Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Cle Elum Seven

Fall Vibes

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Fall is starting to set in real nicely here in the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures are nice and the days are sunny for the most part. We do have some rain in the forecast that is supposed to last some time. So to take advantage of this nice sunny mid-60º weather today, Jody’s group had one last forage on Young’s Hill before the rain comes in.

On today’s menu was corn, carrots, beets, and primate chow!

Annie:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Jody:

Missy:

Negra:

Cy’s group and Willy B’s group were also treated to a lunch of corn, carrots, and beets, along with their primate chow.

After lunch, every body spent most of the afternoon snoozing. Well, almost everybody.

Cy had to catch up on some afternoon ready:

And Mave spent her time soaking in as much sun as she could:

Burrit-O’s

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As the temperatures begin to drop, Jamie’s group have been waiting a little while before going onto Young’s Hill in the morning, but not too long. Well… Almost everybody in her group…

One of the first things we do when we arrive at the Chimp House is to do a security check to give the chimpanzees access to Young’s Hill as soon as possible. This morning, as I opened the door to the Hill, most hung back a little bit for the sun to do it’s work and warm things up a little bit. But Burrito is a different story. We have been talking about how much we all could have the level of energy he has that early in the day. Once the door was open, *zoom* he was out the door and off to the races. I grabbed the camera and ran as fast as I could. I usually can keep up with him most of the day, however, the first run in the morning is the one where he undeniably beats me.

I grabbed what photos I could while running. As you might expect, they are just a blur.

This is probably only one of the clear photos I got of him, because he was waiting for me so he can turn around and run the other way!

This set of photos are when we completed a lap around Young’s Hill, then he decided to turn around to go again.

Then once we made our way back to the starting point, we went around again. This time though, other members of his family decided to join.

Burrito, Dora the Explorer’s friend Kate, and I waiting for Jamie to catch up. (Missy had already passed us as we waited.)

Then it was off to the races again!

Keep in mind, Young’s Hill is indeed a hill and most of the run is up. I say this as an excuse for my huffing and puffing, trying to catch my breath throughout the day. How he has this amount of energy in the morning? It’s almost as if he eats a bowl of Cheerios (or Burrit-O’s that I assume are more energy-packed) before we arrive to ensure he is ready to go once we walk through the door.

(Photo courtesy of Sam)

Some bonus photos from today!

Cy playing chase in his Greenhouse. He moves incredibly fast for such a big guy!
Lucky lounging on the firehose!
Jody enjoying her dinner leek! Don’t mind the corn kernels Jamie “accidentally” dropped on her head.

And a huge thank you who have supported us during Giving Day for Apes! There is still a few hours left you you wish and can support us to reach our goal! Because of you support, not just during Giving Day for Apes, but also on a regular basis, you help us try to provide the best life we can for the 20 individuals in our care. Thank you so much!

CSNW (Lip)SmackDown

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As mentioned last week, chimpanzees produce several different noises while they’re grooming. Lip smacking, blowing raspberries, and teeth clacking, are among some of the sounds produced. The meeting between Cy and Willy B was perfect example of teeth clacking.

For this week, I decide to let you hear some of the other noises in the form of a Guess Who game!

Below are two other residents here producing some grooming noise. Can you guess who they are?

Guess Who Part 1

Guess Who Part 2

I will give you some time to take a guess. In the meantime, some other little updates from today!

It was a fairly quiet day today, overall. We did continue with the introduction process between Willy B’s Group and Cy’s Group.

The first meeting today was between Willy B and Terry! Just like last time, when Willy B and Terry realized it was their time to hang out with each other today, they were excited to say the least. There was no initial display that we might expect between two adult males. It was instant grooming, playing, and laughter between the two.

Next was Terry and Honey B! As you may have read about their last meeting, things didn’t go as planned. We are taking it very slow in allowing these two to get to know each other. Today, they just met each other through the caging and did not share the same space. Though Honey B was a little apprehensive of first, her confidence grew. When it did, she almost beckoned Terry to meet her at the caging. He obliged, which resulted in a long grooming session, and a longer play session between the two. We will continue to provide them opportunities to interact with each other through the caging before they both are comfortable enough to play with each other in the same space.

Have you locked in your guesses yet!?

If not, I will give you a little more time. Here are some photos I was able to capture today (and one from last week). Is there a clue with in the photos of who they are? Maybe? Maybe not?

Gordo in a box!

 

Lucky and Rayne hanging out with each other on a front room bench!

 

Nutmeg in the creek! (He’s a wild steer now. You can’t change his mind.)

 

Willy B with one of the new Giant Kongs last week!

Ok! Without any further delay… *drum roll*

The first video is Terry!

And last but certainly not least, the second video is Honey B!

How many grooming noises did you hear in those videos and what kinds?

Thank you for playing along everybody!

Negra and The Uninvited Lunch Guest

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Today, staff put out a lunch forage of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce for the Seven on Young’s Hill. After staff vacated the hill and security checks were performed, the hill was ready for the Seven. As the door opened and the chimpanzees began to scatter every which way, there was an alarm.

Negra had spotted something. As she began to alarm call and asking for reassurance from anybody close enough, the others were set to find the source of her alarm: a coyote on the other side of the fence in the adjacent pasture.

Jody kept Negra company as they watched the coyote scamper away into the tree line after realizing she/he was spotted.

Once the uninvited guest was gone, lunch could continue.

Though Negra took it upon herself to be on the lookout for the coyote or any other uninvited lunch guests.

While Negra kept the lookout, the others foraged as usual.

Jamie:

Foxie:

Missy:

Jody:

Annie:

Burrito:

As they returned to the Greenhouse with their hauls, they all ate their lunch in the most relaxing positions.

Burrito
Foxie
Annie
Jody

And if you are able to, please help support us in this year’s Give Big Washington campaign. The Give Big campaign ends May 5th. We do have a pretty ambitious goal this year, but it’s because we have a lot of ambition and enthusiasm to continue to provide care for our 14 current residents, as well as welcome 6 more home later this year. All of your support, whether through donations, campaigns, fundraisers, the Chimpanzee Pal and Bovine Buddy programs, Sponsor-A-Day program, being a Produce Patron, or becoming a part of the sanctuary with a Personalized Stone, helps us to ensure days like today can continue to happen, as well as help us prepare for the Lucky Six when they arrive. Any thing helps! Truly, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!

That’s the Spot

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Today was a quintessential early spring day in Cle Elum that started with great gusts of wind driving snow across an otherwise peaceful green landscape. This attempt of winter to make a resurgence was no match for the sun, however. The snow was gone by midday and the scenery was back to being spring-like.

It’s been just a few days since Willy B, Mave, and Honey B first got access to the two new playrooms. They are still experimenting with the new space and trying out different areas. It will be fun to discover what their favorite hang-out spots are.

Today, Mave laid down to groom herself in a puddle of sun on the catwalk of Playroom 3 (also known as the Marmot Room because of the marmot silhouette painted on the wall downstairs in honor of a special supporter).

On the other side of the building, I found Jody in one of her all-time-favorite spots on the lower platform in the original greenhouse doing much the same as Mave.

Not one to spend much time lounging, Jamie was busy perusing the sanctuary’s site plan…

If you are on Facebook, you might have caught a Live Lunch Service (recorded video available on Facebook here). We hope to do more of those live videos in the future, most likely on a random and spontaneous schedule.

Whether you are more in the mood to relax or all about keeping active, if you are a local supporter, I have the thing you need to do this month!

Get yourself to Gallery One in Ellensburg and check out the display of designs that were submitted to last month’s art contest. Note – Gallery One is currently open at a limited capacity – check out their Covid protocols for more information.

You won’t go home empty-handed – there’s merchandise available for purchase that features the winning design of Fabulous Foxie by artist Thyra Rutter. There are also brand new postcards of all ten of the current chimpanzees; plus a really great display of information that the creative students in the Primate Awareness Network at Central Washington University put together. If you are not local, you will miss out on the displays, but you can still get stickers from the top four People’s Choice winners and merchandise of Fabulous Foxie in our online merchandise store.

Have fun shopping!

Burrito and the Chamber of Play

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It was a busy day today. The construction crew worked hard to begin installing the new doors in the new playrooms. Since they spent most of their time in the Mezzanine, that means Willy B, Honey B, and Mave had to stay in the Front Rooms and Chute while the crew was up there. The Three didn’t seem to mind. Willy B and Honey B spent most of their time in the Chute, while Mave liked her quiet time in the Front Rooms.

On the other side, the Seven spent most of their day on Young’s Hill.

A morning patrol was Jamie’s top priority.

While Missy found a block of ice in one of the structures.

She grabbed her ice treat and went to one of the highest structures to enjoy it in solitude.

Foxie also had her own little adventure with Angel Cake.

Burrito also joined in this morning’s walk.

What’s that around his neck you may ask? It’s a drop down puzzle, one of the chimpanzees’ evening food puzzles. Food puzzles generally come in different shapes and forms. There are those which can be passed out, those which can be scattered, and those which are hung from various places in the enclosures. For the most part, all the ones which can be hung inside the enclosures are deemed safe for them by the staff. They are hung up for various reasons, such as having one in one place to try to deter someone from grabbing them all and hoarding them, to provide just a splash of extra challenge, or to just help prevent them from breaking easily. Though Burrito is fine with having something like this, it wasn’t what we had in mind when we hang up drop down puzzles.

However, seeing how it made his entire day…

I will allow it this time.

Speaking of Burrito enjoying things, you may remember he has found a certain fondness to the rocker mirror. While we were cleaning the playroom the other day, I looked over and saw this.

He never ceases to amaze me.

We hope you have a terrific night and enjoy the video of Burrito playing with everybody!

Morning Adventures and Afternoon Naps

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The staff will continue our positive reinforcement training this afternoon. But before we dive into our training, here are some photos of some chimpanzee adventures and naps.

Jody eating her breakfast clementine orange while looking out onto Young’s Hill.
Jody, Foxie (above) and Missy (below) take in this morning’s scenery from a platform after going out onto Young’s Hill.
Burrito later soon joined Foxie on the platform after Jody and Missy left.
Annie took some time for herself high above the bamboo on Young’s Hill. She later joined Missy and Jamie on a patrol around the parameter.
Foxie embraces one of her new Strawberry Shortcake dolls on the top platform in the Greenhouse.
Jamie embracing a cowboy boot while snoozing off. You may wonder why she doesn’t elect to lay down while taking her afternoon slumber. She is the boss you know and has to be ready to go at the drop of a hat. This photo was from yesterday, but Jamie is currently in this same position and I couldn’t get a better photo from today.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite piece of art! The three designs with the most votes will win the People’s Choice awards! So be sure to vote before March 14th!