Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for July 2021

Betsy’s Bovine Birthday Bash!

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It’s a week of celebrations! Yesterday we celebrated Gordo’s 33rd birthday. Today we are celebrating Betsy’s 14th birthday!

If you remember from last year, we had tried to do something special for the cattle on their birthdays, which usually didn’t end the way we wanted them to.

Today, Kelsi and I decided we wanted to try again. We took the service Gator up to the barn to grab some COB (corn, oats, and barely) and alfalfa pellets to bring to sweet Betsy to celebrate her day.

As we drove onto the pasture to meet them, Betsy was the first to be alert to something new in the back of the Gator. When she realized what it was, she wanted all of it. We were able to make sure Nutmeg, Honey, and Meredith were also able to get some.

We all truly love the cattle here! Every one is uniquely special to us. We often look back at their lives and get into “Awww” mode when we find some of the old photos of their time at Farm Sanctuary. And since this particular page is titled “Betsy: Dairy Survivor, Reality TV Star, Devoted Mother, and Beloved Friend” I thought today would be a good day to share it.

Happy Birthday, Betsy! Here’s to 14 years, and many more to come!

Nutmeg and Betsy eating together.
Betsy eating some hay.
She’s a forest cow now!
Eating with her family from the back of the Gator.
Happy Birthday, Betsy!

And as one final message, Diana wants you all to know that she hears you about wanting a better blog commenting system, so she’s currently looking into options. If there are other websites that you comment on that have the features you like, feel free to contact Diana ([email protected]) as she investigates possibilities. And don’t forget to subscribe to the blog the new way if you haven’t already. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Gordito!

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For some, birthdays are just another day, but here at the sanctuary we go all out to make sure birthdays are a big hit for everyone. Today we are celebrating that one of the Lucky Six, Gordo, turns 33 years old. This is his first birthday party celebration while living in the sanctuary and we had to make sure that it met all of his expectations. Gordito, because honestly he is not hefty at all and it sounds a bit more gentle has slowly come out of his shell and has shown to be a very sweet chimp, and has also proven that his name matches his personality in the sense that he is a VERY food motivated guy. For meals he will get his serving of food and then come back to ask for more as if he had gotten nothing, but nice try buddy we are trained to keep count!

Today’s party included a forage in the playrooms of oatmeal cups topped with grapes and shaved coconuts, banana leaves for browse and a tropical feel, and whole mangoes for lunch. I don’t know who was more excited about mangoes being on the lunch menu, the chimps or me. They always remind me of being back home and picking them from the huge tree in my grandmas backyard, or sitting under said tree with my cousins always with an eye out to not get hit in the head with a falling mango if the wind picked up. Anyways, here are some photos of the party!

Smoothie/juice bars have nothing on our caregivers ability to make snacks look amazingly appetizing

Once the chimps got access into the party area Gordo was the first one in and went straight towards the oatmeal cups

Gordo getting his lunch mango from Caregiver Anthony

Cy showing how a mango should be left after being properly eaten

Lucky enjoying her oatmeal cup

Dora with her oatmeal cup

And just in time for Gordo’s birthday, you now have the opportunity to become his Chimpanzee Pal (or a Pal to any of the 16 chimpanzees who call the sanctuary home)! Each of the “Lucky Six” are now available to sponsor through our Chimpanzee Pal program, so if you’d like to learn more just click here – OR – if you’re inspired to become a Bovine Buddy in time for Betsy’s birthday tomorrow, click here!

For the myriad of ways in which you each choose to support our chimpanzee and bovine families, it means the world to us and we could not be more grateful to you!

For Gordo, Tom and Dan

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Many thanks to Paulette Wrisley, who sponsored this day of sanctuary in celebration of Gordo’s birthday, AND a couple of fellow supporters of the sanctuary who share his birthdate, Tom Austin and Dan Oksiuta!

As you may recall, we’ve recently moved from mailing out birthday cards to our supporters who choose to share their birthdays with us, to monthly blog posts for all who are celebrating their birthday during the month. Supporters Tom and Dan commented on sharing their birthdays (and apparent mutual good looks 🙂 ) with handsome Gordo and well, Paulette took it from there. 🙂

“In honor of: Three handsome devils: Gordo, Tom Austin, and Dan Oksiuta. Happy Birthday guys! Have the best of days!”

“The Lucky Six” are nearing the end of their first month since arriving home to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and we’re so excited to be able to celebrate the first of their birthdays with us! Gordo turns 33 today!!

Gordo, Cy, Lucky, Rayne, Dora, and Terry are sharing more and more of their personalities with us each day and while it takes time to figure out what things they each seem to enjoy the most, we hope Gordo’s special day, and all his years forward, are full of joy, curiosity, adventure and food squeaks (as well as yours, Tom and Dan! 🙂 ).

Happy Birthday, Gordo!

Happy Birthday, Tom and Dan!

Morning Greetings

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Even though today is Sunday, it’s my “Monday” and I always look forward to coming back from my weekend and seeing the chimps again. We are so lucky as caregivers to be able to greet and be greeted by these amazing individuals. I love seeing how they all spend their mornings and what we can find them up to.

Some mornings are full of greetings and today was one of those days. Jamie was in a playful mood and wanted to play chase! We ran back and forth a couple times and then it was on to a short game of chase with Burrito. As everyone knows, he is ALWAYS ready to play. Negra was still lounging in her nest in the Greenhouse, but sweet Jody was waiting to greet me. As I moved along, Honey B was ready for a long game of chase! She wanted to play chase from the ground floor up to their Mezzanine. The Mezzanine is located above their front rooms and involves us climbing a ladder to get to the top level. Since I had to take the long route, Honey B would patiently wait until I got to the top and then would run back down.

As I was walking around the outside of building, Terry was excitedly waiting to say hi from a distance. Cy gave me a quick greeting from above, but went back to reading his morning magazine.

Each morning before we let the chimps onto Young’s Hill we walk around outside of the fence line to make sure everything still looks intact. Not only are we greeted by the chimps in the morning, but sometimes the cattle as well! I found them along my walk this morning and here are some photos.

Honey

Betsy

Nutmeg

Meredith

Here are some photos from the rest of the day!

Missy on the hill.

Jamie making sure things are in order.

Burrito making everyone’s heart melt.

Honey B always watching.

Willy B enjoying his night bag.

Willy B with his PVC peanut butter tube.

A photo of Rayne from last week using a box as a foot rest.

Gordo making good use of the same box.

Jody wadging a cattail

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This video (above) reminded me of someone eating a corn dog at a ball game, though I don’t really go to ball games and I have no idea if they still have corn dogs.

In any case, Jody definitely was enjoying her cattail wadge while keeping an eye on the neighbors today.

For more on wadging, check out this blog post from Anna from a few years ago or this one, also from Anna, with some photos of Jody wadging pineapple skin.

Today is the first day of sending out the blog to both the old and the new lists of subscribers. If you are new to the blog, welcome!!

If you signed up to the new list the other day, you should be receiving notice of this blog post from both WordPress and Salsa. Check your spam folders just in case!

Note: if you have previously unsubscribed from our e-newsletter or other communications, you may not receive the email. Get in contact with me if you have any questions or issues: [email protected]

I’ll be troubleshooting this week, so you might not receive blog posts through Salsa (the new way) everyday, but my goal is to have it all worked out by the end of the week.

If you haven’t yet signed up to the new subscription, you should be able to do that on either the right side or below this page (scroll down).

Happy Saturday, everyone!

 

Light Reading

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Cy’s reaction to magazines still catches me off guard. Is someone food squeaking? Alarm barking? Oh, it’s just Cy looking at magazines again. We’re going to need a name for that vocalization.

Willy B continues to be the center of attention at the sanctuary. When he goes into the courtyard, the Seven hoot and holler, which causes the Lucky Six to respond, which in turn causes Willy B, Honey B, and Mave to call back. And around it goes. Eventually they all settle down. But it’s quite the soap opera.

Speaking of soap operas, that little Dora continues to look for Willy B wherever he goes.

Once and a while they meet across the hallway…

While I was on my perimeter check this morning I came across Meredith grooming her buddy Nutmeg.

Then Betsy came over to groom me.

In honor of Anher

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Many thanks to Lynn Wilson for sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of Anher Flores, the Senior Manager at Wildlife Waystation, and for sharing this wonderful message about her gift:

“Last night we watched ‘A Checkered Past’. I felt so bad for Anher losing the chimps he has worked with for so many years. He also did so much for many of the other 77,000 animals saved by the Wildlife Waystation. My husband and I were fortunate enough to get to know him when we were volunteers at the Waystation. Anher deserves an honor mention and a donated chimp day for all he has given for the many years he has been with the Waystation. Thank you Anher.”

For Mave, Honey B and Willy B, and most recently, Cy, Rayne, Lucky, Dora, Gordo and Terry, Wildlife Waystation, was the only home they’d known for the majority of their lives before arriving here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. And Anher, along with so many other caregivers, are the wonderful humans who cared for them for all those years. The chimps’ human friends and family. We can well imagine how difficult it is for everyone, humans and chimpanzees, having their whole world change overnight.

We’re so happy to have the opportunity to honor Anher and his colleagues today for all they’ve done (and continue to do for the remaining 26 chimpanzees who are still at Wildlife Waystation awaiting their new sanctuary homes) to provide care and love to these amazing individuals and for all they’ve done to help make their transition as easeful as possible. We think of them every day, with so much gratitude.

Gordo, in one of his new greenhouses here at CSNW:

As many of you may be aware, “A Checkered Past”, a short film by Shaun Monson and narrated by Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, was just released on World Chimpanzee Day, July 14th, to highlight the emergency rescue campaign led by the North American Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) and fiscally sponsored by 7th Generation Advisors. The film tells the story of the original 42 chimpanzees who remained at Wildlife Waystation when the facility unexpectedly closed. Twenty six chimpanzees still remain there who urgently need our help.

We are profoundly grateful to each of you who, in a myriad of ways, made it possible for us to welcome home the nine incredible chimpanzees who have joined our family. And if you’ve followed us for awhile, you are well aware of the enormous undertaking it is to be able to offer safe, appropriate and enriching living space to chimpanzees. While accredited and experienced sanctuaries have been identified to take the remaining chimps, they are still in need of daily care and help getting to their new homes. If you are interested in learning more about the remaining Chimpanzees in Need, would like to see the film, or share the chimpanzees’ story (far and wide, please!), you may do so here.

Lucky:

Rayne:

Terry:

Dora:

Willy B:

Honey B:

Mave: