Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Bray

Presenting the Winner of the Easter Egg Hunt

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It was an exhilarating day (if you are really impatient, scroll down to find out exactly why).

To tell the truth, it didn’t really dawn on me until yesterday that today is Easter, so I was felt lucky to be able to help with the festivities of the day.

I did know there were some party plans in store for the chimps for Easter, including non-commercial eggs from happy chickens that Dr. Erin knows that were dyed using natural dyes (like blueberries and yellow beets) by volunteer Nancy yesterday.

and SO MANY paper eggs filled will all sorts of fruits and veggies that were hidden i both outdoor habitats by volunteer Patti and staff member Ellen for an Easter egg hunt.

It was a gorgeous day, and all the chimps appreciated the forages and the dyed eggs. We actually got quite a bit of footage, but I wasn’t able to get it all put together for a proper video, so look for that tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some photo highlights:

Jamie watching the set-up in the greenhouse from the playroom:

Annie on one of the new structures on Young’s Hill:

Burrito chomping down on a “baby” iceberg lettuce:

Foxie with a tomato she found in one of the paper eggs:

Negra even climbed a structure in search of more lettuce:

 

The true winner of today’s Easter egg hunt was, hands down, our very own Cy. He marched right outside and went to the new structures on The Bray. Structures that he had never climbed before this afternoon!!!

He deserved today.

Cy’s sister Lucky also was feeling adventurous and climbed the crow’s nest structures that are connected to Ryan’s Lookout:

Thank you to everyone who supports the sanctuary and who donated at year-end to make these structures possible. Look for the Easter video tomorrow!

Fun, Sun, New Experiences, and a Nickname

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It was a brisk fall day today, with periodic and most welcome appearances from the sun. In addition to the patrol that Jamie graciously invited Amanda and I on (after we figured out the proper footwear, of course), we decided to take advantage of that warming orb in the sky and set out a forage in both respective outdoor habitats.

If you aren’t quite sure who Amanda is, she introduced herself in last night’s Comfort & Joy Virtual Gathering presentation, which you can watch here!

Staff member Amanda and volunteer Amanda (we are doubly blessed with Amandas on most Mondays of late) prepared the forage, which consisted of a bunch of scrumptious fall-themed leftovers, including pumpkin, corn, and pomegranates. I suggested to the Amandas that they make a separate bowl for Negra because I doubted that she would venture outside in the windy 46 degrees.

I should know better than to doubt our Queen. Negra was lined up in the Raceway and was the first one on Young’s Hill. Her food grunts could be heard from all of the caregivers watching in delight as she happened upon the pumpkin and corn:

Missy made sure to check the forage hiding spots on high:

On the other side of the sanctuary, Terry was the first out on The Bray, quickly collecting a personal bushel of onions and demonstrating with his posture why J.B. has given him the nickname Meatball:

These days when the sun outcompetes the murmurs of winter-to-come are some of my favorite days at the sanctuary, and I think the chimpanzees feel the same.

 

Jamieween 2023

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Happy Jamieween, everybody! The time has finally come for us to celebrate our boss, Jamie Chimpanzee! Today, Jamie turns 46 years young! We celebrated today with some of her favorite things: pomegranates, leeks, bell peppers, pear cider, and new boots and books!

We also included two new items! Inside the cups of pear cider were ice skulls with “brains”(raspberries)!

The second item was “Chow for Brains”! A gracious donor purchased silicone brain molds from our Amazon Wish List to help us make brains out chow dust, banana, pomegranate juice, and apple sauce! With so much commotion and excitement from today, I completely forgot to take photos of them. You can catch a small glimpse of Terry eating one here:

For us caregivers, this Jamieween was bittersweet. It is the first Jamieween we celebrated without our celebrated Great Pumpkin Thief: Jody. But with Dia De Los Muertos beginning tomorrow, we decided to honor our beloved Jody by decorating her burial site and to offer her some of her favorite forage foods, this included big leafy greens! You can watch the video to see the set up and who stopped by to visit. Interestingly enough, everybody left that pumpkin where it was. This is probably just a huge coincidence, but I am choosing to believe they left it there for her.

We hope you all have a happy and safe Jamieween!

Here are some photos from today!

Missy

Burrito

Terry

And Annie (leaving Jody’s site)

Mora excited for today’s menu

King of the Mountain

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Fear is something we usually try to avoid instilling in the animals we care for. In fact, one of the original frameworks for thinking about animal welfare, known as the Five Freedoms, included as one of its central tenets the “freedom from fear and distress.”

But a little fear can also be a good thing.

As a caregiver, I love watching the chimps take their first anxious, tentative steps onto grass. I love watching them seek reassurance as they venture far into a new enclosure and away from everything they consider safe and comfortable. And I love seeing the expression of relief and excitement when they finally accomplish the thing they were so afraid of.

Certainly it would be better if they weren’t afraid of these particular things in the first place. But we all have some fears, and if we didn’t face them now and again we wouldn’t really be living. So long as we have choice, social support, and the ability to retreat to a place of safety and comfort when things feel overwhelming, it almost feels like a little fear should be a requirement.

Perhaps I just need a different word—something that refers specifically to a condition of one’s own choosing that is equal parts fear and exhilaration, but particularly one that involves overcoming some sort of obstacle, either physical or emotional. Words like thrill and frisson don’t seem to really capture it. I’m sure it exists…maybe someone reading this can help me.

In any case, witnessing this emotion in the chimps at CSNW is for me the peak of compassion satisfaction. It’s almost like a high. And it’s one of the rare times that I wished I worked at a bigger sanctuary, so I could see it over and over again.

As I close up the chimp house, I often wonder if the chimps reflect on their day. I hope that Cy is laying in bed right now, picturing that view of the valley and feeling whispers of the way he was feeling when he first made it to the top of the Bray.

a special request and the human climbing structure

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First for the request:

We are working on the Comfort & Joy online auction and virtual gathering (more details to come), and we’d like to include short (30 sec or less) clips from YOU telling us which chimpanzee at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest brings you joy and why! These are super informal videos you can just take on your phone in selfie mode and send them to me [email protected] using WeTransfer or some other file sharing service of your choice. Feel free to email me with any questions!

This can be your platform to express your love of a particular chimpanzee!

Speaking of platforms, we have a physical (wooden) platform, above the seated observation area, where staff only can access to get photos of the chimpanzees.

I climbed up there today and wondered if the chimpanzees below thought of me as being on a climbing structure, similar to the structures they have in their outdoor habitats. Maybe we should have a human forage up there some day.

 

This time of year serves up the potential for some contrasting photos, with the dark hair of the chimpanzees standing out against the muted yellow and beige tones of the grass.

 

Here’s Burrito, coming back down the hill after looking for leftover breakfast forage food:

And Foxie, who brought along a blue-haired friend as she traversed Young’s Hill:

Missy, as she was slack-lining across the fire hose:

I looked over to my right, and spotted someone on the Escher structure on The Bray. I did a bit of a double-take because I was not expecting the chimp to be Lucky! Look how relaxed she looks up there. She’s really embraced The Bray these last few weeks and continues to show off her adventurous side.

Is your favorite chimpanzee one of these four or someone else? Let us know by sending in your video clip!

Lucky Honey B

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If you have been following the blog recently, you probably have seen the videos of Honey B and Lucky playing hooky during cleaning to spend some time together. To my recollection, I remember during the introduction process they would play with each other, but when the full integration commenced, I haven’t really seen them together. But lately, with their play sessions while playing hooky, I began to wonder if there was a friendship we were completely glossing over.

Since the day when Anna posted the video of them playing in the front rooms, I began watching them a little more closely. Here is what I have noticed:

  • Honey B and Lucky do have some pretty epic play sessions. These play sessions aren’t exclusive to just holding out when caregivers are shifting the group. (I should have noticed this when I posted the video of Honey B literally pulling Lucky into an ongoing play session she was in with Rayne.)
  • During conflicts, Honey B has been seeking Lucky out first and foremost for reassurance, which Lucky always gives her. When the conflicts are over, they reconnect and groom (or play).
  • During some downtime, they can be found grooming with each other
Lucky and Honey B grooming

On the surface, this may seem like an odd pairing. On one hand, there is Honey B. Somewhat social. Not afraid to be scrappy with anybody. Loves to play. On the other hand, there is Lucky. Mostly found by herself. Isn’t too involved during conflicts. And only plays when she feels like it (though as mentioned before, Honey B seems to be her ticket). At the same time, this pairing makes sense in a weird way. There is a meme out there that says, “Introverts don’t make friends. They get adopted by extroverts.”  I’m not saying Lucky is fully introverted or that Honey B is fully extroverted, because they’re not. On some level to me though, this seems to be what is happening.

I’m not entirely sure when this budding friendship started, or even if it will last. I am, however, a person who likes to take time to just relish the now and I am all for this friendship pair. They are, in fact, two rockin’ sisters!

Here are some bonus photos!

Annie on Young’s Hill

Annie made a stop at Jody’s burial site this morning

Foxie in the morning

Gordo during breakfast and lunch

Dora helping herself to some of Honey B’s nightbag (Only Dora is allowed to get away with this!)

Lucky in the Riverview Greenhouse

Jamie on her morning patrol (That is a Troll doll in her hand! She is playing a game of keep away with Foxie)

During their morning patrol, Jamie, Missy, and Burrito would stop to eat the greenest of grass patches

Burrito!

A patch of bamboo beginning to grow in between Young’s Hill and The Bray

Lastly, a pair of unidentified track outside the top of Young’s Hill! We are unsure of who made these tracks, but we suspect maybe a badger?

Conflict on the Bray: the Day Everyone Went Outside

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We’ve been talking about it for a few days now – the conflict that led Mave, Dora, and Honey B to go onto the Bray habitat.

So, here’s your birds-eye view of most of the excitement! This is a video best suited for a bigger screen like your computer monitor or television.

I saw the middle to the end of the conflict in person. It was quite loud. It’s quite nice to be able to watch it without sound.

Even while I was watching in person, I had this thought that both groups seemed more similar to free-living chimpanzees than I had ever witnessed before. It was scary, to be honest, because we didn’t know what was going to happen, but the maneuvering was also fascinating.

Maybe, just maybe, it will help some of the chimps explore more, like it seems to have with Lucky!