Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Cy’s 35th Birthday Celebration!

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Today we celebrated Cy’s 35th birthday!

Ellen, the ever so thoughtful and creative caregiver, created a one-of-a-kind birthday magazine just for Cy! As many of you know, Cy has an undeniable love for People magazines, so naturally, Ellen filled his personal edition with different articles of his favorite people, fashion, piping hot tea from around the sanctuary, and so much more. We’ll need an entire blog just to showcase this amazing creation—it was nothing short of extraordinary! Cy also had a bookcase full of People, In Touch, Stars, and other magazines that capture his love for all things pop culture. Of course we had a forage filled with Cy’s favorite foods, including a chow cookie he could not stop food squeaking for on the Bray!

From the very first moment I met Cy, he completely stole my heart. He is the kind of person who captivates everyone he meets. Cy is kind by nature, endlessly patient, playful, courageous, and a master at making friends with anyone he crosses paths with. He shows grace to the people around him, and he truly cherishes quality time with his loved ones. Cy is the kind of guy who makes everyone’s day brighter! It’s an honor and a privilege to call him a friend.

We also want to give a special thanks to Paulette Wrisley who sponsored today for Cy! We so appreciate her and her love and celebration of each of the chimpanzees.

I will leave you with a few of my favorite pictures of Cy, BUT be sure to look out for his birthday party video tomorrow!

 

Valentine’s Day with Cy and Friends

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Ellen said it best yesterday, “We celebrated our forever valentines”. Cy loved the mail box this caregivers made for him, full of his favorite thing, but especially his paper hearts of him and Stanley Tucci. Please enjoy this video of Cy, Terry, Willy B, Gordo, Honey B, Mave, Lucky, Rayne, and Dora enjoying all their special treats yesterday!

Blue Skies

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Though the air might be chilly, the skies are blue, and for January, that’s really all we can ask for! As soon as the sun peeked through the clouds, Jamie’s group couldn’t resist soaking up some much needed Vitamin D. A little sunshine can do wonders, especially in the middle of winter!

Burrito, Annie, Foxie, and Missy were ready to get out and explore:

Burrito climbed up and enjoyed the view:

More of Burrito:

  

Missy adventured past the path and into the snow:

Foxie came out with her doll to see what was happening:

Jamie went out onto Young’s Hill for a quick lap and then tried to get some snow to go. Unfortunately, this snow is pretty hard and compacted so it wasn’t very fruitful:

If you’re looking for ways to support the chimps, our Wish List is a fantastic way to make a direct impact on their care!

Softer Side

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I love every part about Jamie. She is bossy, bold, determined, smart, independent, curious, and even abrupt. However, I adore the softer side of Jamie, when she allows her more vulnerable side to show. There is something deeply moving about witnessing when Jamie lets her guard down and relaxes.

Please enjoy this very close up photo series of Jamie! I think it shows her relaxed but curious side 🙂

Beasts of Burden

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It is really interesting watching the chimpanzees throughout the day. Whether it is onsite at the sanctuary, or checking in on the security cameras. After witnessing all the great moments such play and grooming, and even the bad moments like fights, there really is no other term to describe them other than “family.”

Families play. Families take care of each other. And families fight, whether with each other or side-by-side one another. Though there has been some instability in Cy’s group, which led to our reintegration plan, I still can’t help but to view them as a family unit. Though the fights can be a stress inducing event and seem like it dominates the day, that’s not necessarily the case. The good moments outweigh the bad by a landslide. 

As we moved forward with the reintegration process, we have seen some magnificent moments with the chimps. Though we wish this process would eliminate all the fighting, we are realistic that it won’t stop all of the fighting. Though the real underlying hope is for the fighting to be reduced from the level it was. Personally, I think it’s working. A good chunk of fights we have seen in the past few months have mostly been just screaming and hollering at each other. 

What initiated this train of thought? This photo I took a couple weeks ago:

Willy B (bottom) and Rayne (top) link fingers before lunch service.

One day, when lunch was brought out, Rayne reached toward Willy B for some reassurance, and this was the outcome. To me it looks a lot like the American Sign Language sign for “friends” if two people were to make the sign together. Here is a photo of a memorial of Washoe making that sign at Friendship Park in Ellensburg.

To me it’s kind of a reminder that there is always beauty in a chaotic world.

Here are some other old photos I found on my phone taken over the course of several months.

Willy B

Annie

Terry

Negra

Though these two photos look the same, they were actually taken months apart. The first photo is her perusing through a peanut butter magazine. The second was from Jamieween after she acquired her food.

Lucky

Cy

Mave

Honey B

Jamie’s Group watching TV

That is Foxie and Jamie on the floor, Burrito sitting on the firehose, and Annie waaaaay up top.

Firehose Cube

Yes… That is a firehose with it’s own nest in between Rayne and Lucky. This isn’t the first time either. I have another photo of a different firehose in a different nest on a different day, but couldn’t find it quickly. And the answer to your question, it was Rayne. Both times I seen this, Rayne was close by or it was in the nest with her.

Sanctuary Wildlife

There’s a frog in our pipes.
A baby gopher snake.
A yet to be identified lizard on the human entrance of the Riverview and Oakwood Greenhouses.

Barn Kitty in hunting mode

I know some of you are wondering where I have been for a while. There was always some sense of happiness anytime one of the other caregivers let me know people have been inquiring about my whereabouts. No, I didn’t quit or get fired. No, I wasn’t in a coma. No, I wasn’t off galavanting around the Cascades with Barn Kitty or any of the other wild conspiracies some of some of you had… Though I do wish one of those were the case, especially the BK scenario. 

The uneventful, boring reason is I got injured while working. It happens at any workplace and no matter the safety precaution, these’s always that small chance. Hello, I am that small chance. I have been recovering for a little bit and am starting to ease back into doing full Chimp House duties. It’s been one step at a time but I am ecstatic that the trend is swinging toward the right direction. I also want to emphasize this was NOT chimp related. It was on my own.

I do want to take this time to thank literally everyone. From my amazing fellow caregivers to the co-directors, and yes, even to you, our dedicated, loving blog readers. My fellow caregivers really rose up to continue our same level of care for the chimps and cattle being down one caregiver for such a prolonged time. Hence the title of this blog. They are my beasts of burden. Plus I had happen to be listening to The Rolling Stones when this was typed. I will be forever grateful to them for their strength and determination, as well as understanding that when I did come back, I would have to ease into everything at a slow pace. Or at least it has been slow to my liking. 

I am looking forward to continue caring for the chimpanzees and bovine side-by-side with my team at full capacity when it’s time. Hashtag New Year, New Me.

ONE LAST SUPER BONUS PHOTO

Remember that time Burrito first climbed the tree and nobody was able to get footage of it until later?

I got this when it was announced on the radio that he was in the tree and I was serving lunch to Negra. This is the only known footage of that day!

*Sorry if some of the images maybe repeats or similar to others in the past few months. I forgot who I gave photos to publish for the blog and what photos have been used.