Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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The New Kid in Town

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Hi, everyone! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a volunteer here at CSNW? More specifically- have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a level III volunteer who interacts and serves the chimps? Worry no more- today is the first in a series of Guest Blog Writers! We have some amazing Level III Volunteers who have volunteered (because they’re awesome) to write a post or two about their experiences here, so be on the lookout for them over the coming months.

First up to bat, we have Dusty-  a level three volunteer in training! She has volunteered with us for about six years!! So, without further ado, check out Dusty’s blog below!

The New Kid in Town, by Volunteer Caregiver Dusty

As a volunteer, it’s a lengthy training process to learn how to serve the chimpanzees their meals. There are books to read, videos to watch, observations to be made, steps to take, lessons to learn. This intimate activity must be done with the utmost thought and care, after all I am entering their private home. Imagine someone new coming into your home to serve you
breakfast. Who would get the first apple? Maybe you like your smoothie before your chow. Maybe your sibling likes the pears you are served better and takes yours away. This experience is exciting and humbling and I’m constantly reminded by the sixteen – I’m the new kid in town – which transports me back to 1976 when The Eagles released “The New Kid in Town” song as part of the Hotel California album. If you’ve never heard this song (where have you been?) or to refresh your memory, take a listen to the song at the same time you read about my training experience below.

The New Kid in Town
There’s hoots in the hall, it sounds so familiar
Initiation time, all the chimps are watching you
Smoothies and plums, how do I serve them
Even though they know me they treat me like I’m someone new

Dusty come lately,
The new kid in town,
Better serve the food right,
or they won’t come ’round.

I look in Terry’s eyes, his Bronx cheers began to play
Gordo sprays me with water, here we go again
Rayne runs to hide, Lucky looks the other way
It’s those precious hearts I want to mend

Dusty come lately,
The new kid in town,
Better serve the food right,
or they won’t come ’round.

There’s so many things Jamie should have showed me
Serve her pears first, serve Neggie slowly, slowly
Jody got extra oranges, holy moly!

There’s hoots in the hall, it’s there to remind you
Doesn’t really matter which side of the caging you’re on

You’re walking away, they’re plotting behind you
Initiation will continue ’til somebody new comes along.

Dusty come lately,
There’s a new kid in town,
Better serve the food right,
or they won’t come ’round.

Just another new kid in town
Everybody’s gawking
There’s a new kid in town, I don’t want her apples
There’s a new kid in town, I don’t want her bananas
There’s a new kid in town
There’s a new kid in town
Everybody’s hooting
There’s a new kid…

Serving Jamie at breakfast:

Still in training, so Chad is close by!

Bonus Photo: Honey B being goofy while caregivers cleaned her front rooms.

Keep the Love Going: Fall in Love with Lucky!

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Today, we are featuring sweet Lucky!

Lucky was born on November 6th, 1991 and is the youngest chimp we have here at CSNW. She is a full sibling to her groups alpha, Cy, and half-sibling to group mates Honey B and Rayne. She can be considered aloof, but has really come out of her shell lately and we are enjoying every moment we have with her!

This video will be uploaded to Lucky’s bio after they have all been published, but you can sponsor Lucky today by becoming her Chimpanzee Pal! Learn more by clicking here.

Keep the Love Going: Fall in Love with Terry!

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Valentine’s Day might be over (you can check out that fabulous party here), but we’re here to keep the love going!

On our webpage for each chimpanzee, we have a personalized Fall in Love video. These are precious snip-bits into who they are- favorite hobbies, what foods they like, etc. While they are educational, they also are really good at making you fall in love over and over… and over again. So, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we are excited to finally release the Fall in Love videos of Cy’s original group of six- the “Lucky Six”! Starting today and over the next five days, the blog will feature these videos of Terry, Cy, Gordo, Lucky, Rayne, and Dora. And, boy, are they lovable!

Sometimes I forget how much has changed for this original group of six over the last few years. After Wildlife Waystation closed in 2019, the Chimpanzees In Need campaign worked to re-home the chimpanzees that lived at Waystation (click here to learn more and donate to their care). The “Lucky Six” were the second group of Waystation chimps that found their permanent home here at CSNW in June of 2021, with Willy B, Honey B, and Mave arriving in the fall of 2019. The two groups have since been integrated and now live in a group of nine.

So, over the last few years, these six chimps have found themselves in a new home, in a new state, with new humans, and also developed relationships with three other chimps that have made it possible for them to live in a larger group of nine. As someone who gets thrown off for the day if my coffee machine malfunctions in the morning, I can’t express how impressed & proud I am of them. And, generally, just how much I adore these nine chimps. And also their neighbors, of course. 🙂

All this to say that, now, a year and a half later, we have watched the original “Lucky Six” come out of their shells and really let their personalities shine. Creating these videos has been a lot of fun and I hope you fall in love with them as much as we have (if you haven’t already)!

First up on the docket is Terry (AKA Sir Terrance, Teeny Tiny Terry, and/or T-Dawg). Born on June 13, 1990 at a biomedical research laboratory, we are so grateful that he now calls CSNW home. Check out the video for more on this lovable goof.

We’ll be uploading this video to Terry’s Bio Page once all the videos have been featured, but if you’re interested in sponsoring Terry you can become his Chimpanzee Pal today!

Breakfast Club

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Breakfast is one of the most exciting meals here at the sanctuary! Everyone’s just waking up and getting ready for the day, and they know yummy fruits, vegetables, and smoothies are on their way. It’s always a fun meal to serve and today we wanted to bring it to you!

Today’s breakfast menu:

Pomegranates, Cherry Tomatoes, Peanuts, and Chow

Smoothie Recipe:

Bananas, Cantaloupe, Pomegranates, Oat milk, and Supplements

We are able to serve fresh fruits and vegetables to the chimps in our care thanks to twice weekly produce deliveries from Charlie’s Produce. These deliveries allow us to keep the chimps fridges stocked and we are so grateful for them and for everyone who donates as a Produce Patron! Click here to learn more and you can help us keep the chimps bellies full, too. 🙂

Cy, looking like his handsome self:

Jamie, feeling particularly fashionable today:

Terry, being his sweet self:

Smiles All Around

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There are many amazing benefits to working or volunteering with the chimps (and cattle) here at CSNW. Don’t get me wrong – the days can be challenging (Anthony spoke about that wonderfully here), but it’s not lost on me how lucky I am that I get to come to work and hang out with 16 of my best friends… And the humans are pretty cool, too. 🙂

Like all humans, though, all of us have good days and bad days. In those moments where we are just feeling down, we are reminded of another perk of this job – we can (usually) rely on our chimp friends to get us smiling! Whether it’s Gordo’s bunny hop, Lucky’s excited greetings, Negra’s bed head, Annie’s bird noises, or a plethora of other small moments- no matter what our mood when we get to work, we often leave feeling content, happy, and fulfilled. I hope the daily blog gives you those feelings, too!

Missy, enjoying the brisk sunshine today out on Young’s Hill:

Rayne having a lil’ nap in the Riverview Greenhouse:

Zoomed out of Rayne’s lil nap- oh, hello Cy!

Negra looking past me to see what’s for breakfast:

Another of Missy outside, because I couldn’t pick just one:

Lucky resting inside while her caregivers cleaned:

Jamie watching Burrito run out onto the hill:

Gordo enjoying his breakfast avocado:

Hello, handsome Cy:

Annie spying on her neighbors whilst sporting the latest fashion:

Cheers to the Goofy Moments

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No two days of sanctuary are ever the same. When you spend your time caring for amazingly intelligent, complex, and witty individuals you never know what is going to come your way. Some moments are difficult and some are relaxed, but there’s little goofy moments sprinkled throughout them all.

Over the last few months I’ve been collecting as many of these moments as I can, but this is just a small snapshot since I had to mostly rely on the security cameras. Unfortunately, the odds of us having our phones out recording when we spray ourselves in the face with a hose (just an example) is slim to none.




At the end of the day, all moments of sanctuary (whether difficult, easy, or somewhere in between) are precious and are moments I wish could be captured for forever. I guess that’s one of the perks about having a daily blog- along with connecting with our amazing supporters, it gives us the opportunity to record in web-history moments from our days here. Thanks for that. 🙂




Dora and Mave, or Mora, engaged in a grooming session:




Beautiful, sweet Lucky:




Last night, staff and volunteers went out for dinner to celebrate Anthony’s tenure here. While not everyone was able to make it or is pictured in the photo, it’s always a special moment hanging out with everyone in the outside world:




Sunday Sillies


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Some days we show up to work with a full on blog concept, ready to go! Some days, we show up and hope something is presented to us throughout the morning that we can write about. And some days we have a blog idea ready, but the chimps decide to do something that we just absolutely have to share. Today was one of those days. 🙂 While we cleaned this morning, Burrito had all his charm on and was caught playing with everyone – even Jamie and Annie! Check out the video for more.


Terry:


 


Negra:




Sweet Jody, resting and yawning in the front rooms:


    


Gordo:




Dora:




Cy:




Burrito: