Jamie is so serious all the time that seeing her play is kind of like seeing your no-nonsense boss let loose at the office Christmas party: a little strange, but ultimately a total joy.
Jamie
Missy the Disco Queen – Part II
As Anna mentioned in her blog post yesterday, the chimps and humans spent the entire day celebrating Missy and her 41st birthday (along with the birthdays of a couple of our wonderful friends and supporters, Deb and Martha)!
As you may be aware, Missy is mad about tomatoes. She seems to never tire of them and I think she’d be happy to eat nothing else. And because she and her best friend, Annie, love to incorporate socks and ’80’s style headbands into their play sessions, what better way to kick off the celebration than with an ’80’s Disco Party theme complete with disco ball pinatas (graciously made by volunteer caregiver, Patti) and cherry tomatoes in socks, along with a breakfast forage!
As promised, here are photos from Missy’s day (and I hope you all like lots of photos, folks!)
Jody was able to get one of the cherry tomato socks (that’s Burrito to the right who was emitting low moans of joy over his handfuls of breakfast treats – I just now realized it’s the only shot we got of him, but rest assured he was happy!):
Foxie:
Annie (notice all the socks hanging on the firehose – Missy got every single one!):
The party continued with a watermelon bowl lunch forage on Young’s Hill:
The birthday lady quickly found one and headed for a quiet spot to take in the view and enjoy her lunch in peace:
Annie also chose to enjoy her watermelon bowl in solitude:
Jody found two and quickly headed back to enjoy them in the comfort of the greenhouse:
Foxie found they were the perfect size to just put her whole face in:
Jamie took the approach of dumping out the bowls and then using them to collect copious amounts of chow to bring inside and enjoy:
And the piece de resistance? Queen Neggie:
Back inside the greenhouse, Negra headed to her favorite sunny corner which overlooks her beloved valley:
A heart full of thanks to all the staff, volunteers and supporters who made this special day of celebration for Missy and her friends possible!
Celebrating each of the chimp’s birthdays and the amazing individuals they are is always a joyous and fun occasion. And as I shared with Missy’s Pals yesterday, the reasons for celebration and gratitude go far beyond a specific date. In Missy’s case, it’s hard not to recall the thought that she almost didn’t make it sanctuary. Diana shared this story in a previous blog post though I failed to locate it. But in preparation for the chimps’ transfer to CSNW they all went through physicals at which time Missy was found to have uterine fibroids and was given a hysterectomy. Missy came through the surgery just fine, but during her transport afterward, she suddenly crashed. It took a lot to bring her back. After 30 years of torture and torment, she was so close to never knowing anything different. It makes my heart shake and shudder just to stand on the edge of this thought. And yet it’s a reality for so many chimps, particularly those who never made it to sanctuary or are still awaiting their turn.
Since arriving to her sanctuary home Missy has shown us she is someone who greets life by opening the door and running into it, arms wide open. With every leap, twist, swing, jump, sprint and full out run she puts her history further behind her, defying her age and claiming a life full of joy, adventure, comfort and love. None of which would be possible without you.
Please know it’s not my intention to end this fabulous celebration on a downer. It’s my hope to share with you how truly amazing each day in sanctuary is for the chimps. And to express our profound gratitude to you for ensuring that every day is one of the celebration of freedoms in all shapes and sizes for each of the chimps, in their own way and choosing. Safe in the knowledge that they are home, respected, valued and loved for the individuals they are.
And to our Disco Queen, Happy, Happy Birthday, Missy, we love you so much!! For all your days forward may your heart and soul sing out loud. And may there be tomatoes. So many tomatoes.
No blog post today, sorry
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is a pretty small operation. On any given day, there are one or two staff members working in the chimp house (one of the two staff members is designated the Lead Caregiver for the day; this is the person who operates doors, unlocks enclosures, posts to the blog, and generally calls the shots for the day), along with a couple of volunteers usually, and maybe a couple more staff members working in the office in the house on the sanctuary property. Occasionally someone’s out sick or we don’t have any volunteers scheduled, so there are just two of us to run the chimp house for the day. Considering how high-maintenance — and messy — these chimps can be, it’s quite a job for two people.
The first four or five hours of the day are spent scrubbing the chimp house top to bottom, with periodic breaks for walks around Young’s Hill with Jamie at her frequent request. After cleaning is wrapped up, the chimps have lunch, and this is usually when the Lead Caregiver starts thinking about what to post to the blog. Sometimes we’ll have captured photos or video of a great play session or some interesting behavior earlier in the day that we can’t wait to share, in which case we just sit down at the computer and get started. But sometimes the morning has been so busy that we don’t have time to think about the blog until early afternoon. In that case, we grab a camera and take a stroll around the chimp house to see if the chimps are doing anything interesting. When we write our blog posts, our goal is to share a story about something that happened during the day, or to share new information about one of the chimpanzees, or to share general information about chimp behavior. Sometimes after walking around with the camera for awhile you end up with a handful of decent but unrelated photos and then wonder how you’re going to make an engaging blog post out of them, or what you can write that hasn’t already been written a dozen times over the last eight years. It can sometimes be a little stressful when it’s already 2:30 and the chimps want your attention, and enrichment still has to be prepared, and dinner has to be made, and you have no idea what you’re going to post to the blog.
Today we were a little short-staffed in the chimp house. Staff caregiver Keri is out of town, so it was just me and volunteer caregiver-in-training Yuri getting things done this morning. By the time I had a moment to grab the camera and see what I could capture, most of the chimps had settled down for their post-lunch naps in nice, private places.
I was able to get a handful of decent photos…
…but I couldn’t think how I was going to tie them together into a blog post worth your time. While I was ruminating, Burrito was insistent that we should be playing tug of war. I was running out of time to think of something for the blog, but in the end I decided to put down the camera and play with Burrito. I knew you guys would understand.
A Day in Sanctuary
We run a pretty tight ship in the chimp house. Given the decades of uncertainty, fear, and stress that the chimps faced, it’s important for them to have a routine in which they can trust and know what to expect and when things will occur. And there’s a lot for the humans to get done each day to keep the chimps healthy, engaged and happy, as well as to keep their home clean, safe and comfortable. Of course, within that routine we add as much variety as possible to their days in the form of enrichment, activities, food, interactions, etc. But despite the best laid plans, each day in the chimp house can be unique unto itself due to the chimpanzees’ choices and needs for the day, staffing and volunteer changes, unexpected circumstances, and a myriad of other reasons.
Take today for example, we started out cleaning the chimp house like any other morning only to end up relocating a mouse mama and her newborn babies, spending a good half hour (successfully!) catching and releasing a hummingbird, and then ushering out a snake and a Swallowtail butterfly by the time things were done. If you’re new to the blog, chimpanzees are very territorial and completely unwelcoming of guests in their home so the chimp house is no place for other creatures and we do our best to rescue anyone whose made a poor choice to make a chimp house call.
Here’s Missy taking a break from chasing Annie to check on our progress in the greenhouse so the chimps can go in for breakfast:
And in between all the tasks of the day Anna and I took turns walking with Jamie under bright blue skies and in a blazing 95 degrees. Now Jamie often enjoys taking her time on these walks and we don’t blame her. She likes to spend time under the crow’s nest on the Twister structure to check on the neighborhood happenings. Please note the boss lady also enjoys sitting under the crow’s nest for the lovely shade it provides. The caregivers who walk with Jamie, however, have no such luck. So during this particular walk, I sat down and waited for her to decide it was time to move on…
and waited…
…and waited. But don’t be fooled into thinking Jamie is so busy she’s unaware of us or where she left us off. (And if you’re wondering, yes, she gets upset if we decide to take the initiative to leave or go in another direction on our own!). So as it became clear that Jamie was going to be awhile, and with black cowboy boots blazing on my feet like the fire of a thousand burning suns, I thought I might as well make myself a little more comfortable and take them off while Jamie did her thing. Oh, I could not have been more wrong. Jamie immediately turned to me and gestured with her hand to put them back on. So you see, Jamie also runs a tight ship.
Meanwhile back in the chimp house, after playroom cleaning was done we added a new addition of a personalized photo blanket for Negra that one of her wonderful pals sent to her. Foxie was the first to check it out (notice her hand on Negra’s photo):
And here’s Negra making a nest with her new blanket:
The chimps then enjoyed a lunch forage on Young’s Hill (including fresh watermelon and cabbage donated by a guest). And in other news, Annie continues to sport the blue ’80’s style sweatband that she made a bold fashion choice with yesterday. Missy even pulled it off of her during a play session, but Annie put it right back on. (I can’t tell you how this makes my heart smile!):
Later in the afternoon, I found good friends, Burrito, Foxie (and Dora), feeling snoozy in the warm greenhouse and enjoying the summer breeze:
After a small afternoon snack of green beans and cherry tomatoes straight from the garden, the chimps gathered for dinner in the greenhouse which included fresh sweet potatoes donated by our amazing friends at Darwin’s Natural Pet Products. (L to R): Missy, Burrito, Foxie’s ear :), and Jamie:
After the chimps are served dinner, they receive their beloved night bags (if you’re unfamiliar with these, they are small bags of dried fruit, nuts and seeds that the chimps receive each evening). Here’s Jody enjoying hers in one of her classic relaxed poses:
As I finish up this post, the chimps have received their evening food puzzle of frozen banana and peanut butter in PVC tubes and are tucked into their nests for the night in the cool chimp house. Some of the doors are still open and a finally cooling evening breeze is drifting in, and all is perfectly still and quiet. Except that is, for the boss lady, Jamie. A boss’s job is never done. And in this case neither are her caregivers’. At least until she decides otherwise. So now we’re off to look for those cowboy boots which, of course, are made for walking. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Happy 40th to Foxie!
Foxie is the youngest 40 year old I’ve ever known. In chimp years, she’s an old lady. But this old lady is a backflipping, pirouetting, chasing, wrestling whirlwind. She is happy and silly and loving and kind.
On the chimps’ birthdays, we do our best to make their days as joyous as possible, and Foxie’s day is easy to make. To put it simply, she loves dolls. (It might be more accurate to say she’s obsessed.) Supporters from all over have been mailing in dolls for months, and we saved them all up for today. I meant to count them this morning before we set up the party, but there had to be at least fifty: cheerleader trolls and monster trolls and bride and groom trolls and surfer trolls and rockstar trolls….
For this morning’s party we scattered apricots, apples, pears, figs, and raspberries in the greenhouse, and we poured fruit smoothie into troll doll heads (of course).
The smoothie trolls were a hit.
Foxie:
Burrito:
Annie:
Jamie:
Negra:
Missy, who took it upon herself to systematically undress all of the new troll dolls:
Burrito and Missy:
Jamie:
And the birthday girl:
And a bonus video of Foxie checking out some new dolls:
Happy Birthday, Fox. May you continue to shine bright.
Fun in the morning
Mornings in the chimp house can be pretty exciting. Today, everyone was in a good mood! Watch the video to see what all of the chimpanzees were up to, while the Greenhouse portion of their home was being cleaned.
In celebration of Bill Walters’ life
This special day of sanctuary was sponsored by Nicki Walters in memory of her husband, Bill. Nicki and Bill have been such wonderful friends to the chimpanzees over the years and we are so honored to celebrate Bill’s life with the chimps today. Bill had a great passion for animals and their well-being and he was also a long-time supporter and volunteer at PAWS Lynnwood. Nicki shared this special message:
“Today is the day that we celebrate Bill Walter‘s life. So I wanted the Chimps to be able to do the same since they brought him many smiles and were a source of happiness during many rough days as he fought Cancer. Knowing that they will be playing on a Monument dedicated to him, The Twister, gave him a lot of pride that his memory will be kept alive in such a fun way.”
If you’re new to the blog, you can also check out the unveiling of the Twister here.
Nicki, thank you so much for holding the chimps in your heart and giving them such a special day of sanctuary. Our hearts are with you and your loved ones. Words fall short in the face of such profound loss, but the difference Bill made for so many others with his life gives much to celebrate.
We are so moved by all that you, Bill and your friends have done to add to the chimps’ home and lives in a meaningful and lasting way. Bill’s spirit will always be present in the joy you’ve all brought the chimps and in all of the lives made better by his. We’ll think of him every time we see the chimps enjoying your amazing gift to them and especially when we see Jamie surveying her kingdom from the new heights of her beloved crow’s nest.
