Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Age: 43
Nickname(s): Tiny, Fox, Fox-alicious
Favorite foods: Fruit smoothie/all things sweet, avocados
Favorite activity: “Toss the troll” with her caregivers
Important skills: Keeping the peace in the group
One thing she would take with her to a deserted island: her plastic tote filled with dolls
Dear supporter and friend of the sanctuary, Tobin, is sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of beautiful Jody and the special friendship she and Foxie share. Reading Tobin’s beautiful message about Jody and Foxie makes my heart so happy:
“A few years ago there was a blog post entitled “The Beauty of Jody.” Several supporters of the sanctuary commented not only on Jody’s distinctively expressive face but, moreover, on the essence of her personality. That beauty has shown forth in her devotion to her friend Foxie. Her concern for Foxie’s health and well-being, and her companionship to Foxie during her recovery demonstrates the love, home and hope which this sanctuary offers. Thus, I wish to sponsor Jody’s birthday in her honor as well as in honor of her dear friend Foxie. Every day can be – should be – “Love a Chimpanzee Day.”
Tobin! Thank you so very much for honoring and celebrating these two special chimpanzee women, the friendship they share, and for seeing them as the incredible people they are with so much love and respect.
Jody and Foxie:
Foxie visiting Jody during her recovery from a past surgery:
Before I get to the blog. I just have to say WOW! Thank you to everyone who has donated to Giving Tuesday and Give Big. Our original goal was $25,000 and you all have helped us exceed our goal!! We have raised over $36,720 so far as I write this. Give Big is still going until the end of today, if anyone is looking to help just click on Give Big! This has been a scary time and a lot of unknown for us and we just want to give you the biggest thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
This blog may seem to have no theme today. With a video about walking and wonderfully random chimp photos. But, there are a lot of fun and different interactions that happened today. The chimps have a different enrichment theme everyday, today’s theme was soapy buckets. You all can already assume Honey B partook, and you would be right! However, Foxie had a bucket to herself and Jody and Burrito shared a bucket together. Honey B was wearing a great 70s style sweatband. Negra and Burrito had a huge play session. Missy put her foot in a sweater while Jody playfully tugged on it. Annie had the sweater in her mouth and Missy played tug-of-war. Though the weather wasn’t great and there were 20 mile an hour winds, Willy B still managed to run out onto the boardwalk a few times! And the list goes on and on!
Sadly, I did not get photos or videos of all of those things! But, I hope you enjoy these photos.
Foxie:
Honey B:
Honey B was washing her buckets and transferring water from one bucket to the other.
Willy B snagging some apples and braving the wind:
Tomorrow he will go on that platform. I can feel it!
Also Honey B’s sweet toes:
If you look closely you can see the sweatband. I love the way she is sitting on the railing.
Honey B:
Jamie grooming her favorite XTRATUF boots:
This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Lynn Williamson, long-time volunteer and friend of the sanctuary and it’s residents, in memory of two very special women in her life, Susie and Epin. Lynn’s lovely tribute:
“Today, May 5th, was my mother, Susie Williamson’s birthday. Tomorrow, May 6th, was her sister Epin Lewis’s birthday. Susie was born just one day shy of exactly 18 years after my Auntie Epin. Not only was Epin like a mother to Susie, she also took me on as a newborn and cared for me most of my childhood, and sheltered me into my early adulthood. These women were very different from each other. But one thing they had in common was their deep love of animals. I was well supported with all of the critters I brought into the household from pollywogs all the way up to a pony – well for one year anyway. Epin and Susie would have loved the chimps. When I see Negra clap her hands during mealtime I am reminded of my Auntie Epin in her later years – seriously the exact same clap! It makes me so happy every time. Thank you CSNW for letting me honor the memory of these two important women.”
Thank you for sharing part of your story with us, Lynn, and for making a difference in the chimps’ lives through your family memories. We’re grateful for your kind heart your mom and Auntie Epin helped nurture in their own ways and we’re hoping your memories of them bring them back to you in all their good today. Take good care, Lynn, and we hope to see you back in the chimp house before long!
Foxie and Jody:
Wednesdays are kind of crazy days. Between cleaning, serving meals, walking with Jamie, feeding cattle, making sure the daily tasks are done, and it being a day we usually have our staff meeting. It’s a pretty packed day! However, for the chimps their Wednesdays are pretty relaxed. Especially today! For lunch the 7 enjoyed a forage on Young’s Hill. In the afternoon, Jamie and I were on a leisurely stroll and it seemed like everyone was out peacefully enjoying the Hill. As for the 3 they did have a chance to go onto the Hill, but no takers yet, one day! Honey B, Mave, and Willy B did enjoy their day grooming, playing chase with friends, and enjoying the warm spring air in the chute. This is my long apology for the blog being posted so late 🙂 Please enjoy these photos of the chimps!
In the morning everyone rushed out on to Young’s Hill, Negra included! The grass is so green it almost looks photo-shopped.
Negra:
Foxie carrying her Strawberry Shortcake:
Missy:
For the lunch forage, we scattered whole peppers, tomatoes, and beets all over the Hill.
Missy made sure to snag all the tomatoes (she also loves green bell peppers):
Negra was scoping out who she might be able to steal some forage from:
I love this photo of Jamie:
After the forage everyone went into the Green House to unwind.
Jody lounging with her spruce tree branches:
Foxie:
Well, almost everyone wanted to unwind.
The mischievous Burrito:
Also Willy B:
And if you stay late enough you can get a photo of Honey B in her nest:
Goodnight everyone!
As I type this, Foxie is recovering uneventfully from anesthesia after a full workup.
Diana mentioned a while back that Foxie hadn’t been feeling well, and while she did get her appetite and energy back it took longer than we would have liked and thus warranted further investigation. As many of you know, we’ve long referred to Foxie as “Tiny” due to her diminutive stature. She simply can’t afford to get too much tinier.
As always, we are grateful to Dr. Erin as well as the medical and veterinary professionals that volunteered their time and expertise to help ensure that Foxie stays well.
We’ll know more once we run labs and consult with other specialists on the imaging, but so far we haven’t seen anything alarming. And her recovery from the procedure has been great – before she had even regained enough balance to walk, she managed to find and hold onto a Dora the Explorer doll. For the rest of the afternoon she’ll sip Sprite and rest up, and then hopefully get a good night’s sleep so that she can rejoin her family in the morning. Jody, in particular, did not want to leave her side this morning and will be relieved to be with her again.
Even if we were able to explain to the chimpanzees that we thought it would be best for them to keep their distance from one another, I guarantee they would not be compliant. Chimpanzees are in each other’s personal space constantly.
When they are grooming, it can be difficult to see where one chimp begins and the other ends, like Burrito grooming Foxie’s back today:
Even chimpanzees who are more human-focused frequently want physical contact with their caregivers. We’re strict about safety and never want to put ourselves in the position of being harmed by a chimpanzee. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re even more strict as we protect them as much as we can from potentially picking up any viruses from us.
Jamie can still find ways to groom us, or more accurately, groom “her” boots.
As for isolation, chimpanzees don’t take to it very well.
When Burrito was in his long recovery a few months ago, he actually did remarkably well. It helped that he still had contact with his chimpanzee and human companions through the fencing every day and he was able to watch the group to keep tabs on what they were up to. I think he discovered some benefits to being alone, such as midnight bagel deliveries and not having to deal with other chimps during mealtimes. Still, he was more than ready to go back with his group.
Jody has been isolated from her group for the last few days while she recovers from her foot procedure. She too can interact with the other chimpanzees and the humans through the caging, but she’s less comfortable than Burrito with this temporary separation.
I’m sure many of you can relate right now as you isolate alone or with your family.
One of Jody’s favored activities is nesting, so we are providing lots and lots of blankets for her. She, in turn, is ripping up those blankets to create even better nests.
Today Kelsi put a big pile of blanket strips that Jody created in a laundry basket and we put it in front of Jody’s room so she could pick them out herself.
We’re trying to keep her busy, and maybe she’s learning that it’s okay being a spectator instead of in the mix with the other chimpanzees once in a while too:
I heard someone describe this period the world is going through right now as everyone isolated alone, together. We’re glad to be a part of your together.
