Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Diana

Weird and Routine

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Since Anna included it in her Top 10 Sanctuary Videos of 2020, you may have been reminded recently of the video of J.B. and I in the gator racing Jamie at sunset. Thanks to J.B.’s transcription, you know I said, “This is the weirdest job.”

That’s true, in many ways.

The weird, however, has a way of becoming quite routine round here.

Jamie now frequently asks us to get the gator so she can race it, or us in it, or maybe just the boots we are wearing while driving it, around the hill.

Today, she made this request of Kelsi as they were starting off on a walk (you just need to know Jamie and how to interpret her gestures to know what she’s asking for – it’s a learning curve).

Kelsi ran back into the barn and started up the gator and Jamie took off at a sprint to get a head start. This time Burrito, Missy, Annie, and Jody joined the race. I climbed up to the observation deck to get a few photos.

 

Jamie up top, Missy standing bipedally, and Jody’s and Annie’s behinds

Annie catching up

 

Jamie in the lead

 

Missy likes to do things the hard fun way!
Annie and Missy taking in the sights at the end of the walk
Annie seems to really like the view from the top of the Escher structure
Jody sporting a classic drooped lip

Later in the day, Mave was having me play a fun game of chase where she ran around the mezzanine and I went from the human area of the mezzanine, downstairs via the rungs, through the door into the new getting-closer-to-being-finished playrooms, and upstairs to the window, where she was waiting for me.

She thought this was great fun.

While I was playing with Mave, I looked out one of the upstairs playroom windows, which have great views of the hill. Honey B was in the chute and spotted me through the window, so then she and I played a little game of chase where she ran back and forth in the chute and I went from one window to another.

Like J.B. yesterday, my batteries seemed to run out at an alarmingly accelerated pace compared to the chimpanzees.

It was all kind of weird, kind of routine, and very special at the same time.

Top Caregiver Posts of 2020

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Being a caregiver for captive chimpanzees in a sanctuary is not always easy. It can be physically and emotionally exhausting. Burn out and compassion fatigue are not unusual. As someone who has worked at varying levels within sanctuaries, I know the difficulties as well as the many perks. I’m so grateful for those who choose this field.

We have a truly incredible team of caregivers. They are dedicated beyond what their positions require and strive to give the chimpanzees good days, every day. They are talented, witty, and kind. I admire each of them as individual people and as coworkers. I learn from them all of the time, and I love reading their blog posts for their unique perspective and insights.

For a sanctuary, the staff are the most important, and often the largest, expense in the budget. No one is getting rich as a caregiver, but they do need to be paid fairly so they can continue their good work. Some sanctuaries attempt to rely on volunteer labor, but this more often than not is unsuccessful in the long term. We miss all of the CSNW volunteers greatly, and are beyond thankful to those who have been able to meet our strict guidelines and worked so hard alongside us this year.

The pandemic was a big reminder of just how crucial paid staff are in providing for the care of the chimpanzees and cattle and the running of the sanctuary.

Donors to sanctuaries get this. You get this! You all are so wonderful, and every single staff member here is grateful every day for your support. Thank you for your donations and your nice words as 2020 came to a close. We are buoyed by your generosity and the love of the chimpanzees and bovines that you have.

With the start of the new year, I thought I’d nominate my favorite 2020 blog posts from the non-director staff (that would be everyone except me and J.B.). It was very challenging to narrow this down!

I’ll start with Chad.

Chad is our newest caregiver, though now that we’ve all been through a pandemic year together, and with all his time as an intern before he was on the staff, it seems like he’s been here forever, in a really good way. His post A Morning Stroll and Confession of a (New) Caregiver from the end of September makes me cry and smile every time I read it. One reason I smile is thinking about how many times he’s gone on walks/runs around the hill with Burrito since he wrote that. J.B. and I have a good view of the hill from our house and the office, and it’s not unusual for me to look out the window on my weekend and see Chad in his red shirt running on the other side of the fence as playful Burrito leads the charge.

Anthony started his job at CSNW about two months before Honey B, Mave, and Willy B arrived at the sanctuary. I think they call that baptism by fire. He wasn’t an unfamiliar face, however. Like Chad, he had interned and volunteered at the sanctuary while working on his master’s degree in the Primate Behavior and Ecology program at Central Washington University. I can’t imagine 2020, much less the later half of 2019 without him as part of the team.

I’m going back pretty far in the year for this one, but I really appreciated the blog post Anthony wrote that he entitled The Tough Questions about public perception and the potential for videos and images of captive primates (and all wildlife) to perpetuate misconceptions and even contribute to their continued harm. It provides much fodder for contemplation.

Anna has had quite a year in her personal life – she has a one year old now! My favorite blog post of Anna’s in 2020 is What Did I Miss?, mostly because of the glimpse of her daughter Luna meeting the chimpanzees for the first time, but also because I am reminded of the happiness I had that she was back from maternity leave and ready to whip the chimp house into shape.

I’m pretty lucky because I get to work with Kelsi on Saturdays. As I put this blog together, Kelsi is doing the approximately one hundred chimp house chores in her usual efficient and upbeat fashion in between entertaining Honey B and Willy B and giving snow snacks to Missy. My favorite blog post of Kelsi’s, one that I go to whenever needed, is Breathe in Mave. It’s perfect, and really everyone should bookmark it.

Katelyn’s work life during 2020 has changed quite a bit. Like thousands of other people, instead of coming in on her office days, she works from home. Office cat LouLou really misses crowding her out of her chair and licking her lunch, and I miss chatting with her about how amazing our supporters are. When Katelyn is in the chimp house, she makes the most of her time with the chimpanzees, posting to the blog on Mondays. My favorite blog post of Katelyn’s is Being Honey B because she beautifully captured the essence of Honey B and why just about anyone who has ever met her has loved her.

I could have chosen any number of other blog posts these great caregivers have written. Maybe you too have some favorites?

Happy Birthday to Margaret!

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Today we have another sponsor-a-day in honor of the one and only Margaret, also known as artist Margaret H. Parkinson, creator of many amazing paintings, including the now iconic Negra in the Sun.

Negra in the Sun by Margaret H Parkinson

This painting has been recreated on stickers, wine bottle labels, and canvas prints for supporters, and also has inspired other artists like Tamara Burgess, who handmade a necklace that included this image and Lisa Wathne, who made a glass mosaic piece inspired by Margaret’s painting for the 2019 gala.

Margaret and her wife Karen have been supporters since before the chimpanzees even arrived and are wonderful friends to all animals (the human ones too) at the sanctuary.

She inspires all of us in so many ways with her warmth, compassion, quick wit, and curiosity about the world. Monica Best wanted to honor Margaret with warm birthday wishes with a sponsor a day on this last day of 2020.

Here is the original photo that inspired Margaret and some other takes on Negra in the sun:

 

Christmas Party Bonus Photos

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We took hundreds of photos during the various parties yesterday, no exaggeration. I combed through them today and selected a few I just had share.

Burrito unwrapped one of the many gifts and decided to wear the raffia ribbon for a while.

Then he donned a new leopard print scarf

The tree in the greenhouse was a real treasure this year and produced quite a lot of enjoyment.

Negra:

 

Annie:

Missy mastered the tree and got the most out of it until the very end when she toppled it over (see video from yesterday).

Look at that tangerine hidden way in the depths of the the tree!

Jody enjoying the fruits of her tree-scavenging labor:

There were several spots in the greenhouse that were dusted with coconut. Here’s Annie collecting some:

and Negra:

and I’ll end with this photo of Burrito, in awe of Christmas, with coconut dust on his lips:

for even more warm holiday cheer, check out our Instagram account to see a short clip of Mave’s Christmas nest. Happy Boxing Day, everyone!

what to my wondering eyes should appear

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I don’t want to bury the lead here – something newsworthy and heartwarming happened today, but I do feel that it requires a little bit of set-up…

The morning greeted us with calm and fair weather after a very windy night, so J.B. decided we should take advantage of the unseasonable warmth and throw a little early impromptu Christmas party for the chimpanzees.

He and Kelsi decorated the trees of Christmases past that are planted on the hill. Anna came up with cute and yummy “ornaments” by cutting out heart shapes in pieces of pineapple using a cookie cutter.

If you know anything about Negra, it’s probably that she’s not an early-riser, generally preferring to linger in bed. This morning, however, she was the first out of the raceway to investigate the breakfast party.

She marched right up to the trees, and we all remarked to one another that she was further up on the hill than she’d been all year.

Perhaps she overheard us and thought, “hold my pineapple.”

What she did next was without precedent.

Missy had grabbed a pineapple ornament, a book, and a pineapple top from the tree and climbed up high to Jamie’s Lookout, joining Foxie and Jamie:

Foxie and Jamie soon departed.

Anna saw J.B., who was taking photos on the other side of the fence, run up the hill. Then we all heard him exclaim over the radio that Negra was climbing up the ladder to Jamie’s Lookout.

The Towers: Jamie’s Lookout and Carlene’s Tower were conceived of and built by founder Keith LaChappelle and friends in the summer of 2015 (I had to search for this blog post to find out the exact timeline).

Negra has never been to the top of this structure.

But today, five and a half years later, she climbed right up and sat next to Missy as though she had done it a hundred times before.

 

Perhaps you can discern her motivation and feel the subtle pressure she is asserting over Missy in this photo:

Missy soon finished her pineapple ornament and took Negra’s cue, leaving the pineapple top behind. Negra stayed up there, on top of the world, for a wonderfully long amount of time.

And then she climbed down holding the pineapple top and book (which she no doubt hoped contained peanut butter between its pages) in her mouth.

Personality Anecdotes

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As you may well know, this sanctuary is chock full of personalities, and the more you get to know the chimpanzees and cattle, the more you appreciate each individual’s many sides.

First, I want to say how incredibly thankful we are for the donations that have been coming in for our year-end fundraising. At this moment we are 35% towards our goal!

Each and every donation is even more meaningful to us this year, and we are so appreciative of all of your support as we work towards the day when we will be telling you all about the personalities of the new six chimpanzees who we hope will be coming from Wildlife Waystation in 2021!

On with the show—

Personality exhibit #1: Betsy

Every once in a while when we go to hang out with the cattle, we discover Betsy has mud caked on all over her face. Our best guess is she dips her head into the soft banks of the creek on purpose. She’s the only one of the four who does this. She seems quite content with the mud, so maybe she’s on to some sort of mountain mud facial.

Personality exhibit #2: Jamie

Today Jamie decided to use the “foot box” as her own personal boot box.

She stored her boots in there for about a half hour, until she was ready to move to another part of the building, boots in hand.

Personality exhibit #3: Negra

Negra is continuing to construct over-the-top, really quite outrageous blanket nests. The photo below is the last view I had of her this evening before turning the lights out.

Looking at that photo above, and learning that Negra often pouts her lips through the caging to kiss her caregivers’ hands generally elicits the impression that Negra is a very sweet chimpanzee.

I’m not going to say that she’s not sweet; she certainly can be, but her personality really is more sharp than saccharine.

As we’ve mentioned before, she has a bit of a mafia boss relationship with Missy in particular. I witnessed this aspect of their relationship yesterday.

The chimpanzees were finishing up their breakfast and I was lucky enough to walk by the front rooms just at the right moment to see Missy attempting to pass Negra while carrying several pieces of primate chow. Negra whimpered and held out her hand. Missy paused just for a second and then proceeded to put all of the chow into Negra’s outstretched hand.

Now, if you didn’t know their individual personalities and just witnessed this moment, you might understandably surmise that Missy was being nice to Negra and her hand off was a moment of altruism. But, Missy also wouldn’t generally be described as “sweet” by those who know her well. Don’t get me wrong, she and Negra have very sweet moments together:

 

Negra and Missy playing

Negra (left) and Missy (right)

but Missy is a very politically shrewd chimpanzee.

Missy likes primate chow, but she doesn’t love it. So it’s not a bad deal for her to give up something that she may consider low value as a “pay off” to keep in good standing with Queen Negra. I would probably do the same thing myself.

Like Mother, Like Daughter?

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I stand by Katelyn’s post from the summer that there is no doubt that Honey B is her own unique person, quite separate from her biological history of having been born to Missy. But just as time shows us her own special uniqueness, new similarities between mom and daughter have also revealed themselves.

These two formidable and intelligent beings were tragically separated from one another at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), shortly after Honey B was born on June 11, 1989.

Missy was forced to continue her life of servitude as a laboratory test subject and breeder and Honey B went to the lab’s “nursery” where she was raised by humans in preparation for the same future. Unlike many other chimpanzees at LEMSIP who moved to a notorious laboratory in New Mexico called the Coulston Foundation, Honey B escaped that future when she and dozens of other young chimpanzees were moved to Wildlife Waystation in California as LEMSIP closed permanently.

Missy and Honey B were only reunited here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest 30 years after their separation.

As Katelyn mentioned in her post, there were no signs of particular recognition or even fondness between the pair when they met face to face before we abandoned the introductions of the two groups last fall.

Though they do not share the same rooms or have close interactions with one another, they do still see each other every day.

Just today, I spied Missy in a window of the playroom spying on her daughter as Honey B snacked on some lettuce in the Chute.

To be clear, there are shared preferences, quirks, and other similarities among some of the unrelated chimpanzees (the stand-out example is both Honey B and Annie wearing stretchy headbands around their waists), so who’s to say if the similarities between Missy and Honey B are inherited or simply coincidental. If you’ve ever taken a psychology or biology class or just on your own pondered the “nature vs nurture” question, you know the answer is almost always “both”.

Yet, it’s fun to consider that some of these traits just might have an element of heredity to them.

Similarities were brought up by other staff earlier this week, so it seemed a good time to reflect on what I’ve noticed that seem to characterize both mom and daughter.

Athleticism

Kelsi’s and Chad’s posts earlier this week that included the videos below clearly showed that Honey B and Missy are both quite quick on their feet and run for sheer enjoyment. That is not really the case for the majority of the other chimps.

It’s not just running that defines their love of movement. On any given day we see both of them climbing, swinging, leaping, and balancing.

Honey B
Missy

Playing Ghost

This was again inspired by a post earlier this week, this time Anna’s. Check out Missy’s ghost play with Annie from a few years ago compared to Honey B playing with Mave this week in the two videos below:

Playing Ghost is not specific to Honey B and Missy. Notably, Jamie sometimes ghosts around too:

Even when by themselves, Honey B and Missy seem to enjoy their version of ghosting.

Honey B

 

Missy covered in sheet
Missy

A Love of Tomatoes

If Missy could have one food for every meal for the rest of her life, that food would be tomatoes. I have never known another chimpanzee to like tomatoes with the sincerity and fervor of Missy.

Honey B, however, comes a close second, though she is pickier about the quality.

Headstands

Perhaps this goes along with athleticism? I’m really not sure. Either way, both mom and offspring seem to like being inverted, both during play and sometimes when making a nest.

Missy upside down

 

Missy

The photo above of Missy comes from a blog post that I wrote over ten years ago. For some reason I remember putting it together like it was yesterday.

Honey B upside down

Socks

Missy wearing a sock while playing
Honey B wearing a tomato sock
Honey B pulling a sock on her arm
Missy with a sock on her arm

The photo of Missy above with a sock on her arm is from the first month that the seven arrived at the sanctuary. You can still see Missy’s shaved belly from the medically indicated hysterectomy she had before coming here. Our photography equipment and file saving procedures were in their infancy – that’s why I couldn’t find a larger photo.

Missy removing a sock from her arm

 

Missy’s feet in socks

To be fair, Mave and Jody are also pretty into socks:

Mave

Jody’s style is to wear the sock just over her toes

Jody

I was reminded of one other similarity today as I was shifting the chimpanzees during meals to make it safe for us to enter a space for cleaning; if you were a betting person and you had to bet on which chimpanzee in each group would hold up shifting, it would be very safe to put your money on Missy and Honey B (Willy B’s more recent bout of rebellion notwithstanding). Missy is generally the last person in her group to leave a space and the least motivated by food. Her daughter? Pretty much the same.