Chad de Bree

The First Fall Harvest

September 22, 2020 by Chad de Bree 8 Comments

Happy Fall Equinox, everybody! Though today was the first day of fall, it still felt like summer. It was a pretty mild day with clear skies. With conditions like these, we are trying to capitalize on as many forages for the chimpanzees we can fit in before the colder weather starts to creep in.

On today’s menu were kale, sweet potatoes, carrots, and oranges.

Missy:

Annie:

Jody (the REAL Jody):

Negra:

Burrito:

Jamie:

Foxie:

After their forage, it was perfect weather and timing for naps and relaxing!

Jody resting while still nibbling on some of her greens from the forage.

Foxie about to nod off for an afternoon slumber.

On the other side of the building, the Three were treated to leeks for dinner.

Willy B:

Mave:

Honey B decided to take her food and run, literally. She demanded her portions (especially the leek) and ran into the Chute.

An Apple A Day Keeps The Smoke Away

September 15, 2020 by Chad de Bree 14 Comments

As you may know, the entire West Coast of the United States is covered in smoke. But today, there was some reprieve. If I were a person who believed adages, I think it would be the one with apples. As the saying goes,” An apple a day keeps the smoke away,” or something to the like.

Regardless, the sky was clearer today than it has been the past few. So much so, the chimpanzees were able to enjoy a considerable amount of time outside.

Foxie took her morning serving of apples to go and enjoy the outdoors.

Missy also took her breakfast to go. But before she made her rounds around Young’s Hill, she had to try to take a peek at her neighbors.

Later on during the day, Foxie took Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Blossom for a walk around the Hill.

I couldn’t decide which photo to include, so I’m just going to include both.

Afterward, she decided it was a good time for a nap.

Burrito also had his apples for the day. For lunch, he was given an apple, which he became really excited about.

Burrito still continues to recover from his incident. His enthusiasm and energy could deceive anybody that anything had ever happened to him. We are hoping the day comes soon when he will be reunited with his family.

This next photo I just wanted to share for the sake of sharing it. I took it on Sunday. Willy B and Mave were over the smoke and construction. So we decided to give them one of their favorite enrichment items.

Firehose Cubes!

I probably have blabbered on long enough. As I was closing up the different areas of the Chimp House, I found Mave like this two minutes ago.

She’s more than likely waiting for me to turn off the lights and lock the doors so she can get some sleep. So I will oblige and let her and everyone else get some sleep.

Good night, everybody!

Relaxation, Recreation, Recovery

September 8, 2020 by Chad de Bree 12 Comments

There seemed to be a different theme to various parts of the Chimp House today. Depending on what area you happened to find yourself in, you either found chimpanzee people relaxing and taking in the nicer weather we’ve had today, thrilled with a new enrichment item, or recovering from a recent injury.

For the Girl Gang, today was all about Relaxation!

Though Foxie was playing with Orange Blossom and Blueberry Muffin, it was such a relaxing play session.

Jamie also spent most of the day relaxing, though always prepared to lift herself up if there was some supervising to do around the property.

Jody decided to spend most of the day as close to Burrito as she could. She even decided to nap in the room adjacent to his to ensure optimal closeness.

On the other side of the building, today was about Recreation!

Willy B, Honey B, and Mave received Boomer Balls as an afternoon enrichment puzzle.

Right after they finished their lunch, we brought the Boomer Balls out and showed them. They became really excited! Especially Mave! When Mave saw the basket which contained this puzzle inside, she stopped what she was doing and raced for the door. She waited patiently as we set up the Mezzanine. Once we gave her access, she bolted in and immediately claimed hers.

Any time Honey B or Willy B came even remotely close to her and her prizes, she would gather her things up, and move to a new location.

When Willy B finished his puzzle, he set off to search the entire Mezzanine for any potential missed food. Though he seemed as though he wished a magician appeared to alakazam him some more nuts, he in turn looked like a magician himself.

Finally, Recovery!

Burrito is still recovering from his difficult day.

To help lift his spirits, caregiver Kelsi brought him a whole pomegranate.

The rest of the day, Burrito was slowly becoming more like his old self again. While in his recovery room, he let out a mini-display and then demanded to be let into the other front room. We obliged with his demands since we needed to get into the room he was in to clean it. Once in that room, it was playtime for him.

Before that though, we had to get some medicine in. As shared on Facebook and Instagram, Burrito has been taking his medication in little grape juice bottles, usually with the use of a straw. He decided which straw he wants to use, usually a regular paper straw or one of the long plastic tubes. Today, the choice was mostly the long plastic tube. Initially he grabbed the straw to play tug-o-war and had no interest in taking his medication! So I made a deal with him. If he drank his medicine, we would play! After every sip was gone, he grabbed the tube and passed the end to me for tug-o-war.

When he was tired of the tube, the game still continued, but this time with a blanket.

We are all cautiously optimistic about Burrito’s recovery. The more and more we research the venom and some of the long lasting effects it can leave, the more we realize we are still not out of the woods yet in his recovery. We are, however, completely enthralled by Burrito’s resiliency. We are also completely over the moon at the amount of support Burrito has received from around the world. We have received messages far and wide on how people could help Burrito. Yesterday, we added a special page to our Virtual Hoot! 2020 site specifically to help the costs of Burrito’s recovery. We cannot thank each and everyone of you enough for all your kind words, donations, and support. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

International Primate Day 2020!

September 1, 2020 by Chad de Bree 6 Comments

Today is International Primate Day! The day was created in 2005 as a way to educate and raise awareness about various issues primates all around the world face, both in the wild and in captivity. As you know, all of our residents have come from the biomedical industry. Seven have called Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest home for 12 years now, while three have called it home for a year. Though we as staff consider ourselves very fortunate and lucky to be able to try to provide the best possible life for these 10 remarkable individuals, there are more who are in need of a new home.

Currently, there are chimpanzees at the Wildlife Waystation in Southern California who are awaiting new homes. For years, staff and volunteers there have provided care for all the animals who called Wildlife Waystation home. Unfortunately, the decision was made to close their doors last year. This left hundreds of animals in need of a new home. The only residents who remain are their chimpanzee residents. If you have been following our blog and/or the news, then you know we are one of the sanctuaries trying to expand in order to provide homes for some of these individuals as soon as possible.

Honey B watches the construction crew everyday as the new playrooms start to take shape.

You can read more about how you can help maintain those chimpanzees’ current care until they find new homes at The Chimpanzees in Need webpage.

You can also support us as we expand to bring some of these chimpanzees home to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. We are currently preparing for our first ever online gala! Due to the current pandemic, the decision was made to hold Hoot! online this year. Be sure to visit the Hoot! 2020 site to browse some of the amazing things that will be up to bid on September 12th with more to come!

Now for the happenings of today (and yesterday)!

If you watched the video, then you know there was a lot of playing going on between Mave, Honey B, and Willy B! There were scarce moments where we couldn’t hear laughter coming from that side of the building.

Yesterday, we gave them a food puzzle that seems to becoming one of their new favorites: Firehose Cubes! We put small things into the cube for them to fish out. Some things have food in them, some don’t. One item that did have nuts in them were fanny packs. Honey B was very delicate with hers and would carefully unzip the pouches to retrieve the food inside. Willy B, on the other hand, used his canines to rip it open. We could only guess what Honey B was thinking as she watched this all unfold to one of her fanny packs.

The Seven received a breakfast forage on Young’s Hill.

Beautiful Jody was seen all over the place, picking up as many orange slices and apple slices as she could.

She had to take a break and eat some of her haul, as Jamie casually ate as she went.

Missy’s first place to forage for food was in Negra’s Cabin.

Negra was actually on a platform a little bit away.

Burrito had both hands and mouthful as he grabbed whatever was in sight.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to treat everybody with a round of paper braids!

Jody enjoying hers.

Annie seemingly inhaled hers!

Note: As I was taking these photos of everybody enjoying their paper braids, I felt this presence. Like the feeling a shark circling it’s prey. With one loud stomp of the foot, my eyes shifted a little to the right. There was a flash of fur and paper braids through a child’s slide in the Greenhouse.

The presence was getting nearer and nearer. I could almost hear the theme song to Jaws being played but in a rendition of raspberries/Bronx cheers.

Who could it be!?

Burrito!!!

He was very enthused to play, but also very occupied with his paper braids. Not knowing what he wanted to do, he decided to play toe tickle. This version was with him on his back while poking his toes through the mesh. This allowed him to play and eat his paper braids.

We also gave Willy B, Honey B, and Mave paper braids.

Honey B decided to help Mave by picking up the seeds she missed as she tore into the braids.

At lunch, Foxie decided to enjoy her beets, bell peppers and (Orange) Blossom dolls inside, while the others ate outside.

We all hope you had an amazing day and have a great evening!

Enriching the Day

August 25, 2020 by Chad de Bree 6 Comments

It has been one year and one week since Mave, Honey B, and Willy B arrived at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Since their arrival, we have introduced them to the nightly routine of evening enrichment puzzles. Talking to some of the other staff members, when the Three first arrived, they would have this look of confusion on their face when they received something AFTER their dinner.

The Evening Enrichment Puzzles are a way for the chimpanzees exercise their cognitive abilities while also receiving a food reward. Puzzles could also be seen as a means to try to alleviate boredom. The key to an enrichment problem is to not make them so easy, there is no challenge in completing them. It also means not to make them so difficult, they get frustrated and quit. There is a balance to be made when developing an enrichment food puzzle.

Now that the Three have been here for a year, they are used to (and sometimes anticipating) their evening puzzles. Here are some photos over the past several months of them engaged in their evening food puzzles:

Honey B cleverly found a new way to complete the PVC Tubes.

Mave decided to forego using her chopstick for the Dipper Tubes and just use her fingers.

Willy B searches for more raisins in his Raisin Board.

Mave searches for more hidden treats inside her Firehose Cube.

Honey B trying to find the sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a peanut butter Pine Cone.

Mave tries to fish out nuts from a Kong.

In the video, the Three interact with a puzzle called Frisbee Puzzles (or Hanging Frisbees). We realized after their party last week, that may have been the first time they received this puzzle. After it seemed they really enjoyed them last week, we decided to bump them up in the rotation and make the puzzles for them again today.

Here’s to 1 Year and Many More to Come!

August 18, 2020 by Chad de Bree 11 Comments

It’s hard to believe only one year ago Mave, Honey B, and Willy B arrived here from Southern California. When they first arrived, they were in quarantine for 30 days before any volunteer was allowed to meet them, so my first meeting with them was delayed by a month. After meeting them, it’s truly hard for me (personally) to think back during a time where these three amazing beings have not been in my life at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. So much has happened since then. From Willy B triumphantly venturing outside for the first time, to Honey B developing her sense of style, to Mave’s adoring personality. Yes, there have been some rough and tough times since their arrival, but even with the bad, their current life and happiness is all that matters to us.

We all consider ourselves lucky to have even gotten a chance to meet these three, let alone given the opportunity to provide care for them and watch their personalities grow. It’s no wonder why past caregivers from throughout their lives, who have had the incredible luck of caring for them, still speak so highly of them.

To celebrate their one year anniversary here, we decided to throw them a celebration. Or at least tried to throw them a celebration. We tried to close off the front rooms today and individualize each one with each of their favorite things. Honey B had other plans this morning. She wouldn’t allow us to close off the areas we wanted to in order to set things up. But that’s the point of sanctuary. They ultimately get to make that choice. So first we were able to close of Front Room 5, to set up Willy B’s celebration, since I thought they would have to be set up one-by-one.

Then, by some miracle (also known as lunch), Honey B allowed us to close off the other areas for celebration set up. For lunch, they were served some of their favorites including avocados, and coconuts!

With all three of them happily eating in the Mezzanine, we quickly cleaned the other front rooms (and setup Willy B’s again), for their celebrations!

Willy B’s celebration, again, with slinkies and his leopard print blanket.

Mave’s celebration, with tons of socks, sashes, and her rocking dog.

Honey B’s celebration with tons of paper, fanny packs, headbands, and a stuffed dragon on a scooter.

We also set up an enrichment item called “Frisbee Puzzles” for each of them in their room.

You may have noticed Honey B’s rainbow sash. Initially, these were set up in Mave’s celebration area. But when they exited the Mezzanine, these sashes caught Honey B’s eye. She immediately knew what to do with them.

She wore these almost for the remainder of the day, even passing one through to mesh for to me to wear with her.

After they completed their puzzles and got a chance to sort through their old and new enrichment, it was time to relax.

Willy B kept playing with his newest slinky while laying on his blanket. He would stretch it out, and try to catch it with his mouth as it coiled back up.

Mave napped with one of Honey B’s headbands (seemed fair enough since Honey B took her sashes).

And Honey B continued to patrol her enclosures in her “Mayor” sash. She just reminded me of those old time mayors who wore sashes everywhere.

One very special day is done, signalling the start of Honey B, Willy B, and Mave’s second year here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

I want to echo Katelyn’s words in yesterday’s blog:

To those who directly cared and advocated for Willy B, Mave and Honey B during their time at Wildlife Waystation, and who continue to care for the chimpanzees still there awaiting their new sanctuary homes, thank you, we think of you every day.”

In all sincerity, thank you to everybody who has been involved in these three’s lives. To their former caregivers to all the wonderful supporters from around the world, thank you! Your love for them fuels our passion to try to provide the best care for them. Here’s to one year down and many more to come!

Summery Sundays

August 16, 2020 by Chad de Bree 3 Comments

It was a scorcher today. With temperatures nearing the triple digits, everybody decided to take it easy today. Well, most of the day.

When we check the weather reports and find it’s going to be a hot one, the staff usually tries to complete our safety checks as soon as possible so the chimpanzees can go onto Young’s Hill before the sun goes into full effect.

Jody was the first one on the hill this morning, and she was super excited to be out there.

Look how piloerect she was.

She was so pilo, Annie thought something was wrong and went out to give her reassurance. But Jody was just really excited to be on the hill.

Though this may seem like an intimidating photo, Annie usually walks bipedally when she is on the hill and is a normal behavior for her. You can tell it was a peaceful interaction by identifying Jody’s relaxed lower lip.