Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Enrichment

Wood Wool!

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Today the chimps received a package of wood wool to investigate! Wood wool is made from log slivers and is often used as a packaging material. Apparently, it also makes an excellent novel chimp enrichment. Watch the video above to see who made a wood wool nest!

P.S. if anyone has a lead on how to get recycled wood wool  in large quantities, we are all ears!

Thank you to Pamela N.  for purchasing the wood wool  during our Comfort and Joy Auction.

Also, thank you to Kathy S. who donated this cuddly avocado cow that went out in today’s enrichment:

 

 

Life of Enrichment and Giant Stuffed Dolphin Thanks!

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It felt fitting to have today’s blog be about enrichment! There are so many different ways to enrich the chimps lives! The video highlights a few of the many ways to add to the chimps day to day life. Thank you to Comfort & Joy auction winner Emily H. for the giant stuffed dolphin for Jamie’s group! We put it out on on Jamie’s side this morning!

Jamie’s group gets a new TV

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We received a nice new firestick TV to install for Jamie’s group and so far it’s a big hit! Now both groups can pass the time on cold snowy days when going outside just doesn’t appeal. Foxie was the first to try it out. She began by displaying at it, but quickly settled into watching videos of the other group on our YouTube channel. Soon Jamie joined in, then Annie, and later Burrito.

Don’t forget to check our Amazon wishlist for Christmas gift ideas for the chimpies!

 

Video in Two Parts and Thanks to J.B.!

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Monica Best wanted to do something special for J.B. so she composed this incredibly nice note below and sent him a gift card to Lowes.

J.B. has spent the last two days, with the help of new part-time employee Jake, constructing the start to new structures on the hill. With the end of the Comfort & Joy auction yesterday, where we exceeded our goal for all of the Big Funds, including climbing structures, it seemed appropriate to relish the Comfort & Joy aspects of today and also to take a moment to acknowledge J.B. for all of his hard work.

Here’s Monica’s message to him:

Dear J.B.

I can still remember watching the video of The Bray being unveiled.  As I excitedly watched the chimps explore the fascinating new addition to their home,  I remember being in awe of the new structures.  Then, I recalled a conversation I had with Diana a few months prior.  Just a normal “hey, how you doing” chat.  She was updating me on the chimps and said you were out working on the new structures for The Bray.  Almost jokingly, I asked if you were doing it by yourself.  When she said, “pretty much”, I thought, that’s a lot of work for one person.  At that moment I believed you were Superman.

Now, jump forward to the unveiling and realizing just how incredible the structures were and how much work you must have put into them, I thought, he’s not Superman, he’s a magical unicorn.

I called Diana and told her how incredible the structures were and how flabbergasted I was that you had done all that work on your own.

I asked her if we could do something to show our appreciation and gratitude.  At first, we came up with a whole J.B. Appreciation Week.  But, soon realized that, like most Magical Unicorns that create amazing things, grant magical wishes and can turn a barren piece of land into a Chimpanzee Paradise, with a simple touch of their alicorn;   They, themselves, don’t always prefer grand, flashy declarations and constant praise.  That kind of laud actually can make them uncomfortable.

As sometime went by, and the Comfort and Joy Auction was getting started, I asked Diana if this might be a good time to quietly show our appreciation for your tireless devotion and care of the chimps we all love so much.  It just seemed fitting, since you bring the chimps so much

Comfort and Joy (and so much more), never asking anything in return.

So, Diana has a little present for you, that will hopefully help to get some tools and supplies, to aid in your magical unicorn tasks, that bring so much to the chimps.  Diana also had a wonderful idea to add a fund a cause to the auction, to raise money for new structures….and I know the amazing Sanctuary supporters will make sure the goal is reached.

I truly don’t know how to tell you how much you and all your hard work and dedication are appreciated by so many.

I’m always in awe of everyone at the sanctuary and all you do to ensure the chimps live their best lives.  Lives filled with joy, friends, enrichment, safety….and so much more.  Lives where the atrocities they endured, before arriving at the sanctuary, have slowly faded into the back of their minds and the fear, pain and loneliness of the past are become a distant memory.

Words can never be enough….

But, thank you for all you do.

With love from all CSNW supporters, volunteers, staff and most importantly….The Chimps.

 

P.S. Regarding the nest-building contest – Amanda and I quickly conceded to Grace and Ellen, who were seen in the video. Now that we know what the competition is like, we might challenge them to a rematch in the future.

Giving Thanks!

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A donor recently bought us a Fire TV stick and the chimps have been captivated by the new videos! Previously, our TV only was able to play DVDs, but now we can stream anything online. Willy B’s favorite types of videos include chimpanzees, so it was pretty easy to decide to first put on our own YouTube channel for them to watch. As you will see in today’s video, Dora, Lucky, Willy B, and Cy were captivated by the whole experience so far. We don’t have the TV on all the time, so they definitely take notice and enjoy it when it is time!

Thank you to the special donor who bought the Fire stick for us! Thank you to all of our donors who help us 365 days a year. We appreciate you, greatly!

Exciting news! Ornaments of each of our residents (chimpanzees and bovine) have been added to the online auction! These are one of my personal favorite items to bid on and Grace and I have already been outbidding one another. Join us!

We also have a matching donation from Monica Best (official founder of the Comfort & Joy Quid Pro Throw Online Auction) from now until the end of the auction until we reach the total goal of $20,000 raised! Bidding and donating ends tomorrow, Saturday, November 18th at 6:00 PM PT/ 8:00 PM CT/ 9:00 PM ET, so the time to bid is now!

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!

Blanket Fort Day Contest

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We have for you a little something different and interactive today! On the enrichment calendar that Chad prepares for the month, today said “Blanket Fort Day”.  We caregivers are notorious for getting really involved in cleaning and then forgetting to set up blanket forts when it is blanket fort day. So, as a way to remember, Grace suggested we turn it into a bit of a contest, with you being the judges!

The way we divide up the staff for cleaning, is (roughly) half go to the old side of the building and the others to the new side of the building. So, there are two “teams” – one for each side. We were going to try to have each team be anonymous, but there are some nice photos of caregivers included (who you may or may not recognize). Please try to remain completely impartial, regardless.

Chad came up with these categories in which to judge our forts:

  1. Best Overall
  2. Best Photo with Chimp
  3. Best Destroyed

We’ll start with Team A:

Playroom:

 

Playroom Loft:

Greenhouse:

 

And now we have Team B

Riverview Greenhouse:

Marmot Mountain Playroom:

Marmot Mountain Playroom Catwalk:

Lupine Playroom Catwalk:

 

Front room 7:

Mezzanine:

Please respond in the comments with your judgements!

 

Wait a second, blanket forts bring to mind something…. what could it be…

Oh, yes! Comfort & Joy!! Be sure you are signed up for the Comfort & Joy online auction, opening next week, and the other festivities, including a Behind the Scenes Virtual Visit on Jamieween!