Archive for the ‘Trolls’ Category

Foxie’s Day Out

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Do not adjust your screens, these are photos of Foxie all over the hill today!

Foxie on the hill looking at camera

 

Here she is on top of a climbing structure on the hill  – a first for Foxie! It’s the climbing structure closest to the raceway. She went up there to retrieve a troll doll initially but went back several times during the day.

Foxie on top of climbing structure

 

Foxie carefully bringing her trolls back down from the structure:

Foxie coming down from the structure with trolls

 

The crew that put the concrete on the treat rock had a bit leftover, so they made a replica of Mt St. Helens. Foxie’s touring by the site here:

Foxie by Mt St Helens

 

Missy (left) was pretty excited to have Foxie on the hill.

Missy and Foxie touring the hill

 

Foxie put one of her troll dolls on her back as she walked around a bit:

Foxie with troll doll on her back

Motivation

Saturday, October 15th, 2011

I have no idea what was going through Foxie’s mind as she walked around the entire perimeter of Young’s Hill on that first day out, but since then, she has been extremely reluctant to go back out. Everyday she tries, but as soon as she gets about 20 feet from the doorway she freezes in her tracks. Obviously the whole experience of being outdoors is overwhelming to her.

Her friends have been encouraging her to go out and to remain out once she is there. But they know that she is scared and they don’t try to push her beyond her comfort zone.

The other day I saw something amazing. Missy came out of the tunnel with a troll in her mouth, and Foxie was trailing behind her. Missy doesn’t care for trolls, so I thought that perhaps Missy was using the troll as a lure to try to help Foxie get outside. And in a way, she was..but it was Foxie that initiated it! Since then, I’ve seen Foxie go through this routine three times with Missy. Foxie begins by stomping around the greenhouse, which is an invitation for someone to go out to the hill with her. When Missy joins her, they both pause and Foxie delicately hands over her troll. She then waits for Missy and the troll to lead the way up the hill.

Online Auction Ends Tonight

Sunday, October 9th, 2011

We would love to follow the success of the Seattle Out of the Box 2011 event by reaching our $20,000 goal for the online auction. We have $3,826 to go in just six hours and 30 minutes. So far we have $1,192 toward the on-site medical clinic through the online auction. This is the best way to give back to the chimps – you can donate in any amount. Do it for Negra!

Although several were snatched up fast, there are still plenty of items available to bid, including a five-night stay at the Ihilani Resort  in O’ahu, a private tour of the sanctuary that includes dinner with the staff and an overnight stay, limited edition signed prints of the Philip Herman illustration The Chimps on Young’s Hill (only four left in the auction), a week-long stay on Grand Cayman Island, an opportunity to be a virtual caregiver to the Cle Elum Seven for a whole day, a two-day pass to the Northwest Yoga Conference, and copies of Troll Mania, A Comfy Home and Present Moment, Perfect Moment with photos of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary. On the auction site are the last remaining copies of these books in hardback – no more hardback versions will be printed, so get them now!

Relax at this private pool on the Cayman Islands:

Get the very last available hardback copy of Troll Mania:

 

 

Today is the day

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

I can’t believe today is the day we get to see our chimpanzee friends step on grass for the first time.

Yesterday I looked at the 5′ x 3′ cage we have on the property. They lived in cages that size for decades. It’s impossible to put into words the sadness that small cage evokes. Then I looked at the 2 acre hill.

It might be a little scary for them at first, but the chimps are definitely ready for us to open the doors to the next chapter in their lives and put their pasts further behind them. We plan to set up a large lunch forage for them and open the doors around 11:00 (pacific time).

Its been heartwarming to see all of the posts that people have been sharing about the news on Facebook. It’s a privilege to be part of such a great community of people who care about chimpanzees and are as excited as we are to see the Cle Elum Seven step onto that hill.

A lot of people have been sharing the Young’s Hill video that Jonathan Houser made just a year ago when we were raising funds for the hill at our 2010 auction. I’ve included it below.

Young’s Hill – The Dream from Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest on Vimeo.

 

Thank you all.

Seriously Playful

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

In contrast to the Negra-style play mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, when Foxie and Jamie play, they are completely uninhibited and just down right goofy. I could watch them (and laugh with them) being silly all day long.

The many things to do with troll dolls

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Troll dolls can be used in many different ways.

 

 

Jamie holding troll doll

Troll hair

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Foxie’s trolls often end up “scalped” and lose their hair. It seems like both Jamie and Jody might do the troll-scalping, although we don’t always catch it happening. One afternoon Jackie and I witnessed Jody rip this troll’s hair out while casually resting on top of the wooden platform outside.

We have some troll dolls that are quite odd in my opinion—they don’t really resemble the traditional troll doll and have a different type of hair. For some reason these trolls don’t lose their hair as often, if ever. In this troll line-up, you can see a traditional troll still with its hair, one that’s been scalped, and two of the “odd” trolls still with hair.

Foxie still interacts with these ones…

and maybe she’s on a mission to begin their hair removal too?

Hanging with Burrito

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Just another one of those silly moments here at the sanctuary:

Happy Birthday to Richard and Foxie

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Supporter Dawn Killen-Courtney has sponsored today in joint celebration of two very special birthdays: Foxie’s, which we celebrated in grand style a few days ago (see video of the party here), and Dawn’s husband Richard’s, which is today. Dawn and Foxie happen to have a lot in common: they’re both troll doll aficionados! Dawn’s even written books about trolls.  While many of our supporters learn a lot about trolls after learning of Foxie’s love for them, it happened the other way around for Dawn.  It was discovering that a chimpanzee shared her passion that led Dawn to CSNW.  We (and Foxie) are so glad you found us, Dawn.

Here’s Foxie loving on one of her new trolls at her party:

A very happy birthday to Foxie and Richard from Dawn!