Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

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Ransom demands

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Thank you to those who have already contributed to the ransom that will release the blog and the Burrito video! I hope you enjoyed the photos that were sent to you for your ransom donation.

We know how much you love stopping by to see videos and photos of the chimpanzees, so help bring them back!

Here are the current demands in order for the blog to be released and the very cute Burrito video to be posted:

Just one person takes advantage of the $1500 Candy Cane Weekend deal that allows you to be an Alpha Pal to all Seven chimpanzees, or two people take advantage of the Best Friends Pal Candy Cane Weekend deal that includes a calendar in addition to the other goodies the Best Friends level of sponsorship offers, or ten more people sign up to be holiday pals at any level. I will email you one of my favorite photos of the pal that you choose as a bonus thank you.

Learn more about the Chimpanzee Pal program and Holiday Pal fundraising here and make your ransom donation here.

Burrito will be waiting.

free the blog

Candy Cane Weekend Deals & Holding the Blog Hostage

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I need to hold the blog hostage. I have a great video of Burrito to share, but first, we need some more photos on the chimps’ Holiday Pal candy canes. We’re jumping on the Black Friday, Cyber Monday bandwagon (and don’t forget that Giving Tuesday is coming up!), and we’re offering two deals on the first ever “Candy Cane Weekend.”

Starting right now and only through the end of the day Monday, you can take advantage of the following deals:

#1 – Become an Alpha Pal to all seven chimpanzees at the reduced rate of $1500 (normally $1,680)! Be the first one – donate now!

#2 – For anyone who signs up for the Best Friends Pal level, in addition to the awesome best friends Annie and Missy necklaces (one for you and one for your best friend), we will send you a hot-off-the-press Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest 2014 calendar as a bonus gift! Donate now and celebrate the gift of friendship.

Help us fill up those candy canes so I can share the video of Burrito later today. Thanks so much for your support!

I know you want to see the video…

Burrito and the bed bug toy

the walking club

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Unless this is your first time visiting the blog (if so, welcome!!), you probably know about Jamie’s obsession with walking around the perimeter of Young’s Hill while one or more of her human caregivers walks around the outside of the perimeter while wearing a cowboy boot.

She has been doing this multiple times a day with all of her caregivers since the spring. While Jamie is quite demanding about taking these walks 4-7 times a days, it’s admittedly not a dreaded task for us humans. It’s hard to describe how great it feels to not only be making Jamie happy, which is pretty much a CSNW caregiver’s definition of a successful day, but it’s also just a very peaceful way to spend 15 or so minutes. It’s particularly great right now because the weather has been amazing this October, and the hill and the surrounding property is beautiful, even awe-inspiring at certain times of the day.

We actually dreamed of doing these perimeter walks before Young’s Hill was a reality. When it was in the design phase, we wondered if the chimps might patrol the perimeter of the hill, similar to the way chimpanzees in the wild go on patrol to check the boundaries of their territory. So when Jamie started doing this, it felt right.

While spending time with the chimpanzees one-on-one, like walking with Jamie while the other chimps do their own thing, is personally fulfilling, what’s 100 times more rewarding is observing the chimpanzees with each other and seeing their bonds strengthen and their friendships expand.

Which is why we’ve been thrilled that other chimpanzees have been joining Jamie on her walks lately. J.B. captured some clips on his phone and put together the video below.

Maybe, just maybe, one day the chimpanzees will go off on their own with each other to walk the perimeter of the hill, leaving us humans behind.

 

Burrito and Jamie on the hill

How do you know where you are if you don’t know where you’ve been?

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I decided to do a little retrospective of the blog today and found the posts around this time for the last five years. It’s interesting what’s changed, what’s remained the same, and what’s entirely different.

Today I posted this photo on Burrito’s Facebook page and described him as handsome:

handsome burrito on deck.

And today volunteers Lynn and Patti staffed our booth at PAWSwalk. I worked in the chimp house with Debbie and Keith stopped by for a visit this afternoon with some friends.

Five years ago today, I posted about Keith and I staffing the PAWswalk booth and I posted a photo of handsome Burrito:

five years ago blog post image

 

Today was a drizzly day, but that didn’t stop Jamie from going all around the hill four times – twice with me and twice with volunteer Keri. On her fourth trip around, Jamie ran the whole way. She got pretty wet from the rain, but didn’t seem to mind at all.

jamie walking in the rain

 

It was drizzly four years ago at this time too, so toothbrushes were the rainy day enrichment.

Three years ago we had the ingenious idea to fill troll dolls with treats and freeze them. We’ve probably done this 50 times since then. I love Jamie’s somewhat frustrated initial reaction:

Two years ago Young’s Hill was almost but not quite complete, and we were speculating about whether the chimpanzees might be hesitant to walk into the great wide open space.

Sept 7 2011 blog post screenshot

And one year ago, we posted this in-depth story that KOMO news did about the fire that burned the grass on Young’s Hill and damaged the caregiver house on the property:

Window Play

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Burrito and Debbie had a fun game of chase going this morning, with Debbie running on the outside of the chimp building where the garden is, and Burrito running inside from window to window. At one point in the game, Burrito generously shared a little bit of his water.

Jamie played a bit too, but she mostly wanted Debbie to pick her something from the garden.