Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Today we’re thankful for love, family, and food grunts.
On today’s menu:
Field Roast with gravy
baked apples
green beans
cranberry sauce
sweet rolls
baked potatoes
roasted chestnuts
sparkling apple cider
We hope you and your family enjoy your festivities as much as the Cle Elum Seven enjoyed theirs. Happy Thanksgiving!
Early this morning began with a little snow, then an utter downpour, which has turned into a chilly, but sunny afternoon. Jamie, unphased by the chill in the air, has kept staff caregiver, Kelsi, busy walking all afternoon. In the meantime, the other chimps have been enjoying quiet moments with one another in sunny spots indoors.
Good friends, Burrito and Foxie, enjoying some grooming time in the greenhouse:
Annie (background) and best friend, Missy, enjoying one another’s company in the sun coming into the raceway which leads onto Young’s Hill:
Jody was also in the raceway, but decidedly NOT with a friend. When I walked up to the tunnel I saw her intently looking at something with concern while avoiding touching the ground:
The second Jody saw me coming she clung to the caging, eyes big, hair standing on end and asking me for reassurance before running inside. I thought it might be a snake and when I went to check it out I found, well, not quite a snake, but still…:
Today was sponsored by long-time supporter and friend to the chimps, Kery Shaw! Kery shared this lovely message about her gift:
“Today, as I celebrate my birthday I take this moment to reflect on my life and think about all the incredible beings that have come into my life over the past couple of years. November … a time for giving thanks and gratitude. To the chimps: Burrito, Jamie, Jody, Annie, Missy, Foxie, and Negra who have humbled me. They have showed me how to forgive, how to have fun and mostly how to love. To Diana, JB, Katelyn and the rest of the staff and volunteers thank you for all you do and dedicating your life to these magnificent beings. Today and every day I celebrate all of you at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest! From the bottom of my heart thank you for all you do. Much love and gratitude, Kery Shaw – The Stolen Lives Project”
Kery, given all that you do to advocate for and bring awareness and compassion to the lives of our fellow animals, we so appreciate you thinking of the chimpanzees on your own special day. We hope you have a wonderful day in which your kind heart is filled with light and joy. Happy Birthday from all the primates at CSNW!
Burrito and Jody:
Missy and Annie:
Jamie, Foxie and Dora:
Negra and Foxie:
Mornings in the chimp house have been, well, shall we say a little intense the past few days. With what seems to be an early winter, changing routines and closer quarters at mealtimes, we usually experience a little adjustment period with the changing seasons. Breakfast is often pre-empted with the normal raucous and rowdy displays and cage rattling from Burrito (with some extra flare this time of year) which leads to the usual arguments and scuffles with the girls flying after him screaming at the tops of their lungs. Then with tensions high and breakfast being served in the warmer (but smaller) front rooms, it’s been every caregiver for themselves during breakfast service which has frequently involved dodging (if you’re lucky) flying feces from the boss lady. Most of this is normal chimpanzee behavior and all of it is understandable. We all have to blow off steam sometimes.
The chimps also sometimes choose to exert some sense of control over their changing routine or avoid tension in the group by choosing to stay in areas when we are attempting to shift them to others so we can clean. This is Missy’s favorite time to stay back on her own in the playroom and hoot and holler from the loft to her hearts content. Jody also loves to bring her snack into the front rooms when she sees me attempting to close the doors. I leave the area at which point she leaves the front rooms, but the second she sees me looking that way she runs back in. But as we’ve said many times, part of the importance and beauty of sanctuary is the chimpanzees having the choice to call the shots and make their own choices as much as possible. And we’re only too happy to follow their lead.
So after the breakfast kerfuffle, When this morning dawned warmer and somewhat sunny, we couldn’t have been more thrilled for the chimps to have the chance to spend much of the day outside zooming about, racing and running with each other and their caregivers, and just getting some space from one another, taking in the sights and getting some fresh air.
And while Negra still chose to stay inside in her cozy nest, she was entertained by no less than four caregivers dancing like maniacs as she nodded along with approval. It’s been a good day.
Burrito, Annie and Foxie (below):
Burrito and Annie:
Annie checking out the comings and goings of the sanctuary:
Missy:
Jody started to head back to the greenhouse with a favorite pine tree treat, but stopped short of going inside to check on all her friends. Jody spotted Foxie hanging out by herself and decided she needed to go collect her:
Jamie was thrilled to be out and about and has Kelsi running (literally) around the hill all the live long day:
We woke up to our first snow today! There are some mixed feelings about this white dust.
1.) First and foremost we are excited to eat the snow!
2.) We like the beauty of it, but also it came too soon…
3.) It is making us a little reluctant to get outside…
SO… We like you snow, but please not yet!
Young’s Hill:
Jody eating some snow from the Hill entrance, but not going outside:
Burrito doing the same:
As enrichment we filled buckets with some snow and put them everywhere:
Jamie snuggling with a boot and keeping warm with blankets over her:
The countdown to the spooktacular Jamieween has begun and we only have 2 more days left. The anticipation has been building and there are a lot of excited chimps and humans waiting for Tuesday to come. The chimps have been very active this morning and everyone has been exploring Young’s Hill. Unfortunately there were not many photo opportunities, but the chimps decided to save some energy for Jamieween and have been napping and grooming the rest of the afternoon.
Jamie walking the hill and staring out at the view (there were some cows in the field across the highway):
Burrito playing with one of our volunteer caregivers:
Negra:
Jody grooming herself:
There is still time to celebrate Jamie’s big day by becoming Chimp Pals with Jamie or any of her friends!
As this morning’s heavy fog burned off, the sanctuary positively glowed.
Foxie:
Annie
Jody:
