were out and about too, just hard to get photos of.)
Speaking of the neighbors, when they realized over half of Willy B’s group was out, they decided they too needed to be outside. Well, minus one.
Missy was the first out, and since I didn’t stretch this morning, I didn’t attempt to catch up with her.
Annie, who was right behind Missy at first, took a detour to grab some of the ever-so-popular prickly lettuce growing on Young’s Hill.
Foxie on the other hand, decided she too wanted a fortress of solitude in the form of one of her new structures.
And then there is Burrito. The person who made me stop taking pictures to run around Young’s Hill and play with him. He did seem a bit distracted. That is when I realized he was looking at Lucky. He tried really hard to play it cool and to make it seem like he wasn’t paying attention to her at all.
And I will leave you with this additional photo I took of Burrito during yesterday’s lunch forage. My phone camera was acting funny and captured the photo like this:
There’s just something with the lighting and coloring that made me love this one of him.
Today JB has been working with a crew of people to make improvement’s to Young’s Hill, including finishing the new structures, planting more trees and adding irrigation. You would think this would make for a very stir crazy group of chimpanzee’s but they all managed to take it in stride and have a relatively quiet day together. It helps that they had a lot of activities and enrichment to keep them busy including juice pools, TV time and, of course, supervising Jake when he was left alone to mow on Young’s Hill. Join Jamie & Co for a day in the Chimp House in today’s blog video!
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about forages on Young’s Hill and trying something different by placing “jackpots” in some of the harder to reach areas. Today, I decided to up the ante and place even more jackpots around Young’s Hill to see who will get what. Similar to the aforementioned blog, it should be to nobody’s surprise Missy was the “winner” at finding most of today’s jackpots.
I wasn’t able to race up the hill in time to catch her snagging the whole ear of corn in one of the trees. I was, however, able to to catch her grabbing what essentially looked like a huge Easter egg.
A whole sweet onion!
While Missy was relishing in her discovery, Jamie also found a jackpot that unintentionally seemed to be made for her.
A jackpot of a decent sized stash of pear and chow biscuits in the hammock. She seemed pretty happy with her discovery.
Then the neighbors came out.
Time to hide all enjoyment and act serious. First a small patrol to let them know she’s serious.
Then resuming to forage like it’s no big deal.
There was still a hidden bell pepper amongst one of the many logs on Young’s Hill by the time I had to head back to attend our staff meeting. I’m not sure if anybody has found it yet. Only to ravens circling Young’s Hill and The Bray know.
Bonus Photos!
Foxie
Mave + Friends
