Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sofia Castro-Loza

Have a great Summer!

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It is officially the best time of the year, in my opinion anyway! Today marks the first day of Summer and what better way to celebrate than with a hill forage. The sun was out, the clouds were nowhere to be seen and the temperature finally caught up with the Seasons. The chimps on Burrito’s group got a forage on Young’s Hill that included corn, mini potatoes, barbecue green onions, tomatoes, and chow. On the other side Cy and his friends got corn, peppers and barbecue green onions. On both sides, lunch was a hit. Enjoy some photos of today’s Summer menu.

Jamie

Burrito

Annie

Negra

Jody

Foxie

Lucky

Honey B

Dora

Terry

 

 

 

Munch munch munch…

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There is something very relaxing about watching and listening to chimps as they munch on their meals or forages. Before having access to the hill, Negra stood by the opened up side of the green house caging asking me to smuggle her some prickly lettuce. Annie then joined to ask for some as well. The hill is covered with prickly lettuce and as soon as the group got access to the hill they bolted to forage some naturally grown greens. On mornings like these it is not unusual for Annie to even skip her breakfast but today she came in for breakfast served in the green house.

On the other side of the building the chimps really enjoyed their lunch: strawberries, leeks, and mini peppers.

Watch today’s video for a close up glimpse of their meals.

A Neggie Update and Some Naps

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During the last few days we have been making sure that Negra is comfortable in her isolation front room and that she is taking all her medications as prescribed by Dr. Zamzow. Her surgical site is looking amazing so shout out to Jim Repsher, PA-C for the amazing suturing work! As of now Negra has been a stellar patient with zero complaints about being separated from her group. We can call this a mini vacation because with privately catered meals and a break from rowdy group mates, Negra has been truly having the time of her life. It is a bit unfortunate that this comes after a big fight, but all seems to be forgiven since members of her group have been visiting and playing through the caging with her several times a day. Between controlled interactions Negra has spent the day nesting under blankets like only she can do and watching Shrek on TV.

Negra eating her lunch chow:

The other chimps have been enjoying their naps and playing with caregivers all day.

Cy napping in Oakwood green house:

While he was watching some chimp videos with caregiver Chad, Cy was caught dozing away into sleep:

Burrito sleeping on one of his teddy bears this morning:

Burrito during a play session with his favorite person in whole wide world, caregiver Chad:

 

Simple Pleasures

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Today is all about the simple pleasures in life. I learned a lot about my caregiver coworkers when I briefly interviewed them for their simple pleasures. Kelsi told me that her simple pleasures include sitting by the ocean, listening to Jody make dinosaur noises when she is very excited about food, and a nice quiet walk around the hill with Jamie. When I asked Katelyn she responded that hers is being out in the woods alone. JB’s simple pleasure is walking their dogs Abby and Benny, and Diana’s simple pleasure is tending to her growing collection of houseplants. Anthony’s simple pleasures are iced coffee and going on road trips. Grace mentioned hers were reading a good book in silence and having a good margarita…also in silence. Raise your hand if you just added these last two to your own list! When I asked Chad for his simple pleasures he responded saying his were the sound of rain, Rayne, and Burrito, of course. Some of mine are fresh clean sheets, and going to sleep listening to the calls of the Puerto Rican native coquí frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui) back home or through a playlist.

Gordo has a few simple pleasures we have all noticed since his arrival. Some of these are hanging out in the green houses, sitting in boxes, eating all kinds of produce, and the love of his life: Mave.

Terry likes staring at caregivers boots, laying and grooming with Mave, having the “bros” all back together and kissing the back of his caregivers hands.

Mave’s simple pleasure is hanging out with Dora and happily over-grooming everyone.

Rayne’s simple pleasures are drinking her delicious morning smoothies and nesting high up in the leaf structures of the play rooms. Here she is grooming herself in the platform of Oakwood green house.

Willy B’s simple pleasure is nesting with his leopard blanket, food, and watching videos on cellphones.

Comment your simple pleasures in life below!!!

Just some photos

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As mentioned on Sunday’s blog, this week is busy busy for all the caregivers and for the chimpanzees involved in the introduction process. For today’s blog please enjoy some photos from my personal collection.

Betsy:

Jody eating some apples this morning:

Missy enjoying some plant-based non-toxic soapy bubbles:

I had to take the opportunity of capturing Rayne on a nest in the grassy floor of Oakwood green house (sorry for the low quality of my phone):

Rayne again:

Plans? What Plans?!

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I can’t speak for all the caregivers at CSNW, but for me lead days require mental preparation ahead of time. Some of it is getting on the shifting mentality, thinking of material for the daily blog, planning the individuals that will be involved during introductions, etc. Today was one of those days that from the moment I woke up, all of that preparation went out the window. It turns out that as caregivers there are two things we can’t control: the weather and a group of riled up chimps.

Kittitas County woke up to a significant ongoing snow shower with more than 3 inches of snow already on the ground by 7AM in Ellensburg. Cle Elum did not get the same amount of snow, but the inch or so is half melted by now. The gloominess remains. Being inside was definitely the popular choice for the chimpanzees. This meant plenty of napping in the green houses and a lot of grooming.

For introductions, my wish was to have Gordo and Terry involved with Willy B and Mave. But Gordo and his 5 friends had other plans. While trying to sort them out, a fight broke out and although everyone was OK, it derailed the sorting. The final combination ended up being Cy and Terry with Willy B and Honey B. After many displays between the guys, the introduction remained through the mesh. At the time of separating the groups, Willy B and Honey B refused to go back into the Mezzanine. It wasn’t until dinner was offered that they decided it was the right time to go back to their enclosure and reunite with Mave.

View of our Spring snowy day

Jamie in the process of drifting into a nap in the green house

Terry grooming my boots

Cy and Terry grooming each other

Rayne, Cy, Lucky and Terry grooming

Rayne, Dora, Cy and Lucky grooming