Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Diana made this pretty spectacular video blog post last Saturday for Jamieween. In addition to the video, I thought everyone might enjoy these photos of Burrito doing what he does best at a Halloween party, eating! Volunteer Patti hollowed out small pumpkins and filled them with a lettuce, grape, and clementine salad. It’s always exciting when you get to eat your bowl!
The video below shows just some of the highlights of Jamieween (turn up the volume if you want the addition of music to add to the drama).
In addition to the fun adventures in the video, Jamie received not one, not two, not even three, but four pairs of new cowboy boots from her fan club of supporters.
One of Jamie’s top favorite foods is pears, so I decided to hide a whole pear in one of her new boots – sort of both a trick and a treat.
She immediately took that pair of boots, inspected, and nested with them:
She even tried one on:
But, apparently it wasn’t the one with the pear, because the pear was still in the boot when I went into the playroom later that day to spot clean. I was shocked!
It took another couple of hours, but Jamie did finally find her birthday treat.
Thank you to everyone who made this a special day for boss Jamie and us humans who had the privilege of celebrating with her!
Today was a little different. I don’t think there’s any such thing as normal, ho-hum day in the chimp house, but some days stray more from the routine than others.
This morning we set up the Summer Lovin‘ party in the greenhouse. Big thanks to everyone who gave for Summer Lovin’ during our recent Summer Biddin’ online auction!
I chose to have the party today because I knew the chimpanzees wouldn’t have Young’s Hill for all or most of the day, and I figured they could use a party to distract them from this. It was for good reason – a team of volunteers were helping J.B. plant some new bamboo on the hill and hang new fire hose!
The party was a blast, and Anna and I took a lot of photos, which kind of put us behind schedule by a bit.
Below are just a few of the photos we took.
The beach-themed Summer Lovin’ Party set-up. Volunteer Lizz and Anna set up the party. The “cocktail” was fresh pressed watermelon juice and seltzer water.
Negra with one of the beach ball pinatas:
Missy with a lime, a cocktail umbrella, and a coconut:
Jody who got and held on to the top of the pineapple (you can see it sticking up behind the beach ball pinata – she’s holding it with her feet as she eats a peanut from the pinata):
Burrito with a coconut and Foxie in the foreground:
It was fun watching the chimps enjoy their party as the volunteers were hard at work planting bamboo on the hill.
Saturdays is one of our disinfecting days, and that takes longer than just a regular cleaning, so the whole day we stayed behind schedule. Which was fine, really – the schedule is just an outline for the day, not something to be adhered to with fanaticism.
The good news is that the chimps did get to go out onto the hill in the late afternoon. We put out a forage of roasted corn, which was a big hit, tomatoes, and onions.
Annie on “round two” looking for more forage:
Jamie enjoying the corn:
After the dinner forage, Missy decided to check out the new fire hose and the bamboo. J.B. got these photos of her:
And then there was Jamie, who needed to make up for the time she didn’t have on the hill today. So, I’ve spent the last couple of hours walking around the hill with her.
Jamie walking by the memorial walkway.
Sometimes it’s impossible to both please your boss and get all of your work done… so, I haven’t yet put together the video clips from the party with a thank you to everyone who gave summer lovin’ donations.
But that just means you have something to look forward to tomorrow!
Good night, everyone – from the Cle Elum Seven, who are all now sleeping, and their human crew.
It’s hard to believe that youthful, exuberant, energizer-bunny Missy is turning 40 today. She might be in the running for World’s Most Sprightly 40 Year Old Chimpanzee. Missy makes us smile everyday with her enthusiasm for life, her legs that never stop running, and her complete devotion to her chimp family. Today, we celebrate her.
Volunteer caregiver Patti put together an 80s-themed party for Missy’s big day. Naturally this included leg warmers, socks, and sweatbands in neon colors (including a few for caregivers to wear), and homemade Rubik’s Cube pinatas. We firmly believe a party is not a party without streamers, so we decked out the greenhouse with those too. Fruit smoothie “shots” in Dixie cups, apples, plums, tomatoes (Missy’s favorite), and primate chow rounded out the celebration.
Missy:
Negra:
Annie:
Jody:
Jamie:
Foxie:
Burrito:
For Missy, no day is complete without some serious adventure, so we scattered a lunch forage on Young’s Hill. And adventure she did:
To everyone who contributed to Missy’s party, sponsored today, or just sent happy thoughts to the birthday girl, thank you!
Today we celebrated Foxie’s 39th birthday! It was a day filled with some of her favorite foods – lots and lots of fruit, fruit smoothie in shot glasses…
Foxie found a smoothie shot on the hill:
plus there were carrots, celery, more fruit, avocados, sweet potatoes, corn, and fresh-pressed carrot & apple juice!
There’s a video below, but first a few shots of the chimps enjoying the celebration in their own way:
Burrito looking for food:
Annie chillin’ in the hammock:
Negra getting that last bit of coconut from the cup:
Jody in her characteristic belly-to-the-ground position, finishing her meal:
And Missy, who was not going to let a bit of the flaked coconut that was in this piñata go to waste.
Not one…
little bit
There were several people who contributed to Foxie’s celebration, including Karen Young who provided decorations and money for food, Tracy H. who sponsored the day, Jayne R., and many people who sent Foxie Dora and troll dolls. Thanks for making her day special!
Enjoy the video!
This special day of sanctuary was sponsored by Tracy Headley in honor of her pal, Foxie’s, birthday! Tracy is a luminous soul who holds the chimpanzees in her heart and welcomes them into her life at every opportunity. She is such a good friend to the chimpanzees and humans alike, advocating however she can to make the lives of so many, better.
We would also like to thank Karen and Don Young for ensuring that today’s Dora the Explorer themed celebration is one for the records! Karen and Don have also been a big part of the chimpanzees’ lives and have made possible their amazing outdoor area, Young’s Hill. We have watched Foxie (with Dora and trolls) explore Young’s Hill this year like no other. Walking the perimeter with her caregivers, bravely testing out climbing structures, and often leading the way on adventures with her chimpanzee family. Karen and Don send this special message for Foxie:
“Happy Birthday to beautiful Foxie, the first chimp we met at CSNW and the reason we became involved with this amazing sanctuary. To witness the comparison of how you are today to how you were then is miraculous! We hope you have fun at your birthday bash and wiggle your toes at all of the food goodies and a new Dora doll! Happy, Happy Birthday! Karen and Don”
Tracy, Karen and Don, thank you so much for all you do to ensure the chimpanzees live the lives they deserve, filled with hope, dignity and love.
As we prepare to celebrate our beloved and endearing Foxie’s 39th birthday, we are filled with gratitude. Gratitude that despite all that she endured and had stolen from her during her three decades in biomedical research, she is full of joy, courage and love. All of which we are profoundly honored to witness, and share in, each day. Happiest of birthdays yet to you, dear Foxie! We love you!!
We are so touched and grateful to all of you who have reached out to make sure Foxie and her family have a wonderful day. She has received new France Dora dolls, new troll dolls (including a France troll!), decorations, toys, and treats. It’s going to be quite the special bash for a special lady so check in later today to join in on the festivities!
The day after a big party can sometimes be pretty mellow as the chimpanzees “recover” from all the excitement that comes with celebrating a birthday or holiday. But, thanks to Jeani Goodrich (who sponsored today in honor of her family) and her friend Tora, today was filled with more excitement as the chimps celebrated “Christmas in July.”
Celebrating Christmas in July is similar to celebrating Christmas in December. Stockings were hung, presents were wrapped and a lot of red and green streamers, decorations and blankets were spread throughout the enclosures. We also made sure to include foods that kept with the red and green holiday colors. Green onions, tomatoes, red peppers, brussel sprouts, kale and radishes were spread out in the Greenhouse and Young’s Hill for the chimps to forage at lunch.
The party setup in the Greenhouse just before the chimps entered.
Annie went straight for the presents before taking her cup of ice out to Young’s Hill to forage for more food.
Burrito doing what he does best…eating.
Foxie enjoyed her cup of ice (a good substitute for egg nog when it’s 90 degrees outside).
Jamie took her cup of ice to the windowsill.
Jody, wearing her festive sock, searched through the various Christmas enrichment items.
Missy searched through most of the Christmas stockings.
Negra dined on peppers, tomatoes and green onions before grabbing her cup of ice.
