Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sabrina

Mora B: Playing Hooky

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This week Mave, Honey B and Dora decided they would prefer not to shift with the rest of their group for cleaning and instead played hooky in the front rooms. where it was just the three of them. This is the not the first time you’ve heard about Honey B enticing her friends to skip out on shifting and hang out with her for a private play session and as you’ll see in today’s video, none of the girls had any regrets!

 

A Day of Distractions

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Today there were a lot of distractions and side quests that left me short on time for making a well edited blog, so for today’s blog you can check out the short video for footage of our biggest distraction, along with some Burrito shenanigans and check out some bonus photos below!

Lucky enjoying the sights up near the top of the Bray

One of my new favorite photos: Lucky observing the cattle from her comfortable perch on the Bray

We also have a surplus of photos of handsome Gordo enjoying the lunch forage during the Jubilee a couple days ago so I wanted to make sure they got shared!

Don’t forget about our online Sweet Sixteen auction which ends tomorrow at 5pm PT! You still have time to bid on the amazing art pieces that are up for grabs including, my personal favorite, this fun little watercolor “Chipotle Burrito!” which was donated by Megan Senate and features our endearing, fun loving Burrito chimpanzee eating a Chipotle burrito

You can check this painting out as well as all the other amazing paintings, ceramics, photographs, etc here!

 

Get Ready With Me: CSNW Edition

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Today we had one of our summer sanctuary visits for some of our donors so we spent the morning getting ready with the usual cleaning and a lunch forage on Young’s Hill but the caregiver’s weren’t the only ones preparing for the day ahead this morning. In today’s blog video you can follow along with Annie, Burrito and Negra for their morning rituals as they get ready for the day!

Moo Crew Maintenance

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This week the cattle had a pedicure appointment with the hoof trimmer and a check-up with the Doc. So for today’s blog Dr. Erin shares an update on the bovine girls!

Dr. Erin

“Thursday was hoof trim day for the sanctuary herd.  Like all healthcare interactions with the sanctuary residents, I both look forward to these opportunities to improve their health and well-being and dread causing any stress to these animals that we work so hard to provide with a peaceful and comfortable life.  I arrived at the sanctuary bright and early Thursday morning to secure the girls were in the “Bud Box”, which is a small pen within the upper paddock that they exit via a narrow lane leading to the trimming chute.  My plan to entice them into the box with a yummy breakfast of alfalfa hay (a treat generally reserved for very cold weather days) and some grain was witnessed mid-fail by Krissy, and pre-veterinary student Carly Ledbetter who came to help.  Thirty minutes into my plan, when the trimmer is about to arrive, all three cows are standing at the opposite end of the paddock from where I want them giving off strong “not today doc” vibes.

Meredith & Betsy
Dr. Erin & Autumn with Meredith and Honey


Autumn with Honey

I spent many years working primarily on horses and let me tell you, showing up to a farm call only to see your (known to be elusive) patient not caught and waiting for you can really throw off a day and a mood!  Luckily, John Thomsen and his family of Thomsen Livestock Services are not only professional and kind, they have a sense of humor and are skilled cattle people.  With John’s daughter Autumn and her husband Joel (a medical student from Sweden) we managed to herd all of them into the small pen, performed all the needed procedures in short order and returned them to their current “wetlands” pasture to recover from their ordeal in peace.
By the time I checked on them a couple hours later, they were all more than willing to eat their daily, individualized rations and accept my peace offering of hay.   All three cattle had blood drawn to check basic health parameters and mineral levels as well as routine parasite checks to make sure we aren’t missing anything from a physical/nutritional standpoint.  Because Meredith is on pain medication, routine blood tests are in order to check for adverse effects and Honey and Betsy are now ‘senior cows’ at 17 so occasional blood work is warranted.  Meredith’s most recent x rays show a bit more fusion in the arthritic joint that was treated at Washington State University and hopefully that will continue to progress to full fusion which will mean less pain for her.  While she moves more slowly than the mama cows, she isn’t limping on that foot anymore and is doing relatively well being back on pasture and out of her barn pen.
Honey

John working away on Honey’s hoof
This little herd has been through a lot in the last few months between Meredith’s trips to WSU followed by confinement to treat her arthritic right foot and the passing of our sweet Nutmeg, Betsy’s son.   While Betsy’s appetite is still good, the signs of stress and grief are apparent in her overall appearance.  A bit more thin, her hair coat is somewhat dull with uneven shedding, a little discharge from the eyes now and then. Cattle are herd animals, have a social order, bond to their herd mates and show signs of distress when they are separated or loose a herd mate. Co-director Diana shared this article with the staff recently, Cows have best friends and panic when separated from them | by Go Veg | Medium, that highlights how stressful it is for cattle to be separated from their friends.  I am so thankful that Betsy and Nutmeg had so many years with each other, unlike most cows and their offspring.  We all wish it could have been more.
Dr. Erin drawing blood
The girls will move to a different pasture on the property next week and my hope is that the change of scenery and full time grazing will provide some physical as well as emotional healing for these beloved bovines.”
Moo Crew 2024:  John, Krissy, Carly, Joel and Autumn

No Hill, No Problem

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Today JB has been working with a crew of people to make improvement’s to Young’s Hill, including finishing the new structures, planting more trees and adding irrigation. You would think this would make for a very stir crazy group of chimpanzee’s but they all managed to take it in stride and have a relatively quiet day together. It helps that they had a lot of activities and enrichment to keep them busy including juice pools, TV time and, of course, supervising Jake when he was left alone to mow on Young’s Hill. Join Jamie & Co for a day in the Chimp House in today’s blog video!

Carefree Day

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We officially hit 80 degrees for the first time this year and the chimps are enjoying a carefree day and you can join them in today’s blog video!

Bonus photos of Gordo enjoying the beautiful weather!