Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Enrichment

Write Your Own Blog Post!

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That may have come out wrong.

“Write Your Own Blog Post” is actually today’s theme. I wasn’t snapping. I promise.

Think of today’s entry like you would a self-serve car wash or one of those places where you can put whatever topping you want on your fro-yo. I literally want you to view this collection of images that I captured at the sanctuary today and use your imagination to fill in the blanks. The blog is in your hands.

The chimps, cattle and humans had a great day, but we caregivers didn’t have much time to write about it. I wasn’t lacking inspiration, especially since I had some thought-provoking conversations with caregiver Chad and volunteer/professor/board member Jessica as we swept, scrubbed, and served well into the afternoon. None of those thoughts found their way onto the page, though. Sometimes, a few snapshots say more than several paragraphs would, and I hope that is the case this evening.

I’m about to have a late-night bagel, go make a gigantic blanket nest and sleep until tomorrow morning.

Cheers from snowy Cle Elum!

The Yakima River meanders past the sanctuary.
Honey awaits alfalfa and minerals.
Mave investigates the camera lens after breakfast.
With so much snow and ice, just getting to the upper barn was a challenge.
Honey led the herd around the pasture, waiting for me to unload their food.
Burrito was bright and chipper this morning, and had an afternoon grooming session with Jamie.

Boxing Day

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Some of the chimps (particularly Honey B) spent the day after Christmas investigating their new presents:

Mave on the other hand, was more interested in the leftover Christmas packaging:

She also found an old standby. These rainbow toe socks seem to never get old!

As for me, this will be my last blog for a little while as I head into my maternity leave. Fingers crossed our baby girl comes soon (due date is tomorrow!). Many thanks go to all my extremely supportive coworkers for covering for me and Chad for joining the team this winter! I’ve been jealously watching Negra nap in the most luxurious fleece blanket nest today and am secretly longing for a bit of time off in my own nest. Talk to you all next year!

Trending Upward

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I must admit that I got quite sentimental in my latest blog post. I even tried to be insightful.

Today’s entry will contain nothing of the sort.

Instead, here is a dry update on everyone’s progress accompanied by images from my phone camera.

Burrito continues to heal and appears more active by the day, but he is still nursing some ugly wounds. We continue to monitor him for potential complications (including but not limited to bacterial infection). Getting him to take meds is a full-time job, so caregiver Katelyn had the tedious task of preparing various foods and trying to sell him on each. As J.B. recently explained, this has been the most challenging aspect of Burrito’s treatment plan. He did get a few bursts of energy today and spent quite a bit of time interacting with the female chimps through the mesh windows separating him from the Playroom. He even climbed up onto his favorite bench, although his movement was a bit shaky and he appears to only have a fraction of his normal strength. Still, it was good to see Bubba being Bubba.

Burrito licks his wounds while reclining in his nest.
Burrito ventures down to the farthest bench so he can see into the Greenhouse.
Burrito enjoys some medication-laced yogurt, even licking it off of the caging.
Our medication board is quite full at the moment.
Burrito presents his injured hand to the females.
Burrito relaxes atop the highest bench in the front rooms.

The girls (Annie, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra) have been back to business as usual. They seem to appreciate a return to routine, although they spend a lot of time monitoring Burrito and watching the windows and doors for signs of their chimpanzee neighbors on the other side. Whenever Willy B makes an appearance, they shower him with submissive pant-grunts and excited gestures. The weather was chilly and windy today, minimizing the appeal of Young’s Hill, but Jamie recruited volunteer Chad to walk the boundary with her anyway. When not patrolling and policing, Jamie has been enviously watching us give all sorts of foods to Burrito and has been asking for similar treatment. Jody has been obsessively helping Burrito to groom his wounds and he seems glad to have such an attentive nurse.

Jody grooms Burrito’s hand.
Jamie chills out on a firehose “vine” after breakfast.

Honey B has been an absolute star when asked to present her wounds for inspection and treatment. Her toe and backside are healing well and she is behaving like her normal self. She’s been more interested in grooming my freckles than she has been in her own injuries, so our concern for her recovery is minimal even though we continue to treat her lacerations with topical and oral medication. Honey B is an ideal patient because she is comfortable with our presence close to the steel caging and she is generally accepting of any flavor of yogurt, even if it tastes like antibiotics or Ibuprofen. As long as she gets to hold the spoon and hang out with caregivers, she’s happy.

Honey B inspects the camera lens on my phone. She really doesn’t seem to mind having humans operating within her personal space.

Willy B and Mave have been dealing with the unfortunate loss of their new social partners now that the groups have been split up and integration efforts have been halted. Instead, they’ve been focusing on reinforcing their bonds with each other (and with Honey B, to a lesser extent). We’ve also been showering them with enrichment and allowing them to sunbathe in the outdoor chute during the afternoons.

Willy B (left) and Mave (right) engage in some rough play before dinner.
Willy B used my phone camera to inspect his teeth…
…and groom his nails…
…and fix his hair.

Overall, everyone is trending upward. However, we continue to place an emphasis on helping Burrito to recover while keeping the other chimps busy and comfortable as the fall weather gradually fades into winter.

The river meanders its way past the sanctuary this afternoon.

The Tale of the Slippers

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As J.B. mentioned yesterday, and as I’m sure you would have surmised in any case, we’ve been spending extra time outside of our normal hours at the sanctuary as Burrito recovers. (If you are wondering about Honey B and why we don’t talk about her recovery, well, that’s because her day to day quickly returned to normal and she’s doing great!)

The first few days following last Friday’s procedure were pretty much 24/7 Burrito-watch.

We are grateful that Burrito’s chimpanzee friends on the other side of the mesh provided their own nursing and care skills. Honestly, I think their presence is what helped him the most after his surgery. Once again, they have shown us that their relationships with one another, though not always peaceful, provide a social network that the humans are woefully inadequate to imitate.

As Burrito has gotten better, we have not needed to stay overnight by his side, but we’ve still made late-night visits to check on him and give him food and medication.

The sanctuary owns a house on site that J.B. and I have lived in since 2009. It’s a hundred or so yards from the chimp house. This short commute to work is quite convenient for everyone, and especially so when we need to wander up at a moment’s notice and/or in the black of night.

I was making one such journey on Thursday, outfitted in pajamas and a coat, with the stars providing meager illumination. About halfway up the driveway, I stopped to confirm that the sound I heard in the bush was just the scuttling of deer, at which point I realized that in addition to my sleepwear I was also wearing slippers, which had not been my intention.

Squinting through the dark down towards my feet, I took a minute to internally debate whether to turn back to put on more appropriate footwear. In the end I talked myself into continuing onward clad in house shoes because, I reasoned, I was already nearly halfway to the chimp house and the slippers had a decent-enough sole on them anyway.

I entered the chimp house and prepared Burrito’s medication. By this point in the week all of the chimpanzees had become accustomed to the humans constant hovering over Burrito or late-night visits that included turning on lights and offering him food.

Despite these unusual disruptions, most of the chimps consistently remained silent in their nests without stirring. Even ever-vigilant Jamie has occasionally let these untoward visits take place without comment. Thursday, however, after I had given Burrito his pain-relieving treat, Jamie presented herself at the doors to the playroom, banging on the mesh to get my attention.

Jamie, to be sure, is keeping an internal tally of all of the treats that Burrito has been receiving. She has brought to our attention the inequity of treat distribution on occasion this past week, though for the most part she seems begrudgingly understanding. I thought the message that she wanted to communicate to me in that moment had to do with this clear favortism, perhaps hoping to persuade me to slip her a treat as well.

Then I noticed that her eye gaze was fixed upon my feet.

Of course! Jamie had not seen me wearing slippers before. She wanted a closer look, inside and out, of my atypical foot covering. I happily obliged, letting her feel the fabric too.

Satisfied, Jamie returned to her bed. I checked in on Burrito once again, turned off the lights, locked up, and made my way back down to the human house to settle into my own nest.

If you don’t know, Jamie is obsessed with shoes. She particularly likes cowboy boots. Here are a few photos from over the years:

jamie sepia

Wish list Wednesday!

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In case you haven’t noticed, the chimpanzees consume A LOT of fresh produce.
Jody:

On top of making sure they all get enough to eat, we also try to make sure there is plenty of variety.
Negra:

Burrito:

Jody:

Annie:

Missy:

Jamie:

Foxie:

Oh and did I mention we are now filling the stomachs of 3 4 new chimps (Willy B counts as 2 😉)?

If you are interested in helping us keep our fridges stocked full of a variety of delicious produce, check out our Amazon Wish list and send the chimps a gift card to our local Safeway store!

The chimpanzees and caregivers thank you!
Mave:

The Gang Goes Counterclockwise

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Chimpanzees thrive on routine.

Of course, we don’t want every day to be exactly the same for them. As caregivers, we strive to provide the chimps with an enrichment program that balances variety and predictability, which is a never-ending challenge. The result is that we work hard each day to facilitate a range of new experiences for the chimpanzees within the framework of a regular schedule. Knowing what’s going to happen next helps the chimps to plan ahead, make choices, and be agents of their own comfort and happiness.

Jamie enjoys boomer balls, an enrichment device that we prepare once every few weeks. The chimps get some form of enrichment device each morning, but the type varies from day to day.

With so many new events occurring at the sanctuary, sticking to a familiar routine also seems to help the chimps adjust to each change. For example, even though Jamie and the Girl Gang are now residing in a previously unfamiliar area of the Chimp House, we still provide them with their favorite enrichment items at the same time each morning, serve their meals on the same schedule, and open the hydraulic gate each day so that they can explore Young’s Hill.

Fall at the sanctuary (Note: there’s a wild Nutmeg hidden in the background)

We’ve had some perfect fall weather for the past few days, and the Girl Gang (Annie, Foxie, Jamie, Jody and Missy) have been eagerly spending time outdoors. Just this weekend, J.B. and a group of committed volunteers built a new multi-level wooden structure on Young’s Hill. As Kelsi noted yesterday, the females were quick to investigate this new addition to their habitat. Even though nobody modified or enhanced the structure overnight, the girls needed some extra time today to reacquaint themselves with the new tower.

Annie warms up in the sun.
Foxie surveys the landscape from the highest perch.
Jamie conducts what appears to be an OSHA inspection.
Jody squats on the fresh grass growing around the tower.
Missy hangs out on the lower deck of the multi-tiered platform.

The new structure is located near the entryway into the chute. Now that they’re in the new area, Jamie and the others access Young’s Hill via the chute and therefore begin their patrols over on the southeast corner of the enclosure. Even though their patrols no longer start over by the Greenhouse door, they still walk in the same clockwise direction as they have since they first started exploring the Hill almost a decade ago. I have never seen them patrol in a counterclockwise direction. Just a few days ago, I jokingly asked J.B. if we could try to get Jamie to walk counterclockwise around the Hill with us. He dryly answered “No. You can’t do that.” We agreed that Jamie has a routine and it would be a crime to disrupt it.

So, when I opened the hydraulic door and the chimps hustled out of the chute onto the Hill, the unthinkable happened.

*** Imagine that the iconic jingle from the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia title card is playing right now ***

Anna and I were quite stunned when all five of the females started plodding their way uphill along the southeastern boundary of the enclosure. Missy led the charge, of course, but Jamie seemed a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. She started to follow the others, then fell behind, and was soon looking back at Anna (who was watching the events unfold from outside the electrified fence).

Sure enough, Jamie returned to the bottom of the slope and began to patrol in her normal clockwise pattern, gesturing at Anna to follow along. She encountered the others about halfway up the northwestern boundary and it was hella awkward. As Jamie trudged past each of the others, they had to stop and greet each other with a touch and a chimp kiss. Then they all just stood there, lined up along the fence, and watched her defiantly continue up the slope on her own.

Jamie passes Missy…
…and Annie…
…and Jody…
…and then leaves everyone behind…
…including Anna.

Jamie seemed a little off after that, because she abandoned her patrol, ditched Anna in favor of the Twister, and cut straight through the bamboo forest on her way back to the chute. Jamie can handle wildfires, social integrations and even snakes, but going counterclockwise around the Hill is too much.

This exemplifies the power of routine. Some chimps, such as Jamie, have personalities that seem to thrive on discipline and repetition. She likes to be in control. She did three patrols today, walking at the same pace in the same clockwise direction using the same path. The other four females, who tend to be more easygoing, didn’t seem scared by the idea of hiking the trail backwards.

Of course, there is the possibility that Jamie, like Derek Zoolander, cannot turn left. Let’s not rule that out.

New Space

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While we are on a bit of break with the introductions, Jamie, Missy, Jody, Annie, and Foxie are spending their time in the new Phase 1 area of the building. Foxie was with Burrito in there for about a week, but Wednesday was the first time the others got to go into that space (and the chute too!).

I wasn’t able to get any good photos of them in the chute (or when they went on patrol on the hill) today, but here they are enjoying the new indoor rooms:

Foxie and Missy playing downstairs:

Then grooming upstairs in what we are referring to as the mezzanine:

Jody inspecting some toy tools next to Foxie:

A grooming triangle with Missy on the left and Jamie on the right:

Missy trying out a new bed/bench in the mezzanine (I think it met with her approval):

Annie just holding Missy’s foot while lying on the floor in the mezzanine: