The sun is out! The sun is out!
Jamie:
Annie:
Missy:
Guess who!
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
by J.B.
by Anna
by Kelsi
Though Jamie and Cy may be in different groups they had the same idea today, Wednesday is for reading.
Jamie’s current must reads are:
1. I’m Lucy by Marian Brickner – (a classic)
And a sequel to the Lucy bonobo book
2. Bonobo Lucy Grows up by Marian Brickner
Cy’s new favorite read is a magazine:
¡Hola!
Other than book club, it was a pretty quiet day, which is why it was the perfect day for reading!
Cy could not put this magazine down:
Jamie with both Lucy books:
Bonus photos!
Burrito:
Rayne:
Annie and Missy playing on the bench in front room 2:
And I will leave you with a series of Negra photos:
by Chad de Bree
Unlike what Anthony reported yesterday, the sun was not out much today. But that didn’t stop Missy and crew from going out onto Young’s Hill!
When they were given access to their outdoor enclosure, they ventured to the same structures as yesterday.
Burrito on the other hand wanted more. He tried to convince me to run around the hill with him.
He thought better of it as the outer edges of the perimeter still have a good deal of snow (thankfully for me since the human side of the fence is covered in snow and mud). Instead, Burrito decided to explore Negra’s Cabin.
His desire to run around Young’s Hill seemed to have sparked the desire in everybody else though. Shortly after, Missy, Annie, Jody, and Jamie made their way to a set of logs that haven’t been seen since Fall.
Jody:
Missy running to greet Jamie as Annie watches:
Missy and Jamie greet each other:
Jody heading down to greet Burrito:
Though they already ventured further than they have been, it still wasn’t enough for some.
Jody on a further structure to gaze at the Yakima River:
Missy sitting amongst her beloved trees:
You might guess what is next…
Missy began her ascent up her tree:
There was a good two minute window where I thought Annie was going to follow Missy up! She would stand and grab the tree, but then let go and sit down. She repeated this a few times. In between each take, she would hype herself up to overcome her fear by rocking and tapping the tree and ground. But alas, today was not the day Annie would make her go at climb the trees.
She did, however, settle on climbing on to the top of the near by structure to be somewhat close to Missy.
After a while, Annie decided it was time to head back inside for lunch. She convinced Missy this is now the plan, and Missy obliged.
Look at that dismount!
After landing a perfect 10 dismount, it was time to head inside to enjoy some lunch!
Bonus Photos:
Jody a little piloerect from the cold air:
Burrito on top of Negra’s Cabin surveying Young’s Hill:
by Anthony
Today’s weather was consistently sunny and a bit warmer than usual: a merciful break in what has otherwise been a wet and gloomy winter season.
The chimpanzees spent the day lounging in the greenhouses, grooming each other, and even doing a bit of reconnaissance from the taller structures on Young’s Hill. The embedded video and following photos show some glimpses of their peaceful afternoon.
Jody:
Rayne:
Meanwhile, back in the foyer, Jenna, Grace and I had a difficult time coming up with a title for this post. Obviously, there should be some connection to be made between the weather and the chimpanzee activities. “Something to do with sunshine?” Can you do anything with the word ‘season’?” “Does anything rhyme with ‘greenhouse’?” Still, the inspiration didn’t quite come to us.
Lately, I’ve felt pressured to create corny puns and obscure references since that is apparently what I will be remembered for as a contributor to the blog. So many of you kindly wished me well in my next endeavor (more on that next week) but it shocked me how many people said they will miss my puns. I have cautiously pushed back against this claim given that the other caregivers also spit out some amazingly awful, groan-inducing titles, but get none of the backlash from our peers who are fervently anti-pun (see: J.B. Mulcahy).
As always, I’ve taken the time to provide examples of other peoples’ campy titles:
Terry: The Whole Tooth and Nothing but the Tooth, Cold November Rayne, Let Tree-dom Ring, Grapes n’ Roses, This Is A Bit Munch, Sani-Terry Grooming, Missy, I Love You From My Head To-ma-toes, Be Right as Rayne, Chimpanzees in the mist(er), Alpha Cy-chology, Leeked Photos, Twosday, Pretty Fly for a Shy Guy and Fantastic B’s And Where To Find Them
Those are just the ones from this last year! I can think of other egregious ones, like the time Sam called an Independence Day blog post Corn in the USA, but it would take a long time to retrieve all of them from the archives.
My point here is that the whole team is in this together. I am being unfairly singled out for getting on board this trend well before it took off.
Anyway, I hope you all appreciate these photos and video clips as much as we all appreciated a bit of a respite from the dreariness of this winter.
One more photo, this one from last week:
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P.S. Check out the following event and don’t forget to sign up here!
Virtual Visit -Let’s Learn about Positive Reinforcement Training!
January 22nd, 2023
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm PT
As Jenna explained yesterday in her post that blatantly referenced lyrics to a classic Eminem song, the sanctuary will be hosting another virtual event on this upcoming Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 at 1pm PT. The two of us plan to explain how we caregivers use Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) to facilitate chimpanzee health and wellness here at the sanctuary. The virtual event will include a live visit in the Chimp House with a Q&A session to follow. You can reserve your spot by clicking here. We hope to see you there!
by Jenna
Terry is officially back with his group!
Last week, Terry had to undergo surgery for a fractured tooth. While surgery went very well, he remained isolated away from his group so he could have time to properly heal. Since then, Terry has spent lots of time resting, enjoying soft foods, grooming with caregivers, watching movies, and working on enrichment puzzles. Despite doing our best to keep Terry busy, he has been itching to get back with his group. He’s a very social guy, after all!
Yesterday, Terry was able to have a quick play date with Honey B! While he needed an extra day from his entire group to heal, laughter and chase with Honey B may have been the perfect medicine! Here are some photos I took of Honey B and Terry playing chase yesterday. They wouldn’t sit still for one moment, so apologies for the blurs.
Terry and Honey B play date:
Today, Dr. Erin gave Terry the all-clear to go back with the rest of his group! Woohoo!
Here are some photos of Terry and his group when they were reunited. They were so excited to have him back. Lots of hugs occurred!
Rayne (L), Cy (back), and Terry (front):
Terry and Lucky:
On the other side of the building, Jamie’s group has been out enjoying Young’s Hill. As soon as the door to the hill was opened, Burrito, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Annie ran out on the hill. Foxie chose to watch them from the Greenhouse and Negra decided to stay in the warm Playroom.
Missy:
I would also like to announce an exciting event! Next Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 at 1pm PT, we will be hosting a discussion on Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT). Anthony (Health and Behavior Coordinator) and I (Behavior Technician) will be discussing how we use PRT to help health and wellness at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. This discussion will include a live virtual visit in the chimp house. Please join us!
Link to reserve your spot here!
The chimps at CSNW have their own ways of greeting us when we are opening up the chimp house in the mornings. This morning, I hadn’t turned on the lights yet on Cy’s group side of the building when I noticed he had already spotted me and was impatiently waiting for me to play chase with him. Honey B then came forward for a gentle hello and a kiss on the hand. On the other side of the chimp house, Burrito was also waiting for a morning game of chase. He was ready to go, while Jamie preferred to calmly groom my new Xtratuf boots. Shout out to the amazing donor that purchased them for me!
On the video you’ll notice that I greet Cy’s group in Spanish. Spanish is my first language, and is also a familiar language to this group of nine chimpanzees. Right after I was hired at CSNW, and before the group of six made their way over from California, I was contacted by a CWU Primate Behavior program colleague. Emily is a former caregiver at Wildlife Waystation and she messaged me to say that the chimps coming over from California used to be cared for by Hispanic caregivers that would communicate with them in Spanish. While the extent of their language comprehension remains unknown, I can only hope that it brings the same feeling of familiarity and comfort that it gives me.
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