Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

New Traditions

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Holidays can be hard when loved ones have passed. Though Jamieween is a celebration of Jamie’s birthday and Halloween, for all of us (staff, volunteers, and supporters) it is the day of the great pumpkin heist. Where we watched Jody end up with the pumpkin whether she was sneaky about it or just plucked the pumpkin off the Hill and walked right in with it, obviously paying the Negra tax. It was a day we all looked forward to, Jody stealing the show, which is hard to do on a day all about Jamie :). Altogether the chimps still had an amazing Jamieween filled with so much good food, laughter, play, enrichment, and pumpkins, it wasn’t quite the same without Jody’s dinosaur groans and her carrying a pumpkin as big as her.

With change sometimes comes new traditions. Everyone in Negra’s group was much more modest with the pumpkins this year, including Negra having to get her own pumpkin. Yesterday, the day after Jamieween, I let Jamie’s group out onto Young’s Hill. Jamie seemed to be in a very happy mood and sprinted out wanting to go on a perimeter walk/run with me. While Jamie was walking, Annie, Missy, and Burrito went up to Jody’s pumpkin. Annie eventually took some of the pumpkin, still leaving a little behind. Annie also found other forage items that was missed yesterday. To our surprise Jamie did not get mad when Annie had a handful of mini peppers and a mouth full of pumpkin. Instead, Jamie seemed excited to go look for her own leftover forage items. To me it seems like Annie is the winner of the great pumpkin heist this year.

Jamie the day after Jamieween. Nesting with some of her new boots:

Jamie today nesting, still recovering from her party:

Moments

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It’s been six months or so that Cy’s group has had access to The Bray, their two-acre outdoor enclosure, and in that time we’ve seen some pretty big wins for that group. Whether it be Lucky deciding to be brave and head out for the first time, Willy B deciding that the grass might not actually be so bad, or Cy making it all the way to the top of the enclosure- I think I can confidently say that it’s been a point of compassion satisfaction for all of us here.

We’re pretty transparent in this daily blog, which means that we’re also pretty vulnerable. We have the responsibility and opportunity to connect with you to share the stories of the chimps in our care, which means that we can celebrate wins like the above together, but also that we mourn the losses that come with sanctuary life together, too. This year has been a lot of both and you’ve seen us write about sensitive topics like compassion fatigue and grief.

Some days, for me, it all comes together and it’s not solely compassion fatigue or compassion satisfaction. Some days it feels like both.

This afternoon I was walking (read: meandering aimlessly) around the chimp house hoping for a blog idea to come to me. After walking back and forth a few times, I finally went out to the chute to see if anyone in Cy’s group was enjoying the afternoon sun despite the chill in the air. Terry, who had been relaxing in the warm winterized greenhouses, came with me and went out onto the Bray. I went walking with him and turned around to see that Lucky, Rayne, and Cy had joined us too. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, the birds were chirping- and there we were, experiencing it together.

One of the foundations of our work here is ensuring that the chimps have as much choice as possible in their day to day lives, whenever we can. Whether that’s respecting someone’s choice to not shift out of a certain enclosure, accepting if someone doesn’t want to hang out with us humans, or giving them a variety of enrichment that they can choose to interact with (or not), we do what we can when we can. The caveat is that, due to the hand that humans have dealt them, they are here with us in sanctuary and we have to make big & small decisions for them every day.

I’m not sure if this makes sense, but watching Terry and his friends enjoy a random afternoon walk on the Bray on a chilly fall day in the foothills of the Cascade mountains epitomized these wins, losses, and choices in that I witnessed their freedom to choose an activity that I believe brought them joy. Today’s win, a moment of peace on the Bray, stemmed from tough decisions about how we could set them up for success in such a big, new enclosure and give them security in their choices. Then, as I’m standing on the Bray with Terry and his friends, I look over and am happy to see Annie heading in from being outside on the Hill. I look over a little bit more to see if anyone else was out and I see the spot where Jody is buried.

Wins, losses, grief, acceptance.

Some days the wins feel extra big, some days you feel the losses extra hard. And, some days when the sun is shining and the wind is cold, you feel it all at the same time.

Terry resting his eyes in the warm, winterized greenhouse:

P.S. Have you heard about our upcoming Comfort & Joy Auction and accompanying festivities? You can pick and choose how you want to participate, but we are asking you to take a moment to send us a video telling us which chimpanzee at CSNW brings you joy and why! Click here for details and instructions.

A Rawrrr-ing Good Time

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Like Kelsi wrote in yesterday’s blog, there is no such thing as a dull moment here at CSNW. Sometimes I think the phrase “keeps you on your toes” was coined by / for chimpanzee caregivers.

This morning, we got to work and it was a brisk 34 degrees. Kelsi and I hopped in the side-by-side to do our perimeter check so we could let the chimps into their respective outdoor enclosures. The two sides of the chimp house operate simultaneously, so we have two shifters during morning cleaning. The lead caregiver for the day shifts doors in the original building and the second shifter shifts the new building, so we buddy system the perimeter check.

When I opened the door to Young’s Hill, I didn’t expect anyone to go rushing outside since it was so chilly. I was proved wrong, though, when Jamie went right out and around we went for an early morning patrol.

By the time we got around the top, we had been joined by Missy and Burrito. The early morning walk with Jamie turned into some cardio when Burrito took over and we raced down the hill. Because who doesn’t love cardio in the morning, am I right?

As you all know, one of the best holidays of the year is coming up in a few short days. The countdown to Jamie-ween is officially in single digits! I grew up in a family that loves Halloween and I always look forward to pumpkin carving, dressing up, and lots (and lots) of candy. And, because I’m a mature adult, I’ve been really wanting to purchase one of those big blow up T-Rex costumes that are pretty popular online for a while. Amazon Prime day got the best of me this year and, you guessed it, a few days later a giant inflatable T-Rex showed up at my door.

Best day ever? Maybe.

And over time, we’ve learned that some of the chimps think that masks are pretty funny. Gordo especially loves a troll mask we have that was donated a while back! So I wanted to bring the costume to work and share it with my friends.

With a little help from my human coworkers I was able to show it to both groups of chimps! First I went back to Cy’s group and made sure all the chimps were around while I put it on, so that they knew it was me inside it. Gordo and Dora both seemed really interested in it! The people in Jamie’s group were more unsure, so I didn’t spend much time on that side of the chimp house. Jamie, Negra, & Burrito saw it acted like it was just another Wednesday. Annie, Foxie, and Missy weren’t into it- which is totally okay! The fun part about random enrichment things like this is that it’s okay if some people don’t want to engage. Some people though, like Gordo, enjoyed the short T. Rex intermission. 🙂

If you’re looking forward to Jamie-ween like we are, be sure to get your tickets to an exclusive Behind-The-Scenes of Jamie-ween virtual sanctuary visit on 10/31/23 at 12:00pm PT. If you want to attend, but have to work or have other responsibilities, still consider registering, because we’ll send out a link to the recording to everyone who registered so you can watch it at your leisure. 🙂

We’re super excited to share some of Jamie-ween with all of you, since it’s such a special holiday to all of us here. It’s also the perfect kick-off to our Comfort & Joy auction, which will be going live on the 31st and will run until November 18th. To celebrate all things Comfort & Joy, we are also offering a Comfort & Joy Virtual Gathering event on November 12th! This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the sanctuary, connect with us via chat, and just enjoy an evening full of comfort, chimps, & joy. What could be better? 🙂

See y’all soon!

P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who submitted a review in Great Nonprofits for us yesterday evening! We won a spot on the 2023 Top-Rated Non-Profit list, which is awesome. 🙂 Thank you!

Never a Dull Moment

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I don’t think I have ever experienced a dull day here at CSNW. I truly don’t believe that there is such a thing with chimps. Especially when you have a chimp like Honey B always keeping you on your toes, or a chimp like Missy who seems to want nothing to do with humans, but all of the sudden you are playing chase and tug-a-war. Or when you put out enrichment, like a giant box, just hoping a chimp like Cy will hide in it while his friend Willy B playfully beats the box from the outside. Everyday there a lot of things happening here, even when we are there to observe. I think it is a testament to what sanctuaries like Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest can do. Sanctuaries offer dedicated care, security, stability, and opportunities so that every chimp can flourish and grow.

If you think we are as great as I do, we have an opportunity for you to spread your kind words! We would love it if you shared your love of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest TODAY by going to this site: https://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/write/chimpanzee-sanctuary-northwest and giving us a rating. The deadline for us to be a “top rated” nonprofit for 2023 is October 31st and we need nine more people to submit a rating. You all say such nice things about the chimpanzees, the staff, and the sanctuary everyday, so we thought you’d take this challenge. You can even take something you’ve already said and copy and paste it as a rating. And we can update the silly badge on our website and feel good at the same time. Thank you!

 

Take Them As They Are

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Today’s blog title is based off of one of my favorite tenet’s of sanctuary.

We take them for where they are in life and love them for who they are.

We take them as they are.

Each chimp that we have the opportunity to care for, love, and get to know here at CSNW is unique. Their personalities are different and vary from the more human oriented chimps like Jamie to the more chimps-chimp oriented like Annie, to the super playful like Burrito, to the reserved but sweet and gentle (and sometimes spicy / gravity defying) Lucky. Their differences make them who they are and we love them because of these differences- not in spite of these differences.

A few days ago, Caregiver Sabrina posted a blog about lessons that we have learned from the chimps. Along with everything listed there, something I will always carry with me is how sanctuary provides the space they deserve to be cared for and loved unconditionally. Some days are hard, and some parts of chimp dynamics are hard to understand from a human perspective, but no matter what’s happened- we will always be here for them. And the same goes for the cattle, of course.

For example- last week I was standing with Jamie asking if she wanted to groom, but she was focused on something happening in the kitchen. Annie came over, sat, and looked up at me- so I offered her the grooming tool. She took it and groomed me for longer than she ever has before. Later that afternoon, I found Gordo sitting in the Oakwood Greenhouse. He did a little knuckle tap and headed over to sit on the log that he frequents, that was also conveniently right in a nice, warm ray of sunshine. I took a seat outside- and we just sat. I kept expecting him to walk away or gesture that he wanted me to leave, but he stayed facing me, just being quiet. After a while I walked in to check on things in the foyer and when I went back out he had gone into the playroom. The moment was over, but it will stay with me.

These might be the only two moments where I spend one-on-one time with both of them this month, or maybe not. But either way, they’re family.

These moments with Annie and Gordo aren’t more special than moments with the other chimps, that goes without saying. But if Jody’s loss taught me anything, it’s to appreciate every moment they give us.

And, man- unconditional love? That’s a pretty great thing… Isn’t it.

Gordo:

Lessons the Chimps Have Taught Us

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Today the Saturday crew of caregivers here at CSNW were pondering all the things we’ve learned from chimpanzees throughout our careers. So here are the first few things we came up with, this is not at all a complete list as this will be an ongoing project but I hope you enjoy the photographic journey of life lessons taught to us by the chimps we’ve cared for.

1. The chimps are always right.

 

2. Enjoy the small things, never pass up an opportunity to play!

 

3. Life is short, so don’t take yourself too seriously

 

4. Stay vigilant – almost anything can become a weapon

 

5. Always, ALWAYS keep the chimps occupied. If you don’t have activities to keep them occupied then they might find their own projects to work on, like lock picking and bridge destruction.

 

6. Stay Humble.

Compassion Satisfaction

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Yesterday, Chad wrote an incredible blog, it was so accurate and concise. Chad’s words in his blog are very important and very prevalent in our field. It hasn’t been talked about a lot until recent years. Though this job a dream, it is so rewarding and fulfilling, it can also be extremely taxing- not just physically, but emotionally and if you are not careful it will drain you. It’s hard to find a balance, it’s hard to feel like you are doing enough, or to not feel guilt, it’s hard to not give your whole self to the job, you can often feel pulled in a million different directions, and it’s hard to turn work off and be at home.

This year I received the opportunity to attend the NAPSA conference, where they spoke a lot about compassion fatigue/burnout. A big takeaways from the conference was one of the ways to fight against compassion fatigue, finding compassion satisfaction. That could mean something as simple as a positive interactions with the chimps- something that made us feel good. For example: making some type of enrichment that stimulated the chimps and made them happy, watching the chimps play, having a fun interaction with the chimps. Those moments remind us why we do our job and why it’s all worth it. However, the trick is that we don’t always have the time. For me personally, I have been trying to have a minute of reflection, what did I love about today? Today, I loved that Jamie was in a fun and silly mood, so much so that she made me carry her bonobo book and wear her favorite pair of Doc Martins to walk around Young’s Hill. That moment and small others like it have helped lighten my heart when it is feeling heavy.

If you haven’t read Chad’s blog I urge you to read it, his words are very important to those who care for others. Chad’s words comforted me on a topic that can be so difficult to discuss. He reminding me that I am not alone in those feelings and that though it is hard to do, it is not selfish to need to take care of yourself sometimes. So thank you Chad!

I will leave you with a photo of Jamie. We have added some items to the Amazon Wish List today, including Jamie’s birthday boot! We also added a lot of day to day items we need around the chimp house. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Jamie: