Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Foxie

Outdoor Exploration

by

As a follow up to yesterday’s blog about Missy and Annie’s friendship, I thought I would post this little clip of Missy and Annie entering Young’s Hill together first thing this morning. Annie often starts her Young’s Hill adventures walking bipedal. Maybe it’s an attempt to avoid the wet ground, or maybe it’s just to get a better view of her surroundings. Missy generally keeps all four limbs planted on the ground, that is, until she starts sprinting up the hill at top speed.

On a slightly separate note, while not the best quality photo, I still like this one because it shows the chimpanzees taking full advantage of the different dimensions of Young’s Hill.

Missy on the fire hose tightrope, Annie on the structure to her left, Foxie on the tall platform behind Missy, and just a glimpse of Jody in the bottom left on the ground:

Case Files

by

Name: Jamie
Nicknames: James, Boss Lady
Age: 39
Birthday: October 31st
Role: The Boss
Personality: intense, smart, watchful
What She Would Save in a Fire: her cowboy boot collection
Likes: law and order, long walks, pears
Dislikes: disobedience, boredom, unpredictability

Name: Foxie
Nicknames: Fox, Tiny
Age: 41
Birthday: August 8th
Role: The Peacekeeper
Personality: cautious, joyful, silly
What She Would Save in a Fire: her doll collection
Likes: fruit smoothies, backflips, bubblegum pop songs
Dislikes: green veggies, conflict, anything new

Name: Burrito
Nicknames: B, Mr. B, Bub
Age: 34
Birthday: January 6th
Role: The Obnoxious Little Brother
Personality: goofy, playful, socially awkward
What He Would Save in a Fire: all of the food in the fridge
Likes: eating, playing with caregivers, causing mischief
Dislikes: non-mealtimes, getting in trouble with the other chimps for causing mischief

It’s happening!!

by

We’re reaching the balmy 40’s, the rains have begun, the bluebirds have returned and the snow is melting! To help move things along we decided to shovel a path part of the way up Young’s Hill this morning in the hopes it’d be clear in a day or two for Jamie to walk part way up the perimeter. Well, Jamie and her right hand gal, Missy, wasted no time in testing it out. When Jamie asked me to put her cowgirl boots on after lunch I assumed we were doing the usual wintertime back and forth to the greenhouse. She quickly disappeared and when I looked outside I spotted her and Missy on the pathway waiting for me to catch up! Apologies for the poor quality of photos, but of course we have to share the big day. 🙂

Jamie and Missy headed up Young’s Hill!:

They went to the end of the path and turned around to head back downhill where Jamie promptly marched back up hill and down again. (If you go enough times it equals a walk all the way around the hill, right?)

Missy:

Jamie:

Meanwhile, Missy made her way every which way across the hill via tightrope walking:

Once Jamie was satisfied with her walk, she joined Missy:

Foxie and Jody made a brief foray up the hill as well:

Many of the chimps spent a big part of the morning on the climbing structures – racing across the fire hoses, climbing, brachiating – all the good stuff chimps do. Even Negra has been spotted outside for brief moments! I can imagine they feel just as we do when winter finally gives up it’s grip and ease of spring feels imminent. And I think for us humans, watching them so full of joy and exuberance at reclaiming their beloved Young’s Hill was more of a lift than anything spring could bring our way. Something tells me Jamie’s Boot Camp of multiple daily walks around the hill for her caregivers isn’t too far off…and we couldn’t be happier.

The features that stand out

by

Whenever I meet someone, there is usually some feature of that person that stands out to me.

For Burrito, it’s his lips.

For Jody, it’s the look in her eyes and her droopy bottom lip.

For Annie, it’s the notch in her ear and the way her she bends her wrist when she’s relaxing.

For Foxie, it’s her eyes and toes that stand out to me.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

by

A day of sanctuary was sponsored for the chimpanzees and Sarah Sweeney today by Brynn Edwards! Brynn shared this message for Sarah:

“This is to celebrate Sarah’s birthday! She is one of the most generous people and all she wanted for her birthday is to help these chimps. Thank you Sarah!”

Sarah, thank you so much for wanting to celebrate the chimpanzees for your own birthday! We are so grateful to both you and Brynn for choosing to share your generosity with the chimps and for being part of filling their lives with love, comfort, joy and care. Have a beautiful day and we hope it’s the best birthday yet!

One of my favorite series of photos of these two friends, Burrito and Foxie: