Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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A Good Day: Friendships and Skeletons

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Yesterday, Kelsi wrote about all the emotions that accompany the introduction process. She talked about how proud we are of the 9 chimps that are working so hard to make their new group work and how rewarding it is to see new friendships form. It’s hard to believe that when I first started a few months ago, there was a group of 3 and a group of 6. Back then, we talked a lot about how the goal was to integrate them into one larger social group, which would provide each chimp more social partners- which is hugely important and beneficial for chimpanzees in many ways. As I went through training, I watched the caregivers work on smaller intro’s every day to provide the chimps the opportunity to build a strong foundation that they could then build off on in the months to come. Then, we watched as the final door was opened and for the first time there was a group of 9. While this is a blog continuation emphasizing how proud we are of the chimps and an acknowledgement on how hard they have worked, I want to take a moment and say how proud I am of this group of humans that I get to call coworkers. Words could never do the staff and volunteers here justice.

It has officially been over two months (!!) since that day and, although we are still a little ‘stitous, it is really exciting to watch new group dynamics form. Honey B is making friends, the guys are figuring things out, Dora is everyone’s new best friend… every day there is something exciting!

On top of all that, exciting things are happening on the other side of the chimp house too. Burrito has been healing really well since his dental procedure last week! Today he was reunited with his group of 6 ladies and I believe he is currently enjoying the beautiful day out in the greenhouse. Plus, we received a kind donation from a local chiropractor that made Jamie’s day. Check out the video to see what it could be! 🙂

Also, a BIG thanks to everyone who has donated so far to our June matching campaign from Jennifer Douglas that Kelsi mentioned in her blog post yesterday. When I started to write this post, Diana just shared that we are only a few hundred dollars away from reaching the full $50,000 match because of all of your generosity!

Burrito earlier today, before being reunited with his group:

Jamie and Burrito grooming in the Greenhouse this afternoon.

Willy B checking his teeth out in selfie mode:

Cy chillin’ in the Oakwood Greenhouse this afternoon.

 

Summer Shenanigans

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After celebrating its official start yesterday, we are in full summer mode here at the sanctuary! The season has definitely caught up and it is *warm* outside, with the sun in full force. After managing winter weather and cool spring temps, the jump start to summer has us (or maybe just me) sweltering in the heat. Today ended up being the perfect day to remind us (or, again, just me) why summer is so fun.

Diana brought us bowls of rose flowers and petals for both groups to forage, which was a hit! And on Jamie’s side of the building, we decided to fill up their two pools with nice cool water… and then we added a yummy touch- Gatorade!

The bowl of rose flowers, petals, and lilacs for the forage today:

Gordo enjoying his lunch in the warmth of the Riverview Greenhouse:

Jamie’s group has spent a large portion of today exploring on Young’s Hill, relaxing in the greenhouse, and spending time by the Gatorade pools. Cy and his group have seemed content to spend time in the cool front rooms, and right now I can hear Terry blowing raspberries trying to get someone’s attention.

Check out the video for more on today’s chimp-house-summer-time-shenanigans!

 

Spring-Time Sundays… Snake Edition

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When I pulled into work this morning, my plan for the blog was to talk about how it officially feels like spring-time on Jamie’s side of the building. Some panels were taken off the Greenhouse last week and this opens up the opportunity for caregivers to serve meals outside, to better see the chimps and their interactions, and participate in enthusiastic games of chase with a certain someone (ahem, Burrito). It was going to be beau-ti-ful. This all changed, though, when caregiver Katelyn and myself were cleaning the playroom and heard the tell tale sign of something slithery and sinister.

We heard Annie alarm calling and went out to see what was wrong. The chimps (except for Negra, who was in the greenhouse) were all out near a platform on Young’s Hill. We could tell they had discovered a snake and we even saw Jamie grab and throw it. Thankfully, our team has worked on recall with Jamie’s group for this exact reason and we were able to get all 7 chimps off of Young’s Hill. This was my first ever snake-on-the-hill scenario and I have to be honest- searching through tall grass for an unidentified slithery someone is not on the top of my list of preferred activities, but we grabbed the snake catcher and were on our way. Anthony and I took part in the snake search and it involved many renditions of “Who ya gonna call? Snake-busters!”.

Anthony snagged this photo of myself on the hill with our snake catcher, our tool that allows us to humanely grab the snake while we get the tote in place.

After a little while searching, we spotted the two (!) slithery fiends. Can you find them? Extra points if you can, the photo is from my phone and is very pixelated.

When we got off the hill, Jamie and Annie were waiting to see whether we had been successful.

And we had been! I was able to catch one of the snakes, while the other one went sprinting up the hill. We continued the search, but it had sped up, off, and away. Anthony took our little friend and released it away from the chimp house after I snagged this photo of it from the top of the snake capture tote. Thankfully, it was a non-venomous racer (Coluber constrictor)… and I am officially adding snake catcher to my list of skills. 

While this isn’t the first snake we’ve seen this year, and it won’t be the last, it is reassuring that it was non-venomous and that we were able to get it off the hill. Since it was such a beautiful day and we were already on the hill, we decided to make the most of it and have a hill forage!

Burrito enjoying some avocado on Young’s Hill.

Jody brought her loot back into the Greenhouse, where she could watch the rest of the group participate in the forage.

Jamie with a mouth and hand full of peppers, climbing to the top of a Young’s Hill structure.

Annie having a quiet moment after foraging.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

An Ode to The Greenhouse Basket

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Things have been a bit busy here in the chimp house lately, to say the least. Between the integration of the 9 (we are still cautiously optimistic!), Negra’s procedure, and then Jamie’s procedure, things have not slowed down. To keep everyone on our team up to date, we have team meetings where we discuss recent events and new ideas for improving how we do things. These discussions are often full of new and exciting ideas. A few weeks ago, though, someone brought up a subject that is (apparently) near and dear to my heart – our good ole’ greenhouse basket.

To be candid, I didn’t even know myself until that meeting how strongly I felt about the greenhouse basket. It is a tale as old as time – once upon the early days of the chimp house, some staff members decided that we needed to have a basket dedicated to the greenhouse since it is it’s own indoor/outdoor space. Thus emerged the basket you see below – the only one in our whole collection that is this specific, somewhat odd, shape.

The greenhouse basket (on top), in all it’s glory – filled with enrichment and ready for the day.

Since it is shaped different from our other baskets, it always has a bit of a tilt when we stack it on the other enrichment baskets. It has often been accidentally knocked over, and has been the point of frustration for many a caregiver trying to get to one of the bottom baskets. Maybe, then, we should change it out for one that fits with the others and makes our busy days a tiny bit easier?

Enter my *emphatic* no. I surprised myself with how vehemently I was against changing out the greenhouse basket, even though it makes sense to change it. As we talked about it, though, I realized the reason I want it to remain is because it is one of those comforting, consistent little things. A little thing that remains despite all the change around- after all, it has been the greenhouse basket long before I was an intern here and is still in active duty now. Despite all the changes of the world around, it stayed the same. And there is something inherently comforting about that.

Walking into the chimp house kitchen every morning to see the stack of enrichment baskets for the day, we know that there will be the leaning tower of the greenhouse basket – just one nudge away from toppling over. I’m sure there are other little things throughout the chimp house that are similar- small things or ways we do a task that has stayed the same despite everything happening around it. And change is great – it has allowed Cy’s group to have more access to social partners than they did before. But, maybe, it’s ok for some small things to remain consistent.

Aside from thinking about change, it has also been a lovely day here with the chimps. Jamie and Negra are both healing very well and we are continuing to monitor Cy’s group!

Cy, enjoying the warmth of the day in the Riverview Greenhouse.

Rayne also choosing to take in the day outside in the Riverview Greenhouse.

Jamie, from a few days ago, watching her caregivers from one of the Front Rooms. She is still healing and doing great!

Meredith lovin’ the summer pasture.

Sunday Rest & Relaxation

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Happy Sunday, everyone! Here at the sanctuary, it is cloudy and in the low 50’s (before adding in the *aggressive* wind that hits every spring). This means that it has been the perfect day for some much needed R&R… and the chimps have been vibing. Us humans have been enjoying it too – the last few weeks have been so busy, with the integration of the 9 and Negra’s procedure, that we have all been operating under some level of stress.

Today, though, both humans and chimps seem content to go through the day calmly and intentionally. We have been checking things off our daily tasks while the chimps enjoy time together or with the staff. It has been so nice to walk through the chimp house and hear breathy laughter coming from some of the chimps playing or teeth clacking from some serious grooming sessions (looking at you, Willy B). It seems that we all needed some R&R and we are more than happy to soak it in!

Lucky taking a moment for herself in the Oakwood Greenhouse this afternoon. Her brother, Cy, was nearby and they seemed to just be enjoying each others company.

Willy B (read: Chaos Coordinator) about to catch some shut eye after lunch in the Front Rooms.

Terry enjoying a quiet moment in the Oakwood Greenhouse after breakfast. That floof is something else!

Cy watching Terry as Terry watched me take pictures of him (Terry)… make sense?

Burrito taking a nap in-between play sessions.

Annie enjoying the quiet in the warmth of the greenhouse.

Negra is still healing up great and enjoying her mini-staycation, complete with movies on demand, food puzzles, and dancing caregivers.

BONUS PHOTO: Dora from the other day- not in rest or relaxation mode- but in full play mode. The photo from my phone is a bit grainy, but I thought the moment between her and the slinky was too great not to share.

Hope you are able to have some rest and relaxation today, too!

(And knock on wood… I don’t want to jinx the quiet chimp house. 🙂 )

Short Stories From The Chimp House

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It has been a busy day here in the chimp house! After the morning cleaning, it started to rain and since then the chimps have been keeping us busy. Burrito is being his normal playful self (which has involved at least five runs around the hill with the caregivers), Foxie is blowing raspberries to try and get Caregiver Katelyn’s attention, and Jamie is observing all. On the other side of the chimp house Terry is looking for shoes to groom, Willy B would like to see our camera reels, and Lucky is hoping to snag some extra tomatoes. While we work to get our daily tasks done we’ve also been snagging photos – so today’s blog is a montage of short stories from throughout the day. 🙂

This morning, Caregiver Katelyn and I gave Foxie two new Strawberry Shortcake dolls. When Foxie saw them she expressed her excitement with a ceiling punch! She quickly came downstairs to get them and give us some happy grunts. Katelyn snagged this photo of Foxie and her new doll shortly after in the Greenhouse and we just can’t take it!

This morning was overcast and cool – a nice morning, but damp from last night’s rain. I thought that Jamie’s group wouldn’t be waiting for Young’s Hill access, since it was so wet, but when I opened the door everyone proceeded to head straight out! Annie went almost straight for the hammock, where she picked some grass before going for a stroll around the hill. Annie has been disappearing during the mornings lately to enjoy some time by herself on the hill- you can read more about that in Kelsi’s blog here.

Negra also went straight out on the hill… and kept going… and going! Negra will often go onto Young’s Hill and stop a short ways out where she will sit and enjoy the morning, but today she joined the rest of her group and enjoyed the morning out far on the hill. Spring has really sprung!

We weren’t the only ones surprised to see Negra so far onto the hill – Jody also came over to make sure all was well with Negra. Caregiver Chad caught this sweet moment of Negra reassuring Jody that all is well, before they both went back to their respective morning hill activities.

I found Dora in the Oakwood Greenhouse this afternoon. The sound of the rain on the greenhouse panels was peaceful and calming, which matched the sight of Dora and Terry grooming. After Terry left, Dora continued to sit and relax in the greenhouse.

Have a great evening, everyone!

New Friendships and Lots o’ Play!

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We’ve talked a lot about the introductions of Honey B’s and Lucky’s groups on the blog over the last few months. After opening the last door 12 days ago, we have been watching as they sort out their social dynamics and build the trust needed to be a cohesive group. It is still very early in the process and we cannot pretend to know what the future will bring, but we can have hope! A common phrase heard almost daily throughout the chimp house, along with talking about how proud we are of the 9 chimpanzees, is- so far so good!

Integrating the two groups provides multiple benefits to everyone, with a key benefit being an increase in social partners. Each person now has eight other individuals they can choose to hang out with (or not), which provides increased opportunities for friendship, play, and all the other benefits that can come from having a bigger social group. As they figure out their place in the new social structure, we have been able to watch new friendships form and bonds strengthen. Some of these have been surprising (go, Mave!) and some have been more expected based on previous smaller introductions.

Today, I was able to catch an amazing moment of play between Honey B and Rayne on camera. It was lunchtime, they weren’t at the meal, and when we went looking for them we couldn’t help but smile. 🙂 Check out the video to see why!