Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for November 2023

Meet Our Newest Caregiver – Ellen

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Hello everyone!

My name is Ellen and I am one of the newest caregivers here at the sanctuary. I am excited for the opportunity to introduce myself to you all today, and look forward to many more shared conversations to come on the blog.

I grew up in Georgia, and attended the University of Georgia where I studied Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. During my junior year of college I had the opportunity to complete an internship at Chimp Haven in Louisiana. Of course, I quickly fell in love with the chimpanzees and knew what I wanted to do…care for chimpanzees.

After graduation, I started my career working with chimpanzees as a caregiver at Chimp Haven. Over my 6 years at Chimp Haven, I grew as a person and caregiver thanks to many important lessons learned from my chimpanzee friends and human mentors. I was involved in training many new caregivers and interns that are caring for chimps and other animals around the country now, which is pretty amazing to think about! My favorite parts of my job were building relationships with the chimps and working with them on positive reinforcement training, which I look forward to continuing here at CSNW. While it was very bittersweet leaving my chimp and human friends, this new chapter has been filled with exciting new adventures.

One such exciting new adventure is caring for cattle! I was excited to meet Meredith, Nutmeg, Honey, and Betsy but unsure of what to expect. We are all still figuring each other out, but Meredith seems to approve of the regular supply of apple sauce I made for her to take her medicine in, and Betsy has graced me with plenty of licks with her raspy tongue, so I think we are off to a good start.

My favorite part of working at CSNW is being able to provide such a high level of individual care to everyone. Whether it is babysitting a troll doll for Foxie, wearing a too small boot for Jamie, getting out of breath running around the hill with Burrito, grooming with Terry, playing chase with Cy, or any other shared moment with the chimps, I am loving every opportunity to build relationships with my new chimp friends and give them the sanctuary life that they so deserve.

Animal Sanctuary Appreciation Day 2023

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Today is Animal Sanctuary Appreciation Day – a day to highlight the dedication and hard work from staff and volunteers at animal sanctuaries all across the world. What we do every day is not easy, but it is worth it. Thanks for being here and supporting us!

I’d like to highlight all of the special humans at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. There are familiar faces and some new ones that you haven’t met yet! I personally think what is so great about our staff is that we have all come from different walks of life, have different backgrounds, are from various parts of the country, have different areas of expertise, have unique former experiences, but we all have come together in a small town in central Washington all because of our shared love of chimpanzees.

Our staff:

J.B.

 

Diana

 

Dr. Erin Zamzow (DVM)

 

Katelyn

 

Anna

 

Kelsi

 

 

Chad

 

Grace

 

Jenna

 

Sabrina

 

Amanda (who will be introducing herself on the blog soon!)

 

Ellen (who will be introducing herself on the blog soon!)

We also are so fortunate to have an amazing group of dedicated volunteers. We have volunteers who help us in the kitchen and with laundry, volunteers who help us clean, and volunteers who help serve meals and interact with the chimps. We are so thankful for each and every one of them. We recognize we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them.

Just a few of our awesome volunteers and interns! Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of everyone!

We do it for our residents!

Jamie

Negra

Burrito

Annie

Missy

Foxie

Cy

Dora

Willy B

Rayne

Gordo

Terry

Mave

Lucky

Honey B

 

New Traditions

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Holidays can be hard when loved ones have passed. Though Jamieween is a celebration of Jamie’s birthday and Halloween, for all of us (staff, volunteers, and supporters) it is the day of the great pumpkin heist. Where we watched Jody end up with the pumpkin whether she was sneaky about it or just plucked the pumpkin off the Hill and walked right in with it, obviously paying the Negra tax. It was a day we all looked forward to, Jody stealing the show, which is hard to do on a day all about Jamie :). Altogether the chimps still had an amazing Jamieween filled with so much good food, laughter, play, enrichment, and pumpkins, it wasn’t quite the same without Jody’s dinosaur groans and her carrying a pumpkin as big as her.

With change sometimes comes new traditions. Everyone in Negra’s group was much more modest with the pumpkins this year, including Negra having to get her own pumpkin. Yesterday, the day after Jamieween, I let Jamie’s group out onto Young’s Hill. Jamie seemed to be in a very happy mood and sprinted out wanting to go on a perimeter walk/run with me. While Jamie was walking, Annie, Missy, and Burrito went up to Jody’s pumpkin. Annie eventually took some of the pumpkin, still leaving a little behind. Annie also found other forage items that was missed yesterday. To our surprise Jamie did not get mad when Annie had a handful of mini peppers and a mouth full of pumpkin. Instead, Jamie seemed excited to go look for her own leftover forage items. To me it seems like Annie is the winner of the great pumpkin heist this year.

Jamie the day after Jamieween. Nesting with some of her new boots:

Jamie today nesting, still recovering from her party:

Many thanks to Natalie Estrada for this day of sanctuary for her children!

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Our heartfelt thanks to Natalie Estrada for sponsoring this day of sanctuary dedicated to her children and for sharing this special message for them:

“Dedicated to my kids. Humans are both beautiful and cruel. Choose wisely the shoes you wear, the paths you walk, and the people who walk with you.”

We really appreciate you thinking of the chimpanzees as you honor your kids today, Natalie!

Jamie, Missy, Jody and Foxie:

Honey B, Rayne and Cy:

Burrito, Missy and Jamie:

Annie and Missy:

Mave and Dora, aka “Mora”:

November celebrations!

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Well, as a devoted October fan, as I always say, “Welcome, October 32nd!” And having just celebrated the 46th birthday of our amazing (self-appointed, but no less valid) fearless leader, Jamie Chimpanzee, I think we could safely say Jamie would support a never-ending “Jamieween.” I mean, let’s be honest, it really is Jamieween here in her sanctuary home 365 days of the year, just as it should be. Thanks to you! And if you haven’t had a chance to see yesterday’s Jamieween celebrations, click here.

Of course, November bring it’s own special celebrations from start to finish so if you have celebrations of your own, please join us! You have November birthday triplets this month.

We begin with November 2nd when we celebrate our tiny bovine family’s 5th anniversary of calling the sanctuary home. I remember when we were anxiously awaiting for Betsy, her son, Nutmeg, and Honey and her daughter, Meredith, to arrive from California as everyone here hurried to build their cozy barn. We’d already moved into growing darkness and cold and couldn’t help but wonder and worry how these California beauties were going to adjust so close to winter. But they were so courageous and seemed to take their new lives in stride, together.

After many months enjoying their summer pasture above Young’s Hill, their winter floof is making it’s appearance and any time now we will be wanting to run our fingers through their glorious hair, but they will most likely remind us they aren’t those kind of bovines and we should keep our hands to ourselves. Good thing there are the sanctuary pups, Abbey, Benny and Nala, available for those kind of human shenanigans.

Here are Betsy, Honey (background), Meredith and Nutmeg upon arrival in 2018. What must they have been thinking? Look at Honey back there letting us know what’s what. We’re so grateful they call the sanctuary home.

Nutmeg and his mama, Betsy:

Meredith and her mama, Honey:

Next, we get to celebrate beautiful Lucky, who will be turning 32 on November 6th! What a year she’s had! Once she made her mind up, she’s been fearless on the Bray and is often the one who ventures to the highest points of the structures for forages and views (again, see Chad’s great Jamieween video from yesterday for a wonderful example of Lucky scaling the heights).

Lucky may not always be someone who appears front and center, but she is always present, observing and taking everything in. Which somehow makes the special person she is shine even more in moments like this:

Dora, Rayne (back) and Lucky:

Next up, on November 10th, we will be celebrating gorgeous and sassy, Honey Cow, turning 16!

The chimpanzees’ Thanksgiving celebration (here in the states) falls on November 23rd. Filled with wondrous treats like Field Roast, pomegranates, sweet potatoes, Burrito’s wild food squeaks of joy, and oh, all manner of good things, I feel like it’s one of the chimpanzees’ favorite celebrations. And because our minds linger over all the many ways and reasons we have to be grateful, you all being a profoundly large part of that, I feel like it’s one of the humans’ favorite celebrations, as well.

Terry learning all about the magic of Field Roast during a Thanksgiving past…

And rolls…

We always laugh at the reactions of our nine newest family members in regard to the parties and variety of enrichment we are able to offer them. When each of the (then, two) groups first arrived, much of the party shenanigans Jamie’s group was already well accustomed to, were new to everyone in (now) Cy’s group. We were constantly met with blank and bewildered stares and pursed lips upon offering them certain food items (especially if roasted!) and food puzzles. As if they were saying, “Why? Why are you trying to poison us with these strange things??”

This is in no way to imply that they weren’t very loved and cared for at their former home, the now closed Wildlife Waystation, but a lot was being asked of them with a new home and caregivers to get used to and gain trust in. But much to our hearts’ delight (and persistence), they’ve grown accustomed to our partying ways and we now see faces of joy and excitement with the arrival of party carts and trays and bowls. Most of the nine now even wait expectantly after dinner for their evening enrichment. We wore them down! 😉 Oh, we still get the occasional looks of suspicion, and Gordo still typically takes a hard pass on special occasion roasted food items, so we make sure he gets the option of raw or roasted. It’s just more examples of what sanctuary and your support provides for them: variety, choice and individualized care.

Gordo demonstrating the ever-popular, sniff test (Jamie’s favorite):

Wrapping up the month, on November 30th, William B Chimpanzee will be turning 33! When Willy B first arrived to the sanctuary we celebrated his honorary birthday on March 1st, but having since learned his true date of birth, we get to celebrate him again!

As many of you know by now, Willy B spins his own mystery brand of chaos within his group on the regular. That said, the courage he’s shown in finding new footing, both literally and figuratively, whether it’s in forging new friendships, navigating living with some other big (and very patient and forgiving) guys, or facing his fears of the new found ground beneath his feet out on the Bray (as J.B. wrote about recently), the progress Willy B continues make is so admirable and we celebrate this guy and every brave effort and step he continues to make.

Rayne and Willy B:

Willy B and Cy:

So much in life seems to happen gradually, then suddenly. Autumn colors didn’t appear to be building up to much this year, then suddenly one week it turned into one of the most vibrant autumns in recent memory. All week the woods and canyons have been glowing, luminescent in golden sunlight and foliage across the bluest of skies, most days filled with a sound like rain from the steady fall of leaves.

With a week of nighttime temperatures sometimes in the teens, during yesterday’s Jamieween celebration many of us remarked on our gratitude for the warm sunshine that appeared for the chimpanzees while they were out on Young’s Hill and the Bray, but by party’s end we humans were rubbing our frozen limbs with frozen hands and donning extra layers as icy winds rose up from the mountains. And today, suddenly, October has turned from the colors of magpie, starlight and flame, to November shades of junco, river stone and amber.

Thank you for being here with us through all the days of the chimpanzees and bovines (and humans) and for all the varying colors and shades you bring to all our lives. We are acutely aware of the many directions life pulls our attention and it genuinely means the world to us that you choose to spend some of your precious time with us. Have a wondrous November, everyone!

Oh! And as we head into prime cozy season, yesterday was the official kickoff to our Comfort & Joy online auction and virtual events so there’s plenty of time to join us there, too, if you’re able.