Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jody

Happy Birthday, Annie!

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Today is Annie’s honorary 38th birthday and we celebrated in style. Since we don’t have actual birth dates for Annie and some of the other chimpanzees, we asked some supporters to select meaningful days to celebrate the chimps. September 10th was selected by Margaret and Karen (two of the Cle Elum Seven’s most devoted and lovely friends) in honor of their anniversary. Additionally, Marcia Douthwaite, a longtime friend of Annie’s, sponsored today in honor of Annie’s birthday.  We’re so touched that Annie has the love and support of so many special people on her big day.

We set up Annie’s party in the greenhouse this morning with gift bags full of new toys from Robbi and Dick and amazing homemade papier mache balls from supporters Kim and Lee, which we filled with shredded paper, peanuts, and crabapples from Executive Director Sarah’s backyard tree. The chimps also foraged for tangerines, kiwis, and chow (Burrito’s favorite).

The birthday girl enjoyed handfuls of chow:

Negra liked the crabapples:

Missy checked out a gift bag:

Burrito and Jody:

Jamie loved the papier mache balls:

Jody likes to inspect new toys intimately:

This red cloth block seemed to interest several folks.

Jody:

Negra:

Jamie (also with a new boot):

We also “planted” some veggies on Young’s Hill for the chimps to harvest. The carrots are courtesy of Keith, Felicity, and friends and the onions are straight from the chimps’ garden. We’re having some strong, cool winds in Cle Elum today, so the chimps all ran out to gather the veggies as soon as the door to Young’s Hill was opened, and then quickly returned with their haul to the warmth of the greenhouse.

Annie:

Jamie:

Jody:

Negra:

Sincere thanks to everyone who made today special for Annie and the rest of the gang!

Watermelon forage

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Today we put out a watermelon forage on Young’s Hill to accompany the chimpanzees’ breakfast.

Burrito, collecting some forage:

 

If you look closely in the next picture, you can see the bright green grass in the background starting to come back from the part of the hill that was burnt in the fire. It’s along the irrigation line, so that’s why it’s a solid stripe of green grass.

This is Jody, sitting by a post in the shade while munching on watermelon pieces:

 

And my personal favorite—Missy with a mouthful of watermelon:

Negra and Jody play

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Negra and Jody are two out of our seven residents that are more relaxers and not as much rough-and-tumble players, like Foxie or Missy. So, it’s a nice treat getting to see them playing with anyone—and even more so with each other!

Slurping the Day Away

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Last week, volunteer Connie was here when it was about 100 degrees and we were working on ways to keep the chimps hydrated. It was a bigger concern than normal since the fire had caused a not-pleasant burned rubber smell to the well water, making us turn the chimps’ drinking spigots off. Staff decided to fill up plastic bins with bottled water and a bit of gatorade, put them in front of the fencing and give the chimps big tubes to drink out of. This resulted in a bunch of tubes and other various things that the chimps (mostly Jamie) had put in the water. So, enter Connie’s brilliance. She made some holes in the lid for the bin that the tubes just fit through.

Behold:

enrichment tub with holes

The awful burned smell in the water is not present any longer, but we’re waiting to get an all clear after sending a sample to the health department, so I used Connie’s invention today to provide a little afternoon refreshment.

Here’s Missy drinking:

Missy drinking from tube

 

The photo below is Annie, Jody and Foxie (left to right)

annie jody foxie drinking from tubes

 

Foxie (pictured below) REALLY slurps while she’s drinking, as you may recall from this video from a few months ago

foxie drinking from tube

 

Missy’s birthday

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Today is Missy’s birthday, and we decided to set up a whole frozen fruit forage in the greenhouse this morning. Volunteer Patti brought some awesome ’80s-style headbands, leg warmers, and socks in honor of Missy’s goofy and kooky athleticism. After decking ourselves out in the gear (and of course putting most of it in with the party enrichment for the chimps) we let the chimps into the party area and listened as they food squeaked with excitement over the whole frozen fruit. I have been around chimps for 7 years, and this group for nearly the whole time they’ve been at CSNW, and I have never heard so many food squeaks at once. They loved it, and it is just what we needed after the last week and a half of recovering from the Taylor Bridge wildfire. All of the staff were present as well as volunteers Patti and Jennifer. Watching the chimps happily enjoy their forage was definitely just what the doctor ordered—both for staff and for the chimps, too! They have certainly been through a lot in their lives, and getting to see them enjoying their time here so much brought such a huge smile to my face. All I could think about was that we are all so fortunate to be here with them.

Enough of that sappy stuff — here’s some pictures from the party!

Negra enjoying some fun forage boxes (that look like Rubix cubes) made by Patti, and filled with pieces of chow:

Foxie:

Annie:

Jamie, looking very regal as the boss should:

Jody, taking a huge mouthful of watermelon:

Burrito, mid-food squeak:

The birthday girl herself, Missy:

And lastly, some of the ’80s gear on us humans (Diana was taking the picture, but she was also decked out, and somehow J.B. stayed out of the photo even though he was wearing an awesome pink headband)

From left to right: Jackie, volunteers Jennifer and Patti, Elizabeth, Sarah, and myself (Debbie)

Thank you so much to Robbi & Dick Brown and Patti for the fun enrichment, to all that have been so supportive and donated the amazing amounts of produce we were able to freeze for the party, and everyone that has been so willing to offer their help as we cope with the effects of the fire. And of course, to all of Missy’s pals!

Rolling with the punches

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Last Monday, about an hour before the fire broke out, I went out to the greenhouse to check on what the chimpanzees were up to. I witnessed a series of events and took some photos that I planned to share on the blog that day.

Jody and Burrito were grooming each other. This was pretty special to see because up until a few weeks ago they had very little interaction with each other. We’ve seen them grooming and playing on several occasions recently.

Jody and Burrito:

After a few minutes, Jody extended an inviting arm toward Annie, who was sitting alone nearby. When Annie arrived at CSNW, and for a long time afterward, she was much too shy to interact with anyone but her best friend Missy. But on Monday, she got up and joined Burrito and Jody’s grooming session without hesitation.

Jody and Annie:

Seeing these rare interactions between the chimps made me think about how adaptable they are. After four years at CSNW, they continue to change and grow and are always surprising us. This was made even more evident this past week, when they tolerated and even embraced countless changes in their environment. In what has been an overwhelming week, the chimps have been keeping us all sane.

Burrito, who has one of my favorite faces:

Business as usual?

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Today, for the first time in a week, has been pretty calm around here. No fires, no firefighters, no smoke, clear skies, and cooler weather. It’s far from over in our minds and flare ups can happen any time, but so far so good. We’ll take it!

As tough as the Taylor Bridge Fire has been for us humans to process, the chimps have been champions. They have been eerily quiet at times over the last week and have occasionally been caught just staring out the window watching helicopters and firefighters– especially Annie, Jody, and Foxie. I have had several moments similar to the one Sarah described last week between her and Jody, where as soon as the chimps get the “okay” from us, they go right back to business as usual– which is usually play! Late last week, I watched Missy go around to every single person in the greenhouse engaging them in play, including Jody, who is not usually all that playful. Missy is always playful, but I have been thinking of her behavior this week as her own personal coping mechanism- keep everyone happy so you don’t have to think about the craziness going on outside.

I’ve been watching her employ this “tactic” since the day after the fire. As Sarah mentioned, the fire incinerated the water lines to our well, so because of possible chemical contamination, we have turned off the water to the chimp areas and have been giving the chimps lots of water bottles and Gatorade instead. They have been loving it! We’ve given the chimps water bottles before, but because it’s not the most sustainable practice, we haven’t done it all that often and certainly not in this quantity. But they have been so enriched by it! And thanks to so many of you out there- we have plenty to keep them happy and hydrated for a long time. Here’s a video of Missy being goofy with her water bottle the day after the fire broke out (August 14th). If you listen closely you can hear helicopters flying overhead as Missy just keeps on playing– it’s a good coping mechanism!

So, as things settle down outside, things get more relaxed, but also rowdier and goofier, inside! Jamie has been crazy playful all day. This morning, she and Foxie got into a thunderous game of chase and were tickling each other and laughing so loud it was hard for us humans to hear each other speak. Burrito was spotted walking in between the Front Rooms with a box on his head and Annie has been lounging in the greenhouse clapping her feet- a sure sign she’s relaxed. Jody and Negra have been kicked back in their nests sipping on water bottles all day. And every time I make eye contact with Missy, she springs off in a full speed run, engaging me in a game of chase. It’s business as usual around here. Chimps are such an inspiration.