Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Happy 4th of July!

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Happy 4th of July everyone! I am sure we all think of fresh fruit, chips, hot dogs/hamburgers (veggie of course), and a crisp drink when we think about gathering with friends and family to celebrate our Independence Day. I mean what could be more 4th of July than a good old fashion BBQ?! I though I would share what was on the menu for our party.

We started our day with a nice refreshing fruit salad bowl made by our lovely volunteers:

Next we moved to the Hill forage for lunch. We cooked up some veggie dogs, Negra and Burrito almost screamed when they saw the buns, cut up some watermelon, we baked fries, sprinkled a few cherry tomatoes, shucked corn, and cut up some spears of cucumber (that we pretended were pickles)! Don’t worry we did not forget about refreshments, the chimps drank some Martinelli’s as well.

I would scream for this meal too:

I know there is a video, but I thought I would share just a few photos too!

Jamie walking on the firehose:

Annie found one of the many boats:

And Negra.

She was moving around everywhere today, it was fun to see where she would pop up:

Happy Birthday, Kathy!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Caroline Hero in honor of her sister, Kathy Hero! Caroline shared this incredibly touching message about today:

“This day is in honour of my sister Kathy (Hero) who was born on this day, June 28, let’s just say, a number of years ago. Ever since she saw Jane Goodall on the cover of National Geographic for the first time she was hooked on Chimpanzees for life. So in her honour I would like to sponsor a day for your troop of extraordinary rescues to make her Birthday this year an extra special one indeed. She follows the Cle Elum Seven on a daily basis and loves them all, and what your team is doing to give them a better life. My sisters and I care for our Mother, who suffers from dementia, and this day will truly brighten her dwindling spirit. One day I hope to be able to afford a trip for us down there to see the Sanctuary and the lives you have enriched. Happy Birthday to you dear sister, and I love you very much.”

Caroline, we are so moved by your generous and compassionate gift for Kathy and the chimpanzees. Thank you for thinking of the chimpanzees as you and your family celebrate Kathy today!

Kathy, may your special day fill your heart with the lightness and joy, comfort and ease, that you help provide the chimpanzees’ hearts with. Happiest of birthdays from all of the primates here at the sanctuary!

Jamie:

A Good Lookout View

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The grass is so lush that sometimes it feels like we are playing I Spy. This morning, especially for Jody I could barely keep up. Jody was weaving in and out of the tall grass and bamboo bushes. When she finally emerged Jody had stuffed her face with so much prickly lettuce!

Bubba and Annie spent some quality time outside together:

Jamie and Foxie went on a perimeter walk together:

Foxie and her doll having a moment:

I love this photo of Jamie hidden behind the tall grass:

Another busy day (for the humans)

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It’s been another extra busy day in the chimp house for the humans with unexpected occurrences and cleaning to navigate in addition to the usual. Which of course still means the usual for the chimpanzees: doing whatever strikes their fancy every moment of the day. Just as it should be.

Jody and Annie spent the afternoon luxuriating in the greenhouse, grooming one another:

And if you’re Foxie, it’s just looking fabulous because you were born that way:

Here’s a bonus short story about Jamie and her never-ending ability to amaze us. We were in the midst of cleaning the playroom this morning when Jamie got my attention and had me follow her (immediately!) to the frontroom that the trash can sits across from. She immediately climbed up onto the food chute and frantically gestured for me to show her the trash contents. Well, this was new! But it didn’t take long for me to realize that some of her valued reading material had mistakenly (per Jamie) been throw away during cleaning. So I found myself dumpster diving for Jamie. Rifling through a can full of papers to see what she might be thinking of, holding up each page and getting her nod of approval or her gesture to keep looking. In the end, we found what she’d been missing: two magazine pages of cowboy boots and *GASP*, her beloved Dwell magazine! Whew! Crisis averted. I adore her.

Summertime and the Chimps are Living Freely

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We had a very busy day at the Sanctuary today! Luckily I was able to snap a few photos this morning. I hope you enjoy these on this wonderful Saturday!

Sweet sweet Annie:

Neggie enjoying the summer morning sun:

Wonderful Jody:

You can barley see Missy in the tall grass:

Jamie enjoyed her morning supervising:

And Foxie let Jamie borrow her new Strawberry Shortcake doll:

I could look at Burrito all day:

I mean look at this dreamboat:

Happy Solstice!

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Dylan Most sponsored this beautiful day in celebration of the summer solstice (or winter as the case may be 🙂 )!

Dylan, thank you so much for helping the chimpanzees welcome this lovely time of year at the sanctuary! We love these glorious days of chimpanzees hidden in the wilds of Young’s Hill amid the tall, green grass, afternoons spent lounging in the sun-filled greenhouse and air filled with birdsong and flowers.

Whether your summer or winter, we hope all of you enjoy the particular beauty found in the season just as you make possible for the chimpanzees:

Negra:

Annie:

Mr. and Ms. Bluebird:

Foxie:

Jody:

Burrito:

Missy:

Beauty of Sanctuary

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As a caregiver, especially if you are the one in charge of the schedule it is crucial to try to keep to it, but it’s also important to remember things don’t always go as planned. You learn to be flexible. That is kind of the beauty of a sanctuary. For example, I couldn’t get all the chimps to shift how I would have planned today. Missy stayed in the playroom, the rest of the chimps were in a front room or out in the Green House for breakfast, so I couldn’t close anything off to clean. You might see my dilemma, eventually it all worked out. However, the chimps got to make their own choice and when you think about that, it’s pretty awesome.

A few pictures of Jody looking radiant in the Green House:

Negra napping with a little smirk:

Foxie and those little toes: