Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Chad de Bree

Fort Building 101

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You may have heard, Honey B loves to construct forts. And she has constructed some pretty elaborate nest fortresses. You too can build post-lunch forts just as great as Honey B by following these simple steps:

First, grab your materials to build your walls. Benches, blankets, toys, etc. Troll heads are great too, according to Honey B:

Do you have everything? Good! Now you can start building!

Start by placing enrichment structures around you. Then grab your blankets and begin placing them around you to build your nest. You may also cover yourself with one (optional):

Next, grab a sock and mull over the idea of wearing one to keep your feet warm:

Then decide that you wish for your toes to be free from foot prisons, and grab your toes to appreciate their freedom:

And there you have your Post-Lunch Nest Fortress!

 

And finally, an important message from Mave:

Be sure to practice good oral hygiene after meals:

What’s In A Name?

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There are times we think of something new with a very specific purpose in mind. J.B. recently built a device that is an extension of one of the front rooms. It doesn’t really have a name yet and so far I have heard every caregiver call it something different. I personally call it the “Foot Box.” It was built so the chimpanzees could present a hand or a foot and we would be able to easily get x-rays if there is an medical issue with that extremity. This would help reduce the need to put the chimpanzee under anesthesia.

The chimpanzees, however, have other things in mind for this new box.

Since Burrito’s procedure, he has been occupying the front room where the box is. The girls haven’t had any access to it and he has been using it to play tag with caregivers or spilling parts of his morning smoothie on. Jamie, is very keen on every time a bit of his smoothie is spilled on the box. When I first gave the girls access to the front room the other day, this was her immediate response when she went in.

Later, she decided to start putting some things in there like her bowl.

It wasn’t until Foxie noticed this new contraption that I think I have a new name for it.

While she was in the front room, Foxie would continuously put her Troll doll into the box, wait a couple of seconds, and retrieve it.

This went on for quite a while.

I think I’m going to just simply call this the “Troll Cubby.” Regardless of the true intentions of it’s purpose. What do you all think?

Travel Delays on Snowy Days

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To those far and away from Washington, we have been having some pretty rough weather. Those of you who are local to the Pacific Northwest probably know what I’m talking about. Some places had it far worse than others, even closing some highways due to snow accumulation. Some of that highway traffic was diverted onto the road that passes by the sanctuary today. Both Anthony and I were caught in a convoy of big trucks and were a little late getting in. Luckily enough, our co-directors were onsite to cover some of the morning tasks to ensure breakfast was made on time and things stayed on schedule.

During snowy days like today, we offer Willy B, Mave, and Honey B the option to go outside in the Chute. More often than not, all three decide to stay inside. Usually we find Willy B laying down on a bed of blankets on one of the platforms inside.

And we find Honey B and Mave in some prolonged grooming sessions near a window to gaze out onto the snow-covered landscape.

It was during a grooming session I noticed they both would continuously look out the window and just stare for a little while before resuming their grooming session. I took a peek outside to see what they would look at. It seemed the sun would make a brief appearances at times. On one of these brief moments, Honey B decided to briefly brave the elements and sit by the window that looks into the playroom of their neighbors. (As a side note: the headband fashion apparently is not just a seasonal style for Honey B like it is with Annie.)

Likewise on the other side of the Chimp House, we offer the Girl Gang the option to go out onto Young’s Hill every day, but so far they also have opted to stay inside most days. Annie though did go to the door that leads to Young’s Hill and waited to see if anyone else wanted to brave the snow covered hill with her. After a while, and after no takers, she later went inside to be with the others in the warm playroom.

Burrito is still in recovery and doesn’t have access to the outside quite yet. He does make numerous requests throughout the day for snowy treats though. On one of the occasions I did offer him a snowball. He refused to take it and tried to divert my attention to something else. It took me a little time to realize a new wintery bounty has started to form around the sanctuary: icicles!

He seemed pleased with the snowy icicle bucket we prepared for him after. His icicle treats didn’t last long and he was soon back to requesting more. Though the snow caused some travel delays, the caregiver in me secretly hopes it continues (not too much though!) so more icicles form for him and all the chimpanzees to enjoy.

Update on Burrito

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To keep you all informed, it was decided to perform a procedure on Burrito earlier today. As mentioned before, Burrito was well enough to rejoin the Girl Gang a few days ago, however he was still battling a slow healing toe injury. After monitoring it for a couple of days, our veterinarian and local orthopedic specialists suspected it could be something serious. After conducting some x-rays on his toe, it was confirmed to be an infection of the bone (osteomyelitis), which unfortunately meant amputation to remove the affected bone  and stop any possible spread of the infection. Our vet and specialists were able to quickly conduct the procedure with no complications. He is currently recovering in one of the front rooms and is expected to make a fast recovery. In fact, he was sitting upright on his own almost instantly after the procedure. With this last nagging problem behind him he should be back to 100% very soon. We will continue to keep you updated as he recovers.

With the flurry of human activity happening regarding Burrito, it was business as usual for the rest of the chimpanzees.

The girls were given access to Young’s Hill. While Jamie, Missy, and Jody decided it was a good time to patrol, Annie decided it was a bit too chilly for her to go around the entire hill.

Similarly, Negra decided to not attempt to go outside, and covered herself with blankets instead.

On the other side of the sanctuary, there was a lot of silliness going on. First, we found Honey B inside a box we gave them as enrichment with Willy B drumming away on it. They both had the biggest play faces I have seen. It was one of those moments that come and go as quickly as you see them. I was able to capture a few shots later on with a Honey B playing peek-a-boo. Sorry for the horrible quality of the photos, but I tried to capture what I could with the only camera I had on me at the time: my phone.

Honey B would poke her out every so often to make sure we were watching.

She then decided she needed to decorate her newly constructed box fort with a stylish pink shovel.

Flashes Of Fur

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It was a busy day in the Chimp House. We spent most of the morning cleaning up after Burrito’s super birthday bash yesterday, as well as training new interns enrolled in the Captive Care Certificate at Central Washington University.

When I found time to check in on the chimpanzees, it was almost difficult to find them. The Seven mostly kept close together the entire day, in nearly every hard to see spot in the nice, warm Playroom. It was almost like spotting glimpses of Sasquatch at the sanctuary. An arm here. A flash of fur there. A head poking out around the corner every so often.

Negra, on the other hand, is a tried and true type of person. She spent most of the day in her favorite spot in the Playroom soaking up as much sun as she could while waiting for caregivers to finish cleaning and preparing lunch.

Willy B also spent most of his day resting on one of his favorite benches in the Phase 1 area, waiting for the caregivers to finish cleaning and preparing lunch.

I did spot Honey B and Mave a couple of times out in the Chute area, but Honey B decided playing games of chase with me instead of allowing me to take photos (other than today’s main photo) was a better plan.

Snowy and Groomy Weather

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Our apologies again! We are still having trouble loading the video from the chimpanzee’s New Year celebration the other day due to an internet outage. (I’m currently posting this blog via my personal hotspot from my phone.) I personally blame the current snowy weather.

In the meantime, please enjoy these photos taken around the sanctuary.

Burrito had a playdate with both Jamie and Jody on this snowy day. He decided to spend most of his time inside grooming with Jody:

Of course, that was only when he wasn’t busy asking his caregivers for snowy treats:

Jamie, on the other hand, decided this snowy weather was the perfect weather to wrap herself up in blankets with her current favorite cowboy boot:

On the other side of the Chimp House, Honey B and Mave found today’s snowy conditions to also be perfect for grooming:

Thank you all for being so patient as we try to find a way to share the New Year Celebration video! We hope that tomorrow is the day the internet will be a top strength to share it with all of you.

Snowy Wonderland

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As promised, here is a more thorough post to introduce myself to all of you amazing followers of the sanctuary.

I have been with the sanctuary for a couple years now as an intern and volunteer. You may have seen me from such classics as: “You’re Doing It Wrong,” “Chad Grooms Jamie,” and the ever so classic, “Fun Police (Stop What You’re Doing And Pay Attention To Me).” If you couldn’t tell, there is a certain individual who runs my life here at the sanctuary. Even at times, doing chores at home I have that strange feeling Jamie is watching me and going to tell me I missed a spot.

My interest in chimpanzees began a few years ago as an undergraduate student at Arizona State University, where I helped analyze data coming in from Gombe of the Kasakela community (the group made famous by Dr. Jane Goodall). I continued my research at Central Washington University as a graduate student studying chimpanzee gestural communication of other wild chimpanzee communities. Through the certificate program CWU offers, I took the courses on captive primate care taught by J.B., and so began my time at the sanctuary as an intern.

To say I was excited when I was asked to help out as a staff member here is an understatement. I don’t think there is any word or combination of words to describe the exact feelings of excitement and (yes) nervousness I have in being given the opportunity to help provide the best life possible for the Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Honey B, Jamie, Jody, Mave, Missy, Negra, and Willy B, as well as Betsy, Honey, Meredith, and Nutmeg, in a new capacity. I will do the best I can to keep you all informed about the daily happenings at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest during my time as a staff member.

For those of you who commented on my test blog yesterday, thank you all for such a warm welcome! And to answer some of the questions, yes! Anna will return!

Now… On to today’s happening around the sanctuary!

We are preparing for some pretty significant snowfall here in Central Washington. In fact, as I write this, snow has already begun to fall. We attempted to give Willy B, Honey B, and Mave access to the snowfall, but they decided it was not in their plans for the day. Honey B just looked at us like we were crazy for even thinking they would ever go in the snow.

On the other side of the Chimp House, we set up two separate play dates for Burrito. First we allowed Foxie to spend some time with him.

Then Jody.

Overall, it was a pretty quiet day here. The chimpanzees are about to be served dinner and settle in for the night. Until next time, stay warm, friends!