Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzees

So Many Personalities

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This chimp house is so full of distinct personalities. I mean the building was brimming with personalities before, but, wow, now everywhere you turn there’s someone with their own unique wants and needs and quirks. And that’s just the humans! Just kidding – I am referring to the chimpanzees.

The two photos of Dora below were part of a series I quickly snapped yesterday. J.B. included one of them in his blog post yesterday.

Mr. Willy B got some solid Courtyard time today:

Of course there were some onlookers (Jamie, below):

Once Jamie noticed me noticing her, she pointed out the grapes that were right in front of where she was sitting in the original greenhouse:

Indeed, the grapes seem to be thriving in the hot weather and there are a LOT of very under-ripe grapes. I wasn’t able to convince Jamie, or Missy, who noticed me noticing Jamie noticing the grape vines, that they were a few weeks away from being good to eat.

As I was closing up, Foxie tossed me a strawberry shortcake doll from the loft in her playroom. This is a common occurrence as the lead caregiver of the day is doing the checklist and about to lock up; suddenly a doll lands right in front of you. Then Foxie puts her hand out, while laying down, in a gesture that indicates that she will gladly take the doll back if you toss it back up to her. In reality, she doesn’t even have her hand positioned in a way that she could catch the doll, even if my poor attempts at tossing it the six feet above were remotely on target. Eventually, she sits up and puts both hands out, or (like tonight), I find a scarf to tie around the doll, so there is a better chance that she could catch a bit of the scarf and pull the doll into the mesh.

On the other side of the building, when I climbed up to the Mezzanine, I was greeted by Cy. He had made a very nice-looking nest in the corner and was paging through a magazine. Meanwhile, Gordo was pacing the second floor of the playroom trying to get a glimpse at Mave, who might rank above his interest in food at the moment.

So many personalities and interesting observations for us caregivers to discuss and for us to share with you.

Speaking of sharing, I know some of you noticed that we had tried a new comment system yesterday for the blog called ReplyBox. There was a glitch in getting all of the old comments over, and we are waiting to hear back from the software’s support team. I’m hoping that they will fix it and we can use that moving forward. It has the requested features of allowing for emojis and for editing comments and the privacy standards seem a bit better than some other options out there. It will require people to either create a login via ReplyBox or sign in with Google or Twitter. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try to find something else! Thank you for your patience.

Rayne Rayne Don’t Go Away

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I think many followers often wonder how we identify the chimps. It’s a fair question. Once you know them you will feel silly for ever having a hard time telling them apart. We obviously look at physical features, behavior, and even body language. For instance, when Foxie goes out onto Young’s Hill, even when she is far away I can see it’s her by the way she walks. She is quite stomp-y. I can also identify her by her sexual swelling that we describe as a bow tie at the end, her white beard, her tiny figure, the intensity in her eyes, and a very sassy personality. We can not go off of things like areas they commonly nest or if a particular chimp is holding a doll because we have fake Neggie’s among us and from time to time Jody carries a doll around. But for you viewers you only get photos and videos which can be hard. So I thought in this blog I would help you all identify a new member of ours, Rayne!

Rayne has kind and curious eyes, when you look into them you feel a sense of calm.

Rayne has a longer face and slender body. Rayne also has a white beard. She seems to have bigger ears than the others in her group and has a pronounced brow-ridge. Rayne also has a lack of freckles. Rayne’s forehead is also a little ashy, which we hope to be able to help with :).

Rayne also looks like Tatu. For those who do not know Tatu, she lives at the Fauna Foundation in Quebec Canada. Rayne and Tatu are also sisters! I worked with Tatu for many years and I see a lot of Tatu in Rayne.

Rayne’s sister Tatu knows sign language. Tatu is very articulate when she signs. Rayne’s long fingers remind me of Tatu’s.

I hope this helps everyone identify Rayne a little better!

Hi-Diddly-Ho, Neighborino!

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As you may have heard, the quarantine period for the Lucky Six has ended. This means we are able to give them access to different areas, while still keeping them separate from Willy B, Honey B, and Mave. So today, we gave Willy B and crew access back to one of the playrooms and greenhouses as well as the front rooms and outdoor chute, while Cy and gang were given the other playroom, greenhouse, and mezzanine. It was filled with a lot of firsts. The two groups met each other closer than they have been able to since being here. It was also the first time Cy and gang were able to check out the upstairs mezzanine.

With this, we know the question will be ask if and when they two groups will be merged. Something like that that takes a lot of careful planning, which we are currently doing. At this time, we do not know an exact date, but when the times comes, you will be sure to know.

Here are some photos from today:

Willy B looking out into one of the Greenhouses through the window.
Cy reading one of his magazines in the Mezzanine!

Mave looking down at her neighbors from the platform in her playroom.
Dora testing out different spots in the Mezzanine!

Block You Like a Hurricane

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This morning, supporter Kathy Benson swung by to drop off some new enrichment items for the chimpanzees.

Kathy has been giving to the sanctuary since 2008 and avidly follows the daily blog. Over the years, she’s donated enrichment items which were so cool that they made it onto the daily blog. Kathy’s always friendly to the care staff and enthusiastic about helping the sanctuary, so we’re happy to meet her at the gate and accept her gifts on behalf of the chimpanzees!

Today, Kathy’s bag of donated goods contained some new books for Jamie and brand new wooden toys for all the chimps, including some of the same painted blocks that Burrito famously totes around.

Since they’ve proven to be a bit more destructive than the other chimps, we decided to give the toy blocks to the new group of six chimpanzees to see if they would pass their inspection. We weren’t sure how it would go, but it’s safe to say that the blocks were a big hit. So far, they seem durable enough for the chimps living in that wing of the building.

Throughout the late morning and afternoon, the chimps were all seen carrying the little wooden cubes in their hands, mouth and feet. Only Cy seemed completely uninterested in the blocks (in favor of his beloved magazines). The following images (from a couple hours ago) show some of the inquisitive chimps hanging out with these new enrichment items.

Terry (close-up!)
Terry
Gordo
Cy

Even though the chimpanzees provided me with ample inspiration, I still had to think of a catchy title for the blog post. According to J.B., Chad and I are developing a reputation for egregiously using puns in our titles and captions (even roping Sam and Kelsi into our corny games). As someone who likes to casually “rock the boat” around here from time to time, I’m not about to let a controversy like this just fade away.

Naturally, I spent the afternoon turning the word “block” over in my brain until something came to mind. I kept gravitating towards songs and movies featuring words that rhyme with “block.” The winner, of course, ended up being “Block You Like a Hurricane.” I knew it was perfect when I suggested it to caregiver Sam and she wordlessly walked out of the room.

(For the record, “We Will Block You / We Are the Chimp-ions” was the runner-up.)

Now that you’ve seen the cool new blocks and read the not-so-cool puns, here are some additional portraits that I’ve collected over the last couple weeks. Thanks for your continued attention and support!

Annie
Gordo
Honey B
Lucky
Gordo
Cy (watching a video on a caregiver’s phone)
Gordo
Jody
Rayne
Gordo
Cy
Terry

The Elusive Gordo – A Contrast in Characters

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Jamie is a chimpanzee who does not hide anything. She’s not shy. This was evident even the first time we met her at Buckshire before her group of seven came to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

She doesn’t hold back when she has an opinion about something. She can be challenging (she’s the only chimpanzee at the sanctuary who throws feces, for example), but we all appreciate that she is not only able to express herself, but feels quite comfortable letting the humans know if she wants something or is displeased with us. When she likes something she REALLY likes it, and it’s a joy finding those things (like boot books), and being able to enrich her life in very specific-to-her ways.

Here’s a photo I took of the boss today:

Gordo, on the other hand, has been very aloof so far.

He arrived just one month ago from Wildlife Waystation, and we are still getting to know him and the other five in his group. We were told that he takes some time to warm up to new people, and so far he’s definitely the least interactive with the caregivers.

The other two males in his group, Terry and Cy, are usually front and center and wanting to play chase. Upon seeing the caregivers, Lucky will present her belly for rubs, Dora likes gentle games where she touches the back of our hands with her outstretched fingers, and Rayne is showing herself to be a fun-loving friend.

Gordo is very interested in food, so when serving meals has been the main opportunity to interact with him. He will take food from us without hesitation, but it’s normally a very one-way transactional interaction.

I feel no shame in admitting that I have been on a mission to win over Gordo. I make eye contact with him (eye contact with chimps is a good thing, though that’s not the case with some other primate species) and attempt to instigate games of chase whenever I can. Most captive chimpanzees, particularly males, really like to play chase.

Often, Gordo is against a wall in one of the new playrooms or in a doorway, observing at a distance. The photo below isn’t very good, but it shows Gordo in one of his spots with one leg crossed over the other – this, along with the full splay, is a classic Gordo pose.

I’ve noticed that he’s also been hanging out in the corner of the far greenhouse. Whenever I pass by, I stop to talk to him for a bit. Often I don’t get much of a response.

I was beginning to wonder if I was perhaps coming on too strong, when, last Saturday, Gordo did grant me a game of chase. It was wonderful. And brief.

Today, Kelsi and I were being goofy with the whole group, and Gordo joined in the fun! I don’t know if you can tell how elated Kelsi was in these photos, but let’s just say she’ll be riding this high for awhile.

When he was done playing with Kelsi, I caught his eye and went out to the greenhouse hallway. To my great surprise, he walked towards me. On purpose! And I didn’t have food!

It was a great moment to kick off my weekend.

Thank you, Gordito.

 

Happy Birthday, Gordito!

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For some, birthdays are just another day, but here at the sanctuary we go all out to make sure birthdays are a big hit for everyone. Today we are celebrating that one of the Lucky Six, Gordo, turns 33 years old. This is his first birthday party celebration while living in the sanctuary and we had to make sure that it met all of his expectations. Gordito, because honestly he is not hefty at all and it sounds a bit more gentle has slowly come out of his shell and has shown to be a very sweet chimp, and has also proven that his name matches his personality in the sense that he is a VERY food motivated guy. For meals he will get his serving of food and then come back to ask for more as if he had gotten nothing, but nice try buddy we are trained to keep count!

Today’s party included a forage in the playrooms of oatmeal cups topped with grapes and shaved coconuts, banana leaves for browse and a tropical feel, and whole mangoes for lunch. I don’t know who was more excited about mangoes being on the lunch menu, the chimps or me. They always remind me of being back home and picking them from the huge tree in my grandmas backyard, or sitting under said tree with my cousins always with an eye out to not get hit in the head with a falling mango if the wind picked up. Anyways, here are some photos of the party!

Smoothie/juice bars have nothing on our caregivers ability to make snacks look amazingly appetizing

Once the chimps got access into the party area Gordo was the first one in and went straight towards the oatmeal cups

Gordo getting his lunch mango from Caregiver Anthony

Cy showing how a mango should be left after being properly eaten

Lucky enjoying her oatmeal cup

Dora with her oatmeal cup

And just in time for Gordo’s birthday, you now have the opportunity to become his Chimpanzee Pal (or a Pal to any of the 16 chimpanzees who call the sanctuary home)! Each of the “Lucky Six” are now available to sponsor through our Chimpanzee Pal program, so if you’d like to learn more just click here – OR – if you’re inspired to become a Bovine Buddy in time for Betsy’s birthday tomorrow, click here!

For the myriad of ways in which you each choose to support our chimpanzee and bovine families, it means the world to us and we could not be more grateful to you!

Jody wadging a cattail

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This video (above) reminded me of someone eating a corn dog at a ball game, though I don’t really go to ball games and I have no idea if they still have corn dogs.

In any case, Jody definitely was enjoying her cattail wadge while keeping an eye on the neighbors today.

For more on wadging, check out this blog post from Anna from a few years ago or this one, also from Anna, with some photos of Jody wadging pineapple skin.

Today is the first day of sending out the blog to both the old and the new lists of subscribers. If you are new to the blog, welcome!!

If you signed up to the new list the other day, you should be receiving notice of this blog post from both WordPress and Salsa. Check your spam folders just in case!

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I’ll be troubleshooting this week, so you might not receive blog posts through Salsa (the new way) everyday, but my goal is to have it all worked out by the end of the week.

If you haven’t yet signed up to the new subscription, you should be able to do that on either the right side or below this page (scroll down).

Happy Saturday, everyone!