Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Missy

Tiny chimps

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As soon as breakfast was over this morning Jamie was ready (and demanding) to go on her first perimeter walk of the day. If you got a chance to check out Elizabeth’s great blog post yesterday, you can see this is also the time we begin cleaning the chimp house. But Jamie makes sure we keep our priorities straight. So as Anna and Jamie headed off for a walk, most of the other chimps decided to join them (with the exception of the Queen who was enjoying her after breakfast nap in the greenhouse)! And so I headed out to our observation platform to take photos.

It never gets old seeing the chimps traverse their outdoor habitat, but it was a special treat to see them all on the structures together! They looked so tiny out there…

Anna, (top to bottom) Jamie, Jody, Burrito and Missy:

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Annie, Missy, Jamie (at top) and Jody walking away with her treasure of found cattails:

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Jamie, Burrito, Missy (Anna looks like she’s catching a piggy back on Missy, but rest assured she’s on the outside of the fence 😉 ), and Annie:

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Meanwhile, Foxie and her twin Doras had meandered over to climb up Jamie’s Tower:

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So tiny…Foxie on Jamie’s Tower (the top right hand of the photo), taking in the woods above the sanctuary (and our new property!):

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Jody continued back to the greenhouse with her mouthful of cattails, making her way through the tall grass like a wild woman:

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The others caught up with Foxie and reconvened on Jamie’s and Carlene’s Towers together. Annie standing below, Jamie on the ladder, and Foxie up top:

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Jamie, Missy and Foxie:

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Jamie made her way across the shaky bridge to Carlene’s Tower:

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Burrito isn’t as sure of himself on shaky structures so he’s a little more cautious about traversing the bridge, but he made it across, brave chimp man that he is:

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Diana cleverly stuck some cattails on top of the roof for Annie’s birthday a few days ago and somehow it’s gone unnoticed by the chimps. Until this morning:

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Missy lucked out after Jamie left and found another one. The second she pulled it down a cloud of seeds blew across the hill:

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All during the photo shoot, Ellie enjoyed her favorite morning spot stretched out in the shade underneath the platform I was on, or as I like to call it, the elk port:

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A Day in the Life

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9:00am: Up the winding driveway…

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Good morning, sanctuary!

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Ellie the elk started the day in her favorite spot under the observation deck:

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Volunteer caregivers Denice and Sandra set to work preparing breakfast:

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Usually when we arrive for the day this time of year there are several chimps outside in the greenhouse. Today it was just Negra cuddled under a blanket:

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Soon breakfast was ready!

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Our typical routine is to serve a small snack in the indoor front rooms first thing to entice the chimps out of the greenhouse so we can close it off for cleaning. Volunteer caregiver-in-training Yuri offered the chimps some grapefruit while I closed and locked the doors leading to the greenhouse.

Negra is not always a people person, but this morning as she ate her grapefruit she was feeling extra affectionate as she offered her back to Sandra for a knuckle rub and offered Denice a kiss.

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We all checked the doors and locks to make sure it was safe to unlock the greenhouse:

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and then got to work!

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Afterward Yuri double-checked locks on the greenhouse door:

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and we started the first batch of dirty toys soaking in the tub:

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and the first load of dirty blankets in the washer:

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Then Yuri served the rest of breakfast in the greenhouse:

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and wrote in his training notebook:

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Next we tackled the playroom, which is the largest indoor space at the sanctuary. We cleaned upstairs:

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and downstairs:

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and when we were done, set up a little tea party for the chimps:

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While we cleaned the playroom, the chimps enjoyed the warm greenhouse.

Annie:

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Burrito:

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We run through a series of safety checks before giving the chimps access to Young’s Hill each day, so I did those while Denice, Yuri, and Sandra wrapped up the playroom.

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Foxie was the first to squeeze through the door to the hill as it was opening:

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But she was quickly joined by Jody, Negra, Missy, and Annie:

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Our last big cleaning task for the morning was the front rooms, which we started after a short break:

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After some time outside, Foxie wandered into the playroom to spend some quality time with her dolls:

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and Jamie requested a drink of water from the hose:

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Since we had plenty of cleaners to handle the front rooms, Denice started on some kitchen tasks. She prepared some chow bags:

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and put some potatoes in the oven for dinner:

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After cleaning, Yuri and Denice picked some veggies from the chimps’ garden for lunch:

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While Yuri served lunch in the greenhouse, Sandra kept the endless laundry moving along:

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After lunch, it was finally time for some fun. Sandra and Jamie groomed in the greenhouse:

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while Yuri and Burrito went for a walk around Young’s Hill.

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After the walk, Burrito was in the mood for a little tug of war:

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A little later in the afternoon JB, Diana, and Katelyn came up from the office and we did some PRT (Positive Reinforcement Training) with the chimps.

Missy presenting her wrist for Katelyn:

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We ended the day with a dinner forage in the playroom. Jamie used a plate to collect her food:

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Burrito:

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Annie:

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And finally, it was goodnight.

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The Lookouts

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As Elizabeth wrote in her blog post the other day, as much as we truly love sharing what the chimps get up to each day with you, there are a variety of factors throughout any given day which can play into our time and occasionally we’re left scrambling to come up with something with which to produce a worthy post. And today was another one of those days. After our staff meeting this afternoon our window to find blog material was a bit shorter, coupled with the fact that the chimpanzees (rightly so) had zero interest in helping to solve this particular human’s challenge.

So I cannot tell a lie. Though the chimps all seemed to have had a great day enjoying the cooler weather as we head toward autumn, I fell short of catching even one of them in a photo. However! I have been hanging onto these gems that I captured during an evening walk with Jamie and her right hand gal, Missy, the other night as they scaled the Twister:

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Missy the Disco Queen – Part II

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As Anna mentioned in her blog post yesterday, the chimps and humans spent the entire day celebrating Missy and her 41st birthday (along with the birthdays of a couple of our wonderful friends and supporters, Deb and Martha)!

As you may be aware, Missy is mad about tomatoes. She seems to never tire of them and I think she’d be happy to eat nothing else. And because she and her best friend, Annie, love to incorporate socks and ’80’s style headbands into their play sessions, what better way to kick off the celebration than with an ’80’s Disco Party theme complete with disco ball pinatas (graciously made by volunteer caregiver, Patti) and cherry tomatoes in socks, along with a breakfast forage!

As promised, here are photos from Missy’s day (and I hope you all like lots of photos, folks!)

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Jody was able to get one of the cherry tomato socks (that’s Burrito to the right who was emitting low moans of joy over his handfuls of breakfast treats – I just now realized it’s the only shot we got of him, but rest assured he was happy!):

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Foxie:

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Annie (notice all the socks hanging on the firehose – Missy got every single one!):

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The party continued with a watermelon bowl lunch forage on Young’s Hill:

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The birthday lady quickly found one and headed for a quiet spot to take in the view and enjoy her lunch in peace:

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Annie also chose to enjoy her watermelon bowl in solitude:

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Jody found two and quickly headed back to enjoy them in the comfort of the greenhouse:

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Foxie found they were the perfect size to just put her whole face in:

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Jamie took the approach of dumping out the bowls and then using them to collect copious amounts of chow to bring inside and enjoy:

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And the piece de resistance? Queen Neggie:

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Back inside the greenhouse, Negra headed to her favorite sunny corner which overlooks her beloved valley:

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A heart full of thanks to all the staff, volunteers and supporters who made this special day of celebration for Missy and her friends possible!

Celebrating each of the chimp’s birthdays and the amazing individuals they are is always a joyous and fun occasion. And as I shared with Missy’s Pals yesterday, the reasons for celebration and gratitude go far beyond a specific date. In Missy’s case, it’s hard not to recall the thought that she almost didn’t make it sanctuary. Diana shared this story in a previous blog post though I failed to locate it. But in preparation for the chimps’ transfer to CSNW they all went through physicals at which time Missy was found to have uterine fibroids and was given a hysterectomy. Missy came through the surgery just fine, but during her transport afterward, she suddenly crashed. It took a lot to bring her back. After 30 years of torture and torment, she was so close to never knowing anything different. It makes my heart shake and shudder just to stand on the edge of this thought. And yet it’s a reality for so many chimps, particularly those who never made it to sanctuary or are still awaiting their turn.

Since arriving to her sanctuary home Missy has shown us she is someone who greets life by opening the door and running into it, arms wide open. With every leap, twist, swing, jump, sprint and full out run she puts her history further behind her, defying her age and claiming a life full of joy, adventure, comfort and love. None of which would be possible without you.

Please know it’s not my intention to end this fabulous celebration on a downer. It’s my hope to share with you how truly amazing each day in sanctuary is for the chimps. And to express our profound gratitude to you for ensuring that every day is one of the celebration of freedoms in all shapes and sizes for each of the chimps, in their own way and choosing. Safe in the knowledge that they are home, respected, valued and loved for the individuals they are.

And to our Disco Queen, Happy, Happy Birthday, Missy, we love you so much!! For all your days forward may your heart and soul sing out loud. And may there be tomatoes. So many tomatoes.

Happy Birthday Martha and Missy!

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Today is full of celebration! We are so excited to have another day of sanctuary sponsored by Susie Winston in honor of her partner, Martha Faulkner, and Missy chimpanzee for their birthdays! Martha is an amazing friend to the chimps (and the humans!) and is also a valued member of our wonderful Board of Directors. We’re thrilled to be celebrating her special day along with Missy’s. And Missy is a special and greatly beloved chimpanzee woman who defies age more with each passing leap, run, jump and sprint and we couldn’t be more delighted.

Susie shared this lovely message about today:  “Martha is the best partner and most generous person ever. All she wanted for her birthday is a donation for the chimps. Love that Woman!”

Susie, thank you so much for celebrating Martha in such a compassionate and generous way! We are so fortunate to have you both in our chimp family!

Martha, we are so grateful to you for all that you do for the chimps to ensure that for all their days forward their lives are filled with comfort, joy, security, and love. We wish you and your generous heart the happiest of days!

One of today’s birthday women, Missy. We love you, Missy, Happy Birthday!!:

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Missy and her beloved friend, Annie:

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And Martha’s chimpanzee pals, Burrito:

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and Jody:

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The first of today’s parties was pretty exciting and preparations are underway for party #2! Be sure to check back later today for a look at the festivities! And thank you so much to all of you who make it possible to celebrate each of the chimpanzees for the amazing individuals they are.