Come along for a play date with the coolest girls at CSNW, plus a special guest appearance!
Honey B
Portraits
This morning I was lucky enough to be able to go around and capture some portraits. Portraits can be hard to get because the chimps are often moving around quite a bit or simply do not want there picture taken, as you will see at the end of Jamie’s photo series. Jamie threw her arm out and shook it to tell me she had had enough :). Fortunately, everyone else didn’t seem to mind me taking some pictures! So please enjoy!
Negra eating her eggplant at lunch:
Cy waiting for his breakfast chow:
Little Honey B, being Honey B:
Foxie and her doll:
Dora portrait series:
And of course Jamie:
Never Dull!
It’s never a dull day when working with chimpanzees, each individual is so their own and also has their own agenda for the day! As you will see in the video, most days Gordo just wants to go on the Bray not giving his caregivers a second look, but on this day Gordo decided it was time to play chase with his caregiver from the chute to the Bray. While, Terry just wanted to give sweet kisses in the morning. I think we all know Honey B’s agenda is to derail the schedule for her caregivers as much as possible, as she should! But she also tries to carve out alone time with one of her close friends, Dora, which can often play into derailing her caregivers schedule, too. She is such a multitask-er :)!
Though somethings may “derail” our day, it’s also the fun part about our job. We don’t know what we are going to walk into, but what we do know is that everyday they are provided with as much choice as possible!
Gordo eating a pear series:
Bonus!!
Foxie playing a lazy game of poke the doll and maybe camera with me:
I just love her eyes in this one:
And a very snoozy Willy B! So snoozy I don’t think he even knew I took this photo:
Five Years Later
Five years ago to the day CSNW grew by three and welcomed home Honey B, Willy B, and Mave. After beginning their lives in biomedical research and then living at Wildlife Waystation, a wild animal shelter outside of Los Angeles that closed its doors after more than 40 years, they arrived here on August 18, 2019.
A lot has happened in five years- their group grew by 6 in their integration with Cy’s group and they gained access to and gained confidence exploring their 2-acre outdoor enclosure (The Bray). These are just two examples out of many. Their worlds have grown quite a lot since arriving here and ours have, too. Every day with them is exciting and we are so glad to know, and adore, them!
Check out today’s video to see how we celebrated (hint: pasta!).
But first! Thanks to those of you who filled out the survey from Diana’s blog post about the series Chimp Crazy. The first episode airs this evening (August 18th) on HBO and streams on Max at 10 p.m. PT.
The North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest (CSNW), along with a special guest, will be hosting a discussion of the first episode. Join us this Tuesday, August 20 via Zoom at 6:00 PM PST/9:00 PM EST to explore Episode 1: Monkey Love. We will be discussing the contents of the episode as well as some history around the use of primates in entertainment and the pet trade, the legality of owning primates as pets, and the Captive Primate Safety Act. Register to join this discussion!
We understand that there may be scenes in the series that could be difficult for primate welfare advocates to watch. Our goal is to provide a space where people can openly share their thoughts and learn more about how they can help these remarkable primates.
Mave:
Honey B:
Willy B:
Gals Who Groom
Grooming is an important part of chimpanzee life. It serves many functions, from forming, building, and maintaining social bonds, to helping ease tensions and facilitating reconciliation following a fight among the group. It is a part of everyday life.
Terry grooms Cy
Cy grooms Rayne’s lips (through the caging, although the door is open!)
As caregivers, we exist within the social sphere of the chimpanzees in our care (as Diana discussed in her blog earlier this week). We each have different relationships with each chimpanzee, which have developed and grown over time. Some chimpanzees are quick to accept new human friends (like Burrito and Terry), while others are less interested in the new person, and more interested in making sure that new person knows where they stand (at the very bottom!).
(I am taking advantage of my momentary mention of Burrito to share this somewhat blurry but very sweet picture of a sleepy Burrito from today!)
Grooming helps us forge and grow relationships with the chimpanzees in our care, and occurs when a chimpanzees invites us to join them for a grooming session. Sometimes this invitation comes in the form of a chimp pressing their back to the caging to be scratched with a tool or rubbed with our knuckle. Other times it may look like Cy poking his finger out of the caging making a raspberry sound, requesting to groom your elbow. One of my personal favorite invitations is when Honey B sticks out her very small thumb to request to groom you. Many grooming sessions have served as mile-markers for me in my personal relationships with different chimpanzees, such as the first time I felt comfortable allowing Honey B to groom the back of my hand, when Rayne initiated a lengthy grooming session with me for the very first time, the first time Lucky genuinely wanted to groom me (without any stabby fingers) or when Jamie first presented me with a chopstick to groom her with. In today’s blog video, I wanted to share a couple such special moments with you all.
And for those keeping up with Willy B’s recent injury and return to his group, check out J.B.’s blog from yesterday about his reintroduction if you missed it!
CSNW Olympics
The humans of the sanctuary have been very excited about the Olympics, and today we were able to share our excitement with the chimps by tuning in to the Olympics where they could watch too! Cy and Rayne were especially interested in watching this morning’s events. All of this inspired us caregiver’s to compete in our own Olympic sport – competitive nesting! The rules were simple, each nest builder received the same number of blankets to use in building their nest, and each was allowed one novelty item. The item had to be approved for the chimps to use already, but could be anything besides a blanket. Interestingly each contestant chose to use multiple colorful peace sign blankets – a wonderful choice in the spirit of the Olympics! After two high quality nests were made, caregiver Ellen assisted Judges Rayne, Terry, and Honey B in scoring each contestant. There were three categories to score: technique, creativity, and comfort. Kelsi scored high in all 3 categories, getting notable mentions for her inclusion of a knot in her nest design and the overall comfort of the nest with its high walls and a Squishmallow being utilized as her novelty item. Jenna also earned high scores, but lost some points in technique due to her difficulty completing the difficult slinky maneuver. We had a lot of fun in today’s event, and who knows…you all might get to see more events as the week goes on!
The Holdouts
We’ve given you a lot of Mora B footage as of late…
Are you tired of all the ridiculousness? Are you sick of all the play faces? The joy, the laughter, the shenanigans?
Are you sick and tired of Mora B?
Say it with me, folks.
HECK NO!!!
These girls just tickle us caregivers, even if they do create a longer cleaning schedule.
This clip does not include Mave, as she opted to stay in the chute while her sidekicks whooped it up in the front rooms.
So…how do we refer to a Honey B/Dora combo? What say you?
Also, be sure your sound is on – you won’t want to miss all the laughter!
If you’d like to help supply the sanctuary with food, enrichment, medicines, supplies, and other necessities, please check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!
