Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for December 2019

Snow Day

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First and foremost, I want to apologize for not putting together a real blog post.

Today was exciting and productive, but the afternoon disappeared and I soon realized that the video montage I made for you all would not finish uploading until late in the evening. My attempts to finish it were met with further technical difficulties, so I am regretfully abandoning my efforts.

Instead, please enjoy these images of the great snowfall that we experienced this week. The prepared video, which showcases how Burrito and the other chimps are remaining busy during the onset of winter, will be uploaded by me on Sunday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

First Snow Experience

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This morning was the first real snow of the year. We gave Honey B, Willy B, and Mave access to the chute, which was quite snowy! The three chimps came from California, so we were curious what their reaction would be to the snow. Today, Honey B seemed to be the only one who adventured out into the chute. However, Willy B and Mave did look curious. As enrichment we put snow buckets out, which they all seemed to enjoy. There is still more snow coming down, so there will be plenty more opportunities for all three to explore the snow!

Gloomy Yet Beautiful

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Today was a bit of a gloomy and frosty day.

Though when you get closer it is beautiful. Everywhere around the sanctuary was covered in hoar frost.

J.B. has been very busy building what we are calling the courtyard, which is where we extended Young’s Hill and the new structure was built. He put fencing up to help create a smaller Hill for Mave, Honey B, and Willy B, which also includes a boardwalk to the new structure since they are still getting use to their new surroundings. We are hoping this will entice the three to go out onto the Hill. Their first experience was not great. They all touched the fence many times. The Hill is also a huge open spaced compared anything they have ever experienced. Honey B, Willy B, and Mave have lived on concrete for a long time in a relatively small space. This kind of open area could take a long time to warm up too. Willy B especially, seems to not like touching the ground. This may be one of the many reasons the three have not yet adventured onto the Hill again.

Jody was on Young’s Hill and excited to see Willy B in the chute:

Willy B in the chute and the girls looking at him from the playroom windows:

Mave joined in too:

Missy (top) and Annie (bottom) watching Willy B and Mave in the chute:

Jody decided that this was fun, but she needed to nest:

Willy B let Burrito borrow his TV! Burrito enjoyed a film about Koko the gorilla and a documentary about Jane Goodall 🙂

Mave <3:

I also wanted to let you all know, we have started putting the chimps Christmas presents on the Amazon Wishlist! So if you missed out on the blankets or were wondering what the chimps would like for Christmas, check it out!

 

 

The Burrito barometer

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Burrito still has a ways to go in his healing process, but more days than not we are beginning to see the return of all the little things that make Burrito, Burrito and endear him so to us. Tiny things, such as he loves to play a game I refer to as “up high, down low” (for lack of a more creative name) in which he sits at the caging with us and pokes his fingers out of the caging “up high” then “down low,” waiting for us to follow suit so he can tickle the back of our wrist.

Another Burrito “thing” is, of course, always having a small plastic or wooden toy to bite on, especially while he’s in a playful mood. Or making a play face while covering his face or play-biting his own hand from afar, a silly gesture he gives us even if he doesn’t feel like getting up and coming over. All of these seemingly insignificant gestures are the daily markers we grow accustomed to seeing on the Burrito barometer of wellness. I’ll be honest, we haven’t been seeing a lot of these small things from him for quite some time as he’s been busy with the work of healing, resting and regaining his strength. Even knowing this, from the humans’ perspectives, it’s difficult not seeing these behaviors from the chimps that we know indicate that they’re feeling happy, well and at ease. Small moments that translate to our own hearts feeling happy, well, and at ease.

Burrito’s coming back to himself, little by little each day. And our hearts couldn’t be more relieved, more happy.

Willy B’s cabbage

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The chimpanzees don’t follow the same food etiquette rules as most of us. Chewing extremely loudly with your mouth wide open is no big deal if you’re a chimp and somehow it’s still pretty endearing! We posted this video on Instagram yesterday and due to popular demand, decided it needed to be shared on multiple platforms.

Happy Anniversary, Via!

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Long-time chimpanzee friends sponsored this day of sanctuary, Carrie Miller in honor of Sylvia Gandolfo! Carrie shared this message for Sylvia:

“Happy Anniversary to Via, who, like the CSNW team, gets to it every day to take care of caregiving business no matter how much crazy is going on in the wide world.”

Carrie and Sylvia, thank you both, for your loyal friendship to the chimpanzees and so generously making a difference in their lives countless times over. We so appreciate you both!

Wishing you a beautiful day, Sylvia!

Annie. Beloved, sweet, Annie:

Annie holding her bestie, Missy’s, foot:

AnnieMissy (one word, because, well, AnnieMissy! 🙂 ):

Eye Contact

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When I’m about to introduce people to chimpanzees for the first time, I usually include something like, “Though this is not true for all nonhuman primate species, it’s okay to make eye contact with chimpanzees. It’s not seen as a direct threat, particularly with chimpanzees who have been raised in captivity around humans.”

And then I use an analogy that I borrowed from J.B. and continue with, “Of course, you don’t want to stare at them. Think of it as riding a bus with strangers – it would be creepy to stare down someone you don’t know, but making eye contact and acknowledging someone else’s gaze is perfectly fine and, in fact, the polite thing to do.”

Interestingly, chimpanzees vary in how much eye contact they choose to make with us.

Honey B does not subscribe to J.B.’s “strangers on a bus” eye contact rule. She stares. She stares deeply. She stares for a long time.

I very much appreciate this about her now, but it was actually a little unnerving at first. I wasn’t sure what kind of data she was gathering as she peered into my eyes, because it did feel like she was collecting information.

Her mom, Missy, however, does quite the opposite. When a human caregiver is lucky enough to be graced by Missy’s focused attention, we generally get her back to groom, with some furtive eye contact once in a while.

If we are super lucky, she sticks her toes out of the mesh for us to touch with the back of our hand, while she looks the other way.

I try to play it cool during these moments, but I am screaming with delight inside when Missy offers me her toes. Beyond it being a huge compliment for Missy to interact with me, her feet are just the best. They are incredibly petite and the nails on her toes are worn on one side from the wear they get as she runs.

I appreciate Missy’s aloofness as much as I do Honey B’s intensity. Despite sharing some DNA, they are each their own unique chimpanzee person with different backgrounds and different personalities. The many differences and personality quirks make working with chimpanzees such a joy.