Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for September 2022

Annie’s 48th Birthday Party

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All of the primates had a great day celebrating Annie (and Kelsi and Adam!) today.

Thank you to Paulette for always remembering the many birthdays at CSNW and sponsoring today for Annie on her 48th birthday. And thanks to Dr. Erin for bringing a load of edible flowers and grape vines!

Along with the always great produce (including edible orchid flowers and banana leaves) from Charlie’s Produce, we also harvested grapes from the vines that grow by the sanctuary caregiver house to round out the birthday forage.

Aside from this photo of Annie I took:

Here are a few other of my favorite photos of the day:

Jody with a sunflower:

Jamie getting every last bit of grape off of a vine, unbothered by the raffle tickets brushing her head:

For Adam!

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This special day of sanctuary is from one of our own very special humans and caregivers, Kelsi Breen, for her very special human, Adam Ransavage (and we think he’s pretty great, too 🙂 ):

“I wanted to sponsor this day for someone who I now get the honor of calling my husband, Adam Ransavage. Today Adam and I are getting married; ten and some years later and we are finally tying the knot! I am sponsoring this day to say thank you to Adam. 

I would not be here today working at my dream job without his love and support. Adam has always taken a great interest in what I do and often spends his free time volunteering and helping J.B. on projects. He has been by my side since the start of my chimpanzee journey. Before working at CSNW I received an opportunity to work with my near and dear friends Tatu and Loulis who live at the Fauna Foundation in Quebec Canada. Instead of wondering how we would do the distance, he did not question anything, he just simply told me I need to take the opportunity and we would figure out the rest. Without his selfless encouragement I may have never gotten the experience I needed to join the CSNW family. 

I just wanted to say thank you to Adam for making a pivotal moment in our relationship so easy. And for loving the chimps just as much as I do, maybe even more.

Thank you, I love you, and it is about damn time!!

And Happy Birthday Annie :)!”

Congratulations, Kelsi and Adam!! The sanctuary and all who call it home couldn’t hope for two more wonderful humans to have as part of their family and you both deserve every good thing. We are all so happy for you and thrilled to be able to celebrate your long-awaited wedding day with you! Have a beautiful day!!

Beautiful Jamie:

Cy!:

Honey B:

Gordo:

Mave:

Negra and Foxie:

Birthday girl, Annie!! (So much to celebrate today!):

Kelsi and Boss Lady, Jamie:

This guy, Burrito:

Redecorating

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As Chad mentioned the other day, we’re in the final stretch of building the new open-top outdoor enclosures. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but the time had finally come to start tearing down the original fences so that we could install the last stretch of four fences that will separate the new Young’s Hill from the Bray. The only problem was that a few climbing structures were in path of the new fences, including one of the chimps’ favorites: Carlene’s Tower.

Luckily our friends at Sage Mechanical were on hand to help us do a little redecorating. They plucked the tower out of the ground and drove it to a new location.

And now Carlene’s Tower has found a new home among the evergreens at the very top of the hill, where it us sure to become one of the most popular spots in the renovated habitat.

While the final posts are being set, we’ll be busy winding up all 14 miles of wire from the original fence. Eventually, the insulators will be removed from the old posts and the posts will be used to build more climbing structures.

With over double the acreage, we’ll have a lot of building to do. But our immediate goal is just to get the new fences up and running so the Seven can get back outside and Cy’s group can get a chance to explore before winter. That process alone will take at least a month. As was the case with the original Young’s Hill, the new enclosures will be works in progress, with new play structures, trees, and swings added each year.

Happy (Almost) Wedding Day, Kelsi & Adam!

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The whole staff here at CSNW are excited to sponsor this day of sanctuary in honor of caregiver Kelsi’s wedding tomorrow!

“Tomorrow is a very special day for a longtime caregiver here at CSNW- Kelsi! She is getting married to her best friend, Adam, and we are all so very happy for the two of them.

Kelsi- you are a pillar here at the sanctuary and I am so grateful to know you. You make everyone feel at home and the chimps adore you. I am so happy for you to marry your person and can’t wait to celebrate with you! – Grace

Congrats on the big day, Adam and Kelsi! Love you both so much and I wish you a lifetime of happiness together – Sofía

Best wishes and congratulations to you both! From your whole family of humans and chimps (and cattle) here at CSNW :)”

Cheers to you both!!

Kelsi, thriving:

Sweet Rayne:

 

Bringing the outside in

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As Chad mentioned on Tuesday, Jamie’s Group is off Young’s Hill for the moment so we can complete the new outdoor expansion. Since the original 7 are so used to foraging for their own browse this time of year, it seems particularly important to make sure they still get to sample the edible plants growing naturally on the property. This afternoon Chad visited the pond to harvest some fresh cattails for their enjoyment. I love watching the subtle cattail fluff slowly drift around the greenhouse.

Back to Front Room 7!

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During the process of the nine’s introduction, we had kept front room 7 closed off from them. The reasoning behind having it closed from the chimpanzees was that it posed some safety concerns. This room is smaller than the others and it only has one entry and exit way, making it a dead end. After the chimps were integrated, and out of rational skepticism, we continued to leave it closed as it served as an extra room in case we needed to separate a fight or isolate an individual. The thought of them getting into a serious fight in such a tight spot with only one way to escape had us a bit nervous. That said, considering that the group seems to be handling itself pretty well, during our most recent staff meeting we decided to give it back to them on a see-how-it-goes basis.

Before the groups were integrated, front room 7 was an all time crowd favorite. Honey B loved to nest in there, Rayne loved to use the firehose as a hammock to relax, Lucky would gather blankets and refuse to shift for us with a very determined looking grin, and the boys loved running through the three front rooms while playing chase with us.  As you can all imagine, all nine were very excited to have the room again. Our hope is that they get to keep access to their favorite room forever!

 

“Chimps Are Off The Hill”

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A couple of years ago, Caregiver Anthony wrote a blog about some of the lingo we use around the sanctuary. As staff prepare for the day to end, one of the things we do is a head count of each chimpanzee to ensure they are off of Young’s Hill and aren’t out in the cold at night. When we are able to close off Young’s Hill (at Jamie’s discretion that is), we announce over the radio “the chimps are off the hill.” It is one of the more common announcements made over the radio that can be heard around the sanctuary.

As J.B. mentioned a couple of months ago, the construction around the Young’s Hill expansion and The Bray is picking up. Well, we have reached the point of that blog where Jamie’s group will not have access to Young’s Hill for a little bit. As caregivers, we are obviously conflicted by this. On one hand, they will not have access to Young’s Hill. On the other hand, their outside habitat is expanding and Cy’s group will get the opportunity to venture into The Bray. Plus there’s the addition of new climbing structures and flora for them to interact with. There are cost and benefits to everything, and I personally think the benefits are astronomical in comparison to the cost of some time off Young’s Hill.

So please excuse the hiatus of seeing photos of the chimpanzees on Young’s Hill. They will still have access to their greenhouse, which still provides them with fresh air and sunshine during this time.

And enjoy these recent photos!

Missy and Annie on their morning patrol before coming in to make way for construction.

Terry enjoying one of his favorite food puzzles: Boomer Balls!

Honey B falling into slumber while watching the humans clean.

Cy catching up on his reading during National Read a Book Day!

Honey B enjoying lunch in the Oakwood Greenhouse!