Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Kelsi

Spring has Sprung

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Since spring has sprung, so has Jamie! Jamie has been taking full advantage of these beautiful spring days and even the not so nice ones. Yesterday, well today too, Jamie and I were walking machines! If we were not walking we were grooming. All day it felt like someone was watching me. If I went to get water or start on a project she would appear, better yet, if she couldn’t see me she would stare into the camera by the playroom and wait for me to come. Seriously, nothing gets past Jamie, which is why she is so amazing. Once she would get my attention, she would take off running onto the Hill! Even when it was time for everyone to go home and Young’s Hill was closed off she wasn’t ready. So, Jamie groomed, her still favorite, XTRATUF boots in the green house for a little bit longer. Because it is spring now, Jamie needs to be doing extra patrols. There are cattle in the pasture next to the Hill and she needed to make sure that Honey B, Willy B, and Mave are being closely monitored in the Chute. She is a busy person. To be honest, because our days in the chimp house are a bit busier now, it was nice to be able to spend some quality time with her, and know that she got to do everything she wanted to do that day! All in all, when you get that feeling of someone watching you, it’s probably Jamie. 😉

Here is a rare photo of Jamie laying down yesterday:

Jamie saw Chad wearing his cattle boots during our walk and demanded he join us! Missy, Burrito, Honey, Meredith, Nutmeg, and Betsy came too.

Toasty Warm Green House

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As many of you know we have an Amazon Wish List where wonderful people buy things the chimps need or items that go to our daily operations. In these weird times, like many of you might know, things are limited on Amazon or may take a while to ship. We use gloves and disinfectant everyday, but we are going through them more quickly now. We started running low on gloves and other cleaning items that are super important to protect the chimps, which worried us a bit! Luckily, Jerrol’s, a local store nearby Ellensburg, had every thing we needed and were fully stocked. We ordered gloves and disinfectant in minutes! If you are ever curious how you can help the chimps please check out our Amazon Wish List or if you would like to help us during this weird time you can buy a gift card to Jerrol’s to help us purchase gloves and other day to day cleaning items we may need!

To be honest, it was hard to get photos of the chimps today. They were either baking in the warm Green House or scattered on the Hill. However, I managed to snap a few good ones of Annie grooming herself in the toasty warm green house.

This photo was captured right as the seven received access to Young’s Hill this morning.

Burrito taking a stroll.

Negra right before she decided it wasn’t quite warm enough yet.

Jamie on her after dinner walk, also walking the opposite direction than normal.

Day 31

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Today marks day 31 of our new normal, for the humans, that is. For any new blog followers; because of COVID-19 we have been taking extra precautions to make sure the chimps are not exposed. We have a whole routine just to walk into the chimp house in the morning. We glove & mask up, disinfect our shoes & personal things, and we change into scrubs. All throughout the day we are changing gloves and washing our hands. The other part of our new normal, which is were we started counting our new normal, it is just staff and one volunteer that met our very strict criteria. So, to say we have been busy would be an understatement! We have been keeping a record of our new normal. See photo below. But, if we wanted to get technical we believe this started 36 days ago.

However, for the chimps nothing has changed! They are blissfully unaware of the pandemic going on and they are all enjoying the nice weather! In the photos you can see the green grass coming back (EEEK!)

We have the marvelous Missy! Today, on Young’s Hill Missy and Annie ran out of the raceway chasing each other. Missy was also walking all over the fire hose on the Hill, she has some seriously amazing balance!

A perfectly graceful twist as the dismount!

Missy sprinting down the Hill.

I mean that takes a strong core balance!

Jamie leading the perimeter walk, while Burrito followed. Missy and Annie were chasing each other and took a break to join the walk.

I noticed Annie had been draping this piece of blanket over her waist, she kind of stuck a side in each pelvic pocket to create a waist band. Than when everyone got access to the Hill in the morning. I saw Annie carrying it out with her. Even through sprinting after Missy, Annie kept it with her or knew exactly where it was so she could grab it!

Negra gathered everyone’s orange peels and headed out onto the Hill.

Burrito looking over towards the Chute, hoping to catch a glimpse of Honey B, Mave, & Willy B.

On the Phase 1 side, Honey B was being her goofy self. I found Honey B balancing on this fire hose, wearing a headband, and upside down.

Later, she went up to look at herself in the mirror.

She is a pretty amazing individual.

Barrels of Fun!

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Barrels are a great form of enrichment. They are often used to sit on to get a better view of the neighbors, or for drumming on to build up a big display, sometimes they are used for reaching an enrichment puzzle, and commonly the barrels are used for a good nap. Jamie can be found relaxing on a barrel, usually when the humans are cleaning. So, she can still keep her eye on them and request drinks of water from the hose when she is parched. When she has had enough rest, the humans are right there close enough for her to select the boot of her choice and take a lap around the Hill.

Jamie on her barrel enjoying some Alfalfa:

Jamie deep in thought:

Jamie inspecting something holding a wooden hammer in her feet:

Jamie 🙂

Now, when you look at the pictures you might be thinking how is this comfortable. But, chimps often prefer to sit or lay on objects that elevate them off the ground rather than sit or nap on the floor. Though that is not true for all, for example Foxie lays on the floor and wants nothing to do with blankets. However, you see this in the wild and in captivity that chimps prefer to sit higher, even if it is just a barrel or a chair.

Jamie sitting on a chair grooming some XtraTUF boots:

Also, I was going to save these photos for another day, but why not share them now!

This morning when the chimps first got access to Young’s Hill I spotted Missy and Annie rippin’ around the Hill chasing each other with huge play faces:

Missy sprinting:

Negra popped out for a bit of sun:

Burrito marched out with this purple plastic flat-head screwdriver:

And then there was the ever so sweet, cool as can be, and silly Foxie:

I almost didn’t include this one because it is a little out of focus, but I like it and I hope you do too!

A Chimp Guide to Shelter in Place

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I am extremely lucky to have a job that requires me to come in to work everyday. During these difficult times, it helps to have something to focus on that’s a welcome distraction from the outside world. Fortunately, the chimps don’t really know what is going outside of CSNW. Life goes on as normal for them! Which is why they have put together a guide to help inspire ideas on how to make self isolation fun. Or at least take your mind off things for 3 minutes and twenty one seconds!

Also….

Honey B has so much confidence. It is truly inspiring. She is always rockin’ some new enrichment.

Neggie’s wonderful face.

Annie enjoying the warm weather on Saturday.

Jamie 🙂

Why Not Play!

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The blog originally was going to be about the chimps playing outside in the Green House, Chute, and Young’s Hill all day. Until, I walked into Phase 1 of the building and found Honey B and Mave playing like CRAZY! The all caps is important, because they were wild. Today’s enrichment theme was paper day. Which, if you asked me, I would put a lot of money on that being Honey B’s favorite day. Before I even walked through the door I could hear them playing. They were breathy panting, paper rustling, and I could hear them running. Not just running, but what sounded like they were running and throwing things around! What I wasn’t expecting was for them to be chasing each other on the enclosure caging and hanging on fire hose to get to each other. This was a play session to see!

This photo makes me smile. Willy B was admiring himself in the camera and Honey B popped up to be in the photo.

Bonus photo!

Jamie lounging in the warm Green House this afternoon:

 

Sweet

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Annie can often be described as sweet. I find myself calling her “sweet Annie” all the time around the chimp house. I mean, just look at her.

Annie is usually with her best friend Missy or making “sweet” bird noises. Annie is a pretty gentle chimp overall. Do not get me wrong, she can get rough and tough too! Like when she tries to groom you. Annie loves bare feet. She will groom caregivers’ toes with a tool, and due to her excitement, she is far from gentle!