Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

jamieween

Happy Jamieween!

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It was a day filled with boots, books, food, friends, and long walks with rag dolls come to life—a chilly but otherwise perfectly spooky day to celebrate the birth of our favorite now-47-year-old trickster, Jamie.

Happy Jamieween, everyone! Can you guess who the pumpkin thief was this year?

Don’t forget that today is the last day for you to vote for our 2025 CSNW Calendar Cover Photo! Voting ends at 11:59pm PT tonight—be sure to click here to vote for your favorite!

Jamieween also means that our annual Comfort & Joy Quid Pro Throw online auction is LIVE! Register for the auction and you will be invited to join us on November 6th for a live zoom event of Lucky’s birthday event! Place bids on one-of-a-kind items for yourself (or a loved one- who says it’s too early for holiday shopping?) AND bid on items to gift the chimps! The event will run through November 20th and we will be adding new items throughout, so be sure to keep checking back. Happy bidding!

A Few of Her Favorite Things…

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No one ever has to guess what makes Jamie happy.  Or unhappy, for that matter!  But today, we’re talking about what brings Jamie joy.  What tickles her fancy.  What makes her giddy.  What stops her in her tracks.  What gets her realllllly excited!

Grab bags

Food puzzles

Pears

Walks on the hill

Leeks

Grooming caregivers

Big, comfy, expertly crafted nests

Mummies

Books and magazines

Bonobos

Aaaaaaand…..  BOOTS, BOOTS and more BOOTS!

Jamie is not Jamie without a boot nearby, in a nest, under her chin, or in her pelvic pocket.

Cowboy boots, knee high boots, shiny black boots, fuzzy boots, sparkly boots, leather boots, ankle boots, high heel boots, hiking boots, rubber boots, thigh high psychedelic boots…you get the picture.  Jamie is a fan of the boot!

And guess what’s just around the corning?  Possibly our biggest and most anticipated celebration of the year!  It’s Jamieween, naturally!  An opportunity for you, dear reader, to make Jamie’s birthday extra special.  We are busy adding some of Jamie’s most favorite things to our wish lists, which of course includes boots!  (Bear with us while we populate the wish lists – we will be adding things throughout the week!)

So, mark your calendars!  Carve your pumpkin!  Pick out your costume!  Stockpile some candy!  Cue your favorite spooky movie!  Get ready for JAMIEWEEN!

Stay Spooky

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Though October has passed and we have begun November, it doesn’t mean we can’t still be in the Spooky Season! Yesterday you saw how Jamie and friends celebrated her 45th birthday. As promised in yesterday’s blog, here is how Lucky’s group celebrated Jamieween!

Willy B and a plate full of pomegranates!

Gordo enjoying his pomegranates!

And a pumpkin top!

Honey B munching on a hazelnut!

Mave taking a sip of sparkling cider!

Cy snacking on one of the pumpkins!

Lucky taking her turn snacking!

Cy and Lucky enjoying their goodies from the party!

Yesterday, when Jody was plotting her heist of the Jamieween pumpkin with a wadge full of pomegranate!

Can you spot Nutmeg’s spy?

Stay Spooky, everybody!

Jamieween 2022

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This year’s iteration of Jamieween was a joyful success!

With the help of our amazing supporters, we caregivers prepared a feast and party to celebrate The Boss’s honorary birthday. The staff collected some video clips and photographs of the event to share with you all. Please be aware that we also recorded the highlights of the other group’s party but haven’t had time to sort through all the files yet. We hope to share additional content from today’s event very soon!

Some of the plentiful treats and toys we served and delivered to the chimps today:

Burrito:

Jamie:

Jody (with the prized pumpkin):

Jamie turned 45 years old this year, but the decades haven’t slowed her down one bit. Yesterday, for the first time in her life, she courageously shimmied her way up into the canopy of a real, living tree. This chimpanzee’s confidence, intelligence and curiosity truly know no bounds, and we’re honored to care for her in her sanctuary home.

Here are some of my favorite photos of Jamie from the past year:

Jamieween 2021!

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Jamieween is finally here! Today we celebrated the one and only Jamie’s 44th Birthday, as well as Halloween! Today was full of scarecrows, pumpkins, pomegranates, shrunken apple heads, birthday gifts for Jamie, and much much more! The chimpanzees here had quite the celebration today. Enrichment Coordinator, Chad did such a good job planning all of this for them. A huge thank you to everyone who bought items for today off of our wish list! Everything really added to the celebration today. Also, thank you to all of the care staff who helped get these great videos and photos!

I hope that Jamie and the rest of the chimpanzees here enjoyed themselves today. I know we all enjoyed watching them. Back in the day my time as an intern here only breached the surface of who Jamie is and I’m getting to know her so much better. I’m still leaning some Jamie language, but its a fun ride and it is a privilege to be able to help care for her. She is definitely a special chimpanzee.

Jamie’s group had a 2 part celebration that began in their Greenhouse. Willy B enjoyed time in the Courtyard with his scarecrow while Mave and Honey B celebrated inside. The Lucky Six enjoyed their pumpkins and Halloween bags full of things like nuts and cabbage.

Shrunken apple heads!

Jamie enjoying her pumpkin bags next to her new book.

Jamie gathering as many as she can.

Missy taking over after Jamie moved on.

Annie investigating the scarecrow.

Missy enjoying her pomegranate next to the scarecrow.

Burrito with his corn on Young’s Hill.

Foxie with her pomegranate.

Foxie made sure her doll got to enjoy the forage.

Negra found lots of Brussels sprouts.

Jody trying to carry as much as she can to enjoy her food back in the Greenhouse.

Jamie found three pomegranates!

Terry enjoying the celebration.

Lucky found some goodies.

Cy taking a break from reading.

Dora with her forage finds.

Gordo and Dora.

Rayne took hers to the Greenhouse.

Mave and Willy B are excited about pumpkins!

Mave and her pumpkin.

Honey B enjoying her stash.

Willy B found some pumpkin bags before making his way to the scarecrow.

Willy B ready to dive into the pumpkin head!

 

And…….Burrito ended up being the Great Pumpkin Thief this year! As you can see in the video he brought it down from a platform on Young’s Hill, but it rolled away. It ended up rolling into the fence and we had to bring everyone inside so we could get it unstuck. After spot cleaning the seven’s playroom we put it back inside to see who would grab it. Jody really wanted it and tried several times, but Burrito was the winner this year.

 

 

Let the Countdown Begin!

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Eleven more sleeps until Jamieween. Though this blog isn’t really about Jamie, the Jamieween countdown has begun! As many of you may know or even agree, Jamieween is known as a staff and volunteer favorite for chimp celebrations! Not only do we get to celebrate Jamie and all her amazing-ness, but there is always an amusing pumpkin heist too! Not to mention Halloween is some of the staff’s favorite holiday. The gifts for Jamieween have been rolling in and we could not be more grateful. This is just a handful of items for Jamie’s haunting celebration! Personally, I can’t wait for Jamie to get her anatomy apron.

I don’t have much content for today because it was rather uneventful and eerily quiet today. So quiet that I had to check and make sure there were chimps in the building! But I do have lots of photos of Cy and Rayne.

I mean come on! How handsome is he?

Rayne and Cy sharing a bench.

Rayne is the absolute best! She is the type of person that when you see her she instantly warms your heart.

Rayne enjoying some rose hips.

I have a few extra photos to share with you all, as well.

Same bench, same sitting position, can you tell these two are related?

Honey B enjoying a leek in the green house.

A Jamieween Tale of Two Scarecrows

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Today was Jamieween, a day unlike any other.

Today we celebrated Jamie Chimpanzee’s birthday and Halloween. And boy did we celebrate.

All of the humans truly outdid themselves this year. Enrichment Coordinator Chad has been thinking about and planning some special surprises for Jamie’s 43rd, and there was a lot of improvised fun sprinkled on top. Caregivers came in on their day off to help and share in the celebration.

I’ll start with Jamie. She had a particularly fantastic day. It was chilly early this morning, but as soon as I opened the hill for the chimps, Jamie bolted out and I joined her on the first walk of the day. The morning light choosing spots to illuminate on the hill was so beautiful (the photo below doesn’t quite capture it, but I posted a short video clip on Instagram), and I was glad she invited me along to enjoy it.

There were many gifts for Jamie throughout the day (thanks to those who purchased items from our wish list for Jamie!). These gifts were left for her in different areas for her to find. Katelyn noticed that Jamie had a particular interest in mummies a while back – she was carrying around a national geographic and paying special attention to some photos about mummies. So of course mummy books were a part of her celebration.

Kelsi and Anna created a “haunted box fort” for her in the playroom so she could enjoy some of her new books.

Later, after a refreshment…

…she checked out another one of the mummy books in the greenhouse:

Yesterday the winds were howling, but today was still and crisp and even warm, so of course we had to set up some Halloween food forages outside. The chimpanzees got to enjoy their very first pomegranates of the season – whole pomegranates! Jamie was quite pleased.

If you have seen past Jamieween celebrations, by now you might be wondering about the pumpkin and Jody…

This year, Chad had the idea of making scarecrows for the chimps with edible heads, so the pumpkin stood in as the head of the scarecrow on Young’s Hill.

Behold:

Due to her actions in past years, Jody has been bestowed the title of Great Pumpkin Thief. It wasn’t certain that she would be holding that honorific this year, however, because while Jody was off collecting pomegranates, Annie took an interest in the jack-o’-lantern (minus the lantern):

 

Annie also un-stuffed the scarecrow a bit and founds some hidden nuts.

But in the end, Annie left the pumpkin in place for Jody, the true thief, to strike again.

There was no obstacle, including one Burrito Chimpanzee, that would stand in her way:

Just look at that determination:

Everyone, as in years past, eventually got to enjoy the fruit of Jody’s labor by partaking in some of the pumpkin. Queen Negra nibbled on some from her bed, sharing with Missy:

For the other group of chimpanzees, we decided to use a head of cabbage for the scarecrow noggin. Chad added the jack-o’-lantern touch and Anna secured the scarecrow to a post:

I can’t look at that and not laugh. On the other hand, I can also imagine a horror movie with that character.

Willy B may have thought the same. He did not want to interact with the scarecrow, but made a quick job of devouring the cabbage:

Mave and Honey B were enjoying a lettuce forage in the chute while Willy B had his personal Jamieween treat, and later all three had a little party in the mezzanine with sparkling cider and popcorn:

Mave hoots while Honey B eats popcorn

Then for lunch they too got whole pomegranates. These, however, were extra special as they had had a visit from carver Chad. I’m sorry I did not get any photos of Willy B putting a whole pomegranate in his mouth and attempting to chew.

For dinner, Willy B, Mave, and Honey B got their own taste of pumpkin, which they devoured. Here’s Honey B:

Jamie ended her day by grabbing one of her new boot books and collecting some corn cobs in a box to enjoy in the front rooms, emitting low, contented moans as she ate.

All of the chimpanzees had a day of non-stop partying and are now sleeping soundly. There were many other photos as well as videos of the day, but I see that it’s dark and late and I should get home to my own haunted home.

I hope you all had a fun treat-filled day like the chimpanzees and that it continues into the night!