Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Missy

Chimp ID: Missy

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We’re continuing our series of blog posts on chimpanzee identification today with Missy. (If you missed the posts about Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, or Jody, click on their names.)

Missy is the resident athlete and daredevil, and she usually looks like this:

web Missy run feet off ground young's hill YH IMG_5513

fb web Missy run YH grass in mouth IMG_5751

web Missy run chow bag hands feet off ground YH IMG_5719

or like this:

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web_Missy_climb_log_post_YH_look_down_jb_IMG_3046

web Missy swing tire outside play_MG_2270

web Missy swing fire hose YH 2 IMG_1545

web Missy tightrope walk chow bag 4 IMG_8850

web_fb_Missy_leap_jump_treat_rock_termite_mound_bamboo_action_yh_dg_IMG_4599

web Missy climb bamboo 11 IMG_9318

If you catch her in a still moment, you’ll notice that she has a white chin and a distinctive white splotch on the left side of her face above her lip:

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web Missy_MG_0883

She has a short, stocky body. Here you can see that she’s significantly smaller than Jamie:

web Jamie Missy on cabin YH IMG_8599

and Jody:

web Missy Jody play YH IMG_5786

Missy doesn’t have much of a neck; sometimes it looks like her head sits right on her shoulders:

web Missy Foxie sit outdoor area greenhouse DSC_0150

web Missy sit on climbing structure Young's Hill YH IMG_9656

web Missy sit outside_MG_3882

And of course, she’s often playing with her best friend Annie:

web Annie Missy playface play wrestle outdoor area IMG_3047

web Missy annie smile play structure YH IMG_2658

web Missy Annie play on beam YH_MG_2954

Words and Pictures

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think, perhaps, that depends on the picture. I am still learning to use the cameras to capture the chimpanzees’ lives in sanctuary. Generally, I prefer to use words to express myself especially as quite a few of my pictures turn out to be worth quite a lot less! However, I have been practicing and these two recent photos capture the dignity and serenity of the chimpanzees who are the focus of each. Even though the weather is turning, the mornings are chilly, and the wind hints at snow, the chimpanzees enjoy the opportunities of Young’s Hill to the fullest each day.

Missy keeping watch from one of the climbing structures on Young’s Hill:
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Jody pausing to look back over her shoulder during her explorations of Young’s Hill:
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“Fake Neggie”

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All of the chimps have nick-names that have caught on over the years and almost all of the caregivers use with them. Annie is “Annie Bo-Bannie,” Burrito is just “Mr. B,” Foxie is “Foxie Fox!” Jody is “Jo-Jo,” Jamie is “James,” Missy is “Miss” and Negra is “Neggie.”

Missy has a tendency to sometimes lie in the “Neggie spot” which is in front of the catwalk window, where Negra likes to sit and gaze out onto the valley below. Sometimes Missy even covers herself in a blanket, in perfect Negra style. When we go to say hi to the chimps, sometimes Missy trips us up and we mistake her for Negra at first, because of her perfect impersonation. This is what we call “Fake Neggie.”

Today, Fake Neggie was in the greenhouse on the top platform, soaking in the sun…

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and Real Neggie was in her spot on the catwalk in the playroom.

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Smile!

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A couple weeks ago, Debbie posted about the difference between chimpanzee fear grimaces and chimpanzee smiles. This afternoon, Missy and Annie decided to demonstrate the many things that might elicit a smile, otherwise known as a play face.

For example, you might smile if your friend leaped out of the grass and tried to wrestle you to the ground.

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Or, you might smile if you were the one doing the leaping.

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You might smile if your friend was tickling your toes.

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And you might smile if you tickled her right back.

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You might smile if your friend chased you across a fire hose bridge.

web_Annie_smile_Missy_chase_firehose_bridge_YH_jb_IMG_5004

You might also smile if you were the one doing the chasing. Especially if you went too fast…

web_Missy_chase_Annie_firehose_bridge_YH_jb_IMG_5011

…fell off…

web_Missy_chase_Annie_firehose_bridge_YH_jb_IMG_5012

…hung upside down…

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…and kept right on chasing.

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You might even walk away smiling after a move like that.

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Sky above, earth below

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Outside of the entrance to the chimp house we keep one of the protocol cages that the chimpanzees lived in, in a windowless basement, during their decades being used in biomedical research. We must pass it each day as we unlock the door. It provides an opportunity for people who visit the sanctuary to envision to some degree what the chimpanzees’ lives consisted of before coming here. And it helps me remember every day why I’m here. It’s heartbreaking, of course, to look at. Imagine having spent every day of your life for over three decades living inside this (minus the scenery):

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You never see the sky or green grass, you never feel the sun or the breeze, and for the most part you are unaware that anything exists outside of this view:

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I spent several minutes today sitting inside this cage. I couldn’t stand up to my full height. It was hard to balance on the floor made of bars. And there is only a small, cold metal bench to sit on. The chimpanzees would not have had blankets to build nests with and no enrichment to engage their intelligent and active minds. I thought of my seven dear friends having lived every day this way in so much fear, uncertainty, boredom, and at many times, pain. You can imagine the wave of heartfelt sorrow and anger I felt for all they have endured. And what so many still do.

And then I looked out to the view of Young’s Hill from the cage:

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Earlier today I told Jamie we would walk around Young’s Hill to her heart’s content. And boy did we. Around and around, up one side and turning to retrace our steps back down the other way. I lost count of how many times we went around. And for the first time that I’ve experienced, Burrito joined us in our patrol of the perimeter the entire way! Foxie and Dora, and even Jody came along for part of the way, while Annie and Missy chased each other up and down the hill. (It was cold today and Negra chose to stay in the comfort of  her warm, cozy nest). Finally, after several laps around Young’s Hill, I suddenly lost sight of Jamie and had to go looking for her. This was a first! I eventually found her back in the front rooms, waiting for me to give her the cowgirl boot (which I had of course been wearing). I guess she had indeed walked to her heart’s content.

Imagine what it must feel like to these seven chimpanzee people to be able to see the sky above and feel the earth below, unobstructed.

Burrito:

web Burrito sit in Negra's cabin blanket hold chow look up Young's Hill YH IMG_9703

And to MOVE for the sheer joy of moving like Missy:

web Missy run full speed youngs hill IMG_0148

Several days ago Jamie gifted me with an amazing moment. During a walk around the hill she had me wait while she foraged and climbed over every inch of the structures. At one point she suddenly climbed up a post, stood bipedally on the very top with her arms hanging at her sides and threw her head back as she stared up at the sky for several seconds. A simple, yet profound moment. Then she turned and looked at me, climbed down and raced me all the way back to the greenhouse with a huge play face. I am immeasurably grateful that the chimpanzees have the chance to call a sanctuary home. And I remember all those languishing in cages and labs who are still in need of their sanctuary.

Though that moment with Jamie will forever be burned into my mind, I unfortunately didn’t get a photo. But this is one of my favorites and I think it speaks volumes all the same.

web Jamie YH view of valley below_MG_4302

Chimpanzee Parkour

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Last week, I posted a photo of Missy on her Facebook page leaping off of the termite mound. Her friend Debra Durham commented on the photo, “parkour!” I thought to myself, “exactly!”

If you haven’t heard of parkour, well, you can thank me for letting you in on what, just two days ago, ABC news called, “the new sport that has everyone buzzing.” It’s basically people using the “urban landscape” as a playground. The people who are good at it make leaping and jumping and rolling on concrete and rooftops look effortless (unlike how I would look if I tried it). In many ways, it really is similar to the way Missy moves everyday.

Whenever I see Missy on Young’s Hill – running at full speed, leaping off of the termite mound, climbing  log posts or the tall bamboo (usually with a huge playface), or grabbing her friend Annie’s ears in playful joy, I am reminded of what Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has given this group of chimpanzees who lived for decades in small cages within windowless rooms.

For each of the chimpanzees, sanctuary has provided something unique to them. For Missy, perhaps it’s parkour:

Missy sitting on the treat rock

Missy about to leap from treat rock

missy performing parkour

Thank you for being a part of making Missy’s life in sanctuary exactly what she chooses it to be.