Chad de Bree

The Gang Grooms the Day Away

April 20, 2021 by Chad de Bree

Today has just been one of those busy days. Every time I would go to get some photos of the chimpanzees, they were in spots that are extremely difficult to get photos from. And the times the Seven were exploring Young’s Hill, I was in the middle of cleaning and didn’t make in time to take many photos. I was starting to get worried that today’s blog would just be a hodge podge of random photos I was able to get. In one final attempt, I just went to check to see what was happening in the Greenhouse. And there was the grooming party of all grooming parties.

Annie grooming Jody grooming Burrito:

Jamie and Foxie grooming:

Burrito left Jody and Annie to groom with Missy:

Jamie left Foxie to groom my boots:

And Negra passed on grooming to monitor the progress of dinner being made. Priorities.

And if you’re wondering about the hodge podge of random photos, here they are as a bonus.

Annie trying to spy on her neighbors from Young’s Hill.

Foxie returning from her own little adventure on Young’s Hill.

Foxie flexing to show how tough and fierce she is! (Ok! maybe she was just in mid-stride when this photo was snapped, but it doesn’t make it any less true!)

Honey B enjoying one of the artificial tree branch platforms!

Then climbing down to play chase with caregivers.

Willy B also enjoys this platform as well!

Honey B watching me clean one of the new playrooms in true Honey B fashion.

Sunday Activities

April 18, 2021 by Chad de Bree

What are some of your favorite Sunday activities? The video highlights some of the residents of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest favorite Sunday activities.

But before anything else, the morning patrol!

Jamie couldn’t wait to do her morning patrol. She even decided her breakfast chow had to wait until she was on Young’s Hill!

Not far behind Jamie was Burrito, Missy, and Jody.

Annie decided to venture off on her own.

Missy found a perfect spot for a little solitude and to take in the morning scenery.

However, Jamie thought this was also the perfect spot to eat her chow.

I mean, who could blame Jamie? This is the perfect spot to take in all of a Spring morning’s glory.

Missy shortly left to zoom around the hill.

While Annie decided to try to spy on her neighbors: Willy B, Honey B, and Mave.

Then there is this guy. With this glance, I know my legs are about to turn to Jello, I will be soon out of breath, and make a few trips around the Hill, which was exactly the case shortly after this photo was taken.

We here all hope you had the most perfect Sunday!

Deconstructing a Display on a Fine Spring Day

April 13, 2021 by Chad de Bree

Within the past couple of days, the weather has been almost nearly perfect. Sun in the sky without a sight of a cloud. Not too hot and not too cold. Gentle breezes instead of wind gusts. This is the perfect weather for outdoor activities.

After security checks were completed, the Seven were given access to Young’s Hill first thing in the morning.

While six of the seven immediately patrolled their grounds, one decided to stay back and just enjoy the warm Spring morning.

Negra elected to go onto Young’s Hill and eat her breakfast hard-boiled egg in the sun while the others patrolled.

With the weather being so nice, we thought it would be a great day for a lunch forage outside of carrots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and bonus pineapple tops.

Jamie:

As you can see, Jamie won out with Fistfuls of Bell Peppers.

Missy:

Though Jamie went straight for the bell peppers, the pineapple tops were in Missy’s sights.

Negra:

Burrito:

Annie:

Foxie:

Jody:

Jody has learned, some times you have to climb the highest of heights to get the biggest reward.

The Three on the other side of the building are still settling into their new playrooms. Though it seems it’s technically no longer “settling in” as much as it is they fully moved in and have become comfortable in the new areas.

Willy B has started to use the artificial tree branches/platforms as his new lounge area.

Though Willy B, Honey B, and Mave have access to new areas, they are still fond of their old ones. For Willy B, in particular, the Courtyard is still an area he loves to venture out to.

Though he did go outside today, I was not able to get any photos. Instead I will share some of the ones I took on Sunday of his Courtyard Adventures.

When Willy B first gets access to the Courtyard, he will scan around for any nuts or food items near the boardwalk. Afterward, he seems to just take in the surroundings, some times even taking a nap on the boardwalk.

What happens next is usually when he notices he has an audience.

When Willy B notices the Group of Seven watching him for their playroom windows, he has to show them this area is his. He does this through his territorial display.

First he begins his pant hooting:

Then he becomes piloerect and moves to the nearest loudest object. In the Courtyard, this is a barrel.

Piloerection is when a chimpanzee’s hair stands on its’ ends. The best way to think of this is thinking of when you get goosebumps. Pretty similar. In fact, you can see Willy B’s “goosebumps” if you look close enough!

Once he reaches the barrel, he begins drumming it:

As the intensity and rhythm of the drumming increases, so does his pant hooting. When his display reaches its’ crescendo, he hits the drum as hard as he can in one final *BAM* and lets out a scream for all the hear:

When finished, Willy B resumes taking in the Spring sun and air, while also peeking to see if the neighbors got the message and if it riled them up.

Hint: They usually do and it usually does.

Welcome to the New Playroom!

April 6, 2021 by Chad de Bree

Today was the day! Willy B, Honey B, and Mave were finally able to move into one of the new playrooms! We are beyond thrilled they now have so much more extra room! As you know, this is only part of our plans to expand. With the construction crew finished with the playrooms, they have already begun construction on the two new greenhouses!

In short, today was a very, very exciting day!

As bonus, here are some photos of the Seven during their Easter Forage last Sunday!

Jody:

Annie:

Jamie:

Negra:

Missy:

Foxie:

Burrito:

Burrito and the Chamber of Play

March 30, 2021 by Chad de Bree

It was a busy day today. The construction crew worked hard to begin installing the new doors in the new playrooms. Since they spent most of their time in the Mezzanine, that means Willy B, Honey B, and Mave had to stay in the Front Rooms and Chute while the crew was up there. The Three didn’t seem to mind. Willy B and Honey B spent most of their time in the Chute, while Mave liked her quiet time in the Front Rooms.

On the other side, the Seven spent most of their day on Young’s Hill.

A morning patrol was Jamie’s top priority.

While Missy found a block of ice in one of the structures.

She grabbed her ice treat and went to one of the highest structures to enjoy it in solitude.

Foxie also had her own little adventure with Angel Cake.

Burrito also joined in this morning’s walk.

What’s that around his neck you may ask? It’s a drop down puzzle, one of the chimpanzees’ evening food puzzles. Food puzzles generally come in different shapes and forms. There are those which can be passed out, those which can be scattered, and those which are hung from various places in the enclosures. For the most part, all the ones which can be hung inside the enclosures are deemed safe for them by the staff. They are hung up for various reasons, such as having one in one place to try to deter someone from grabbing them all and hoarding them, to provide just a splash of extra challenge, or to just help prevent them from breaking easily. Though Burrito is fine with having something like this, it wasn’t what we had in mind when we hang up drop down puzzles.

However, seeing how it made his entire day…

I will allow it this time.

Speaking of Burrito enjoying things, you may remember he has found a certain fondness to the rocker mirror. While we were cleaning the playroom the other day, I looked over and saw this.

He never ceases to amaze me.

We hope you have a terrific night and enjoy the video of Burrito playing with everybody!

Odds & Ends

March 23, 2021 by Chad de Bree

Every so often, I get that dreadful warning that my phone’s memory is almost at capacity. I have a certain degree of confidence I am not the only one here who constantly takes pictures with their phone, thinks “This would be great for the blog,” then forgets about them when our day to write a blog comes around. There is just so much that happens that it’s hard to share every single photo we take, especially those taken on our phones of these by chance instances.

So without further ado, here are some of the photos that have been sitting in my phone’s memory bank:

Mave relaxing. I had at one point thought to write a blog about primate feet, specifically the differences between ape feet. The furthest I got was getting this photo of Mave’s foot to show just how similar and different they are compared to ours.

Foxie food peering at Negra, hoping she was in the mood to share her breakfast even though she had already eaten her own. Spoiler: Negra was not in the mood to share hers.

Speaking of food peering, Willy B peering at Honey B wondering why she was so excited. On this day a couple of weeks ago, we served a very ripe jackfruit. Willy B had zero interest in it at first and threw his to the ground in protest. Honey B on the other hand, knew exactly what it was and ate hers in a haste and collected as many of the ones Willy B discarded as she could. There may have been some buyers remorse on Willy B’s end, though he ended up taking some of the corn Honey B discarded. Seemed like a fair trade.

When cleaning the playroom, if I am near a certain window scrubbing, I usually get a little surprise from Burrito, who seemingly appears out of no where. One day, I figured out just where he pops up from.

Mave. Just Mave. Does this photo really need any further explanation?

Burrito enjoying his breakfast oranges sitting in a cube chair.

Foxie hanging upside down, laughing in one of the Front Rooms. Play is usually her tactic for me when she doesn’t want me to close any of the doors. In this case, she didn’t want me to close the Front Rooms to allow us to clean.

Honey B decided her red skateboard needed some adjustments to it.

Barn Kitty waiting for a staff member to arrive at the sanctuary in the morning to feed him.

In case you didn’t know, Barn Kitty is a semi-feral cat who has called our barn home from time-to-time. So we have a little area in the barn for him to use or not use. It’s his choice.

There is one photo from today. Spring is officially here! And to celebrate this wonderful season, Jamie has decided there needs to be a couple more patrols around the Young’s Hill before she will allow the staff to close it up for the night.

And if you haven’t heard, we will be participating in the Global Primatology Virtual Conference hosted by Central Washington University and the Primate Awareness Network. We are scheduled to present March 25th (this Thursday) at 4:00PM PST. Be sure to also check out some of the other amazing speakers!

A Sense of Things to Come

March 16, 2021 by Chad de Bree

The sun was bright and warm today, and birds were flying around the sanctuary every which way. There is a sense of Spring in the air, even though Old Man Winter may bring his snowy forecast once more this week before being banished for the next couple of months. Regardless, everybody seems to be enjoying this lovely weather we had today.

Annie was one of the first to go outside today and just enjoy the warm air and gentle breeze.

Annie spent most the morning just sitting outside, seemingly just taking it all in. Though all seven made their way out onto the hill today, to include Negra, Annie seemed to want to soak as much of it up as she could.

Later in the afternoon, she spent time with her friend Missy grooming.