Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Missy had such an amazing birthday party yesterday! Because we had so much to cover for her party we weren’t able to share what happen over on Dora’s side of the building! They also had a lunch forage to celebrate Missy. Please enjoy the video and photos from yesterday!
Willy B with an arm full and a mouth full of chow:
Rayne in all her pepper glory:
A very distinguished Mave:
Mave swooping in to grab tomatoes:
Gordo with a mouth full of what we think is chow:
Sweet Dora:
In the mornings, especially with two groups of chimps, it’s either calm and playful or a little chaotic and loud, it’s rarely in between. However, this morning the chimps on both sides chose calm and playful. I hope you enjoy this nice long video!
Today is also wish list Wednesday. Donating on our Amazon wish list is really great way to support the chimps and staff!
This morning when we walked into the chimp house, every chimp was super playful! Gordo was bunny hopping around, Annie was playing chase with Burrito and her caregivers, Missy was chasing Jody, Jamie was playfully foot stomping to her caregivers, Dora and Mave were playing, and chimps on both sides were grooming in the greenhouses. Every day at the sanctuary is a great day because the chimps are safe, secure, and cared for, but that does not mean that every day is sunshine and rainbows. Obviously,the chimpanzees have their own feelings and moods, just like us. Some days we walk in and one group is displaying, while the other group is calm. Other days it’s loud everywhere you go. However, most days you get a balance of some calm with a little bit of displaying from time to time. And then you get a day like today, where both sides of the building are just silly and playful!
While most people wanted to play, Negra wanted to sleep all day:
We are running pretty low on magazines. If you have any laying around, I am sure Cy would love to take them off your hands!
Today, Mave celebrated her 33rd birthday! We’re so grateful to both Paulette Wrisley and Kenneth Reiter for sponsoring this day her her honor (in addition to Melissa Reed, whose sponsor post came earlier in the day).
One of the challenges of keeping the peace in a new group is to make things exciting for them, but not too exciting. Forages have a way of bringing out the competitive spirit in some chimps, if you know what I mean (see: B., William). So the key today was to ensure that Mave got some of her favorite foods without causing any unnecessary drama. And it was a success! We kept the forage fairly low-key and then made sure that everyone got at least one coconut and one mango. Honey B brought home the award for best coconut cracker, while Willy B had to watch some of the other chimps smash theirs open before figuring it out.
While Mave loved the food, her real present was the one thing money can’t buy, which she already received just recently – Dora! It seems that Mave has always wanted a Dora of her own, and now she has one. For her own birthday, Dora may want to ask for some personal space 🙂
Happy Birthday to an amazing chimpanzee.
A few photos from the day, in no particular order! Happy Thursday everyone!
Glamorous Rayne:
Nutmeg in a fresh field of green (photo by Chad):
Mave and Dora have a sweet budding friendship. What a delight watching them play and groom together this afternoon:
Negra on the mend:
Today is all about the simple pleasures in life. I learned a lot about my caregiver coworkers when I briefly interviewed them for their simple pleasures. Kelsi told me that her simple pleasures include sitting by the ocean, listening to Jody make dinosaur noises when she is very excited about food, and a nice quiet walk around the hill with Jamie. When I asked Katelyn she responded that hers is being out in the woods alone. JB’s simple pleasure is walking their dogs Abby and Benny, and Diana’s simple pleasure is tending to her growing collection of houseplants. Anthony’s simple pleasures are iced coffee and going on road trips. Grace mentioned hers were reading a good book in silence and having a good margarita…also in silence. Raise your hand if you just added these last two to your own list! When I asked Chad for his simple pleasures he responded saying his were the sound of rain, Rayne, and Burrito, of course. Some of mine are fresh clean sheets, and going to sleep listening to the calls of the Puerto Rican native coquí frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui) back home or through a playlist.
Gordo has a few simple pleasures we have all noticed since his arrival. Some of these are hanging out in the green houses, sitting in boxes, eating all kinds of produce, and the love of his life: Mave.
Terry likes staring at caregivers boots, laying and grooming with Mave, having the “bros” all back together and kissing the back of his caregivers hands.
Mave’s simple pleasure is hanging out with Dora and happily over-grooming everyone.
Rayne’s simple pleasures are drinking her delicious morning smoothies and nesting high up in the leaf structures of the play rooms. Here she is grooming herself in the platform of Oakwood green house.
Willy B’s simple pleasure is nesting with his leopard blanket, food, and watching videos on cellphones.
Comment your simple pleasures in life below!!!
As I looked through my phone I realized I had so many small clips of the chimps playing. Some were too short to make into a full video, so with the help of some other caregivers we made a montage of the chimps playing over the last couple weeks.
I was also was able to snag a handle full of photos today!
Spring is here because Negra says it is:
The mischievous Miss Honey B:
Dora melting in the warm Oakwood greenhouse:
The handsome freckled-face Terry:
I felt like someone was spying on me while I tried to take photos of Terry. I was right!
It was Lucky spying on me:
Sam took this great photo of Burrito and was kind enough to share it with me. If you are thinking, geez Burrito looks intense you are right! He was ready to play! After he let Sam snap some photos he leaped up and insisted they start playing chase!
