Foxie

The lush life

May 17, 2015 by Katelyn

Today has been steamy and warm, dark skies threatening to rain in between bursts of hot sun, but not a drop has fallen. Life is full and lush this time of year. It feels as though you could see things grow if you watched close enough. The air is heavily scented with wildflowers and woven with the trilling of birds, the hum of honeybees, and the slow whine of grasshoppers.

Our bluebird pair, despite being gifted with some lovely bluebird houses made by Daniel Anderman and kindly donated to the sanctuary by he and his family, have seemingly chosen to nest on Young’s Hill. Not the wisest choice, but so far they’ve gone undisturbed by the chimpanzees:

While all this was happening outside, this was happening inside: Foxie napping.

When Foxie is happy and content she rubs her toes together. I wonder what she was dreaming about?

It must have been an adventure, because minutes after these photos were taken, Foxie suddenly woke up, swung through the greenhouse with her hair standing on end (pilo erect), Dora the Explorer in hand, and marched with purpose toward Young’s Hill. Her behavior was the same she exhibits when she wants her caregivers to chase her, but what happened next? Everyone, even Jamie, suddenly fell in line behind this mighty little lady with a purpose, as she led them out onto Young’s Hill.

Foxie and Dora lead the way with Jamie, Jody, and Burrito following:

Foxie, Jamie and Jody:

Annie and Missy bringing up the rear (Negra was fast asleep in her nest for this adventure):

Everyone began to disappear into the tall, lush grass as they foraged for wild plants. Occasionally, I caught glimpses of them in between the structures and bamboo.

Jamie and Foxie:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Missy:

Jamie:

Who knows what, if anything, Foxie may have been dreaming about before leading the way onto the hill, but it brings to mind the words of Thoreau, “Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.”

Foxie Falling Asleep

May 14, 2015 by Elizabeth

This sweet video will make you smile.

Cle Elum Wildlife

May 12, 2015 by Debbie

As many of you know, our beloved (and sometimes troublesome) resident elk, Ellie, has made it a very well-known fact that she is in fact a horse. Or a cow. Or a goat. Or a human! But certainly not a wild elk. Despite her outward friendliness, we still keep our distance—she is still wild, after all, and ideally we would love for her to be more wild and less attracted to sticking around humans.

Today, Elizabeth spotted Ellie up on a high hill to the south of the sanctuary property. We both laughed, saying “what is Ellie doing way over there?” And then we realized, when four other elk followed, that wasn’t Ellie at all! We got very excited to see a small herd, which is sort of amusing when we see Ellie every day—elk really aren’t novel animals to us. But a herd! So exciting.

Unfortunately, Ellie was busy breaking into our compost bin—a very Ellie-type thing to do—so she missed the herd as they passed through. As much as we wish for her to be wild, we recognize that she is a unique being. She probably will always be more human-oriented because of how she grew up. Honestly, I’m not sure she would identify herself as an elk.

Imagine growing up with another species as your primary caregivers—you would undoubtedly have some sort of identity crisis. And though it is no one’s fault that Ellie was separated from her herd and ended up living at the farm next door, it’s definitely not the ideal situation for an elk.

For a chimpanzee, living in a human home is even more unnatural, and not surprisingly chimpanzees raised so closely with humans really struggle with their identity. Elizabeth wrote about “Burrito the misfit” the other day, and it’s so true. If he had been raised in an appropriate social environment, he most likely would be alpha male.

Some other “side effects” to being raised in an natural environment are Jamie’s love of boots and Foxie’s love of trolls. Though these are just part of everyday life here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, when you think about it for a minute, it really is quite odd. But they are all unique beings and all have their idiosyncratic tendencies. For Ellie, that means rummaging through things, sitting in Diana and JB’s garden, and taking perimeter walks alongside the humans as Jamie leads the way on the inside of Young’s Hill.

For Foxie, that means delighting in these sort of funny-looking dolls with big eyes, crazy colorful hair, and hard plastic bodies. Here she is in a calm relaxing moment with one of her dolls (you can see just part of the troll in the top picture—he/she is out of the frame in the others but was still in her hand).

Celebrating Jody on Mother’s Day

May 10, 2015 by Keri

In honor of Jody’s “adopted” birthday, we chose to celebrate today with a party!! Parties are a great way of celebrating special days and the chimpanzees love them. This morning was full of excitement as staff and volunteers Anna and Jake set up the party in the Greenhouse, complete with many of Jody’s favorite things, including streamers, blankets, socks, toys and fresh lilacs and grass.

This morning’s breakfast included fresh pineapple and kiwi and a grapefruit and banana smoothie with protein powder. We supplemented the fresh fruit with peanuts and primate chow as well.

Fresh flowers for Jody’s 40th birthday!

Once all of the party pieces were in place, it was time for the celebration to begin. The lilacs were a huge hit with the birthday lady as well as some of the other ladies in the group. The smoothie cups were a close second, at least for the ladies. Burrito went straight for the primate chow.

Jody

Negra

Missy

Foxie

Jamie

Burrito

Annie

Today we honor Jody for the strong, intelligent, beautiful and independent woman that she is. We truly admire her for her ability to make the most elaborate nests with blankets, bamboo, paper and whatever else she deems necessary for maximum comfort. We also admire her foraging ability (being able to gather as many food items as possible in her arms and mouth and still be able to walk). And we love her for her enthusiastic greetings, helping us out by getting stray blankets out of the doorways when shifting the chimps and rounding everyone up for meal times.

Happy birthday Jody and happiest wishes for all mothers of all species everywhere! And thank you again Tracy for sponsoring today for Jody and the rest of her family!

If peace had a face…and toes

May 5, 2015 by Katelyn

The chimpanzees have all appeared particularly serene and at peace today. It’s a beautiful spring day, but the wind is especially cold and everyone has spent a lot of time lounging in the warm greenhouse as they looked out over Young’s Hill.

While we often try to imagine what these moments must feel like to the chimpanzees after decades of trauma and uncertainty, I doubt we ever fully could. I am grateful and hopeful that with each passing day these moments outweigh those that came before. And I am grateful and hopeful that these faces (and toes) say it’s so.

Annie:

Annie feet:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jody:

Missy:

Jamie was tucked away in a cozy nest in the front rooms, one arm splayed out over her eyes and the other hugging her boots to her chest, sound asleep. Unfortunately, not a spot the camera can get.

And you’ll never believe who the chimpanzees were watching from the comfort of the toasty greenhouse…

Negra. Hair blowing in the wind, the hill to herself, and how peace looked for her today.

Fresh Picked Greens

April 27, 2015 by Keri

There has been a lot of talk these past few weeks regarding spring and the emergence of fresh green grass. Warm weather (minus the wind) and the appearance of the fresh grass signify the onset of spring here at the sanctuary. Most spring mornings the chimpanzees can be found lounging on the deck in the Greenhouse, where the morning sun shines on them.

This morning when staff member Katelyn and I walked up to the Greenhouse to greet the chimps, most of them lined up and gestured toward the grass growing just on the other side of the caging. We happily picked a few handfuls for them to enjoy as their morning snack.

After lunch, most of the chimps ventured out onto Young’s Hill, their 2-acre outdoor enclosure. Jamie and Missy set off on one (of many) walks around the hill, while Annie, Burrito, Foxie and Jody searched the ground for fresh grass and plants to eat.

Annie found a stash of fresh plants to forage on.

Jody (right) joined Annie (left).

And then along came Burrito (far right).

Jody left the spot where her and Annie were sitting and gathered stalks of grass on her way back to the Greenhouse.

And then she made herself comfortable on the deck to enjoy her grass.

While everyone else went back inside, Annie ventured further uphill to continue her foraging.

6th Annual Love a Chimpanzee Day

April 23, 2015 by Elizabeth

We threw a big party this morning in honor of Love a Chimpanzee Day and Monica Best. Monica and her mom Linda don’t live locally, but they gave us some cash and told us to go buy all the chimps’ favorite foods for today’s festivities.

We decked out the greenhouse in streamers, which are a staple of any good party. Then we set out a forage of some favorites: leeks, bell peppers, green onions, beets, and fruit smoothie.