Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Honey B

Plans? What Plans?!

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I can’t speak for all the caregivers at CSNW, but for me lead days require mental preparation ahead of time. Some of it is getting on the shifting mentality, thinking of material for the daily blog, planning the individuals that will be involved during introductions, etc. Today was one of those days that from the moment I woke up, all of that preparation went out the window. It turns out that as caregivers there are two things we can’t control: the weather and a group of riled up chimps.

Kittitas County woke up to a significant ongoing snow shower with more than 3 inches of snow already on the ground by 7AM in Ellensburg. Cle Elum did not get the same amount of snow, but the inch or so is half melted by now. The gloominess remains. Being inside was definitely the popular choice for the chimpanzees. This meant plenty of napping in the green houses and a lot of grooming.

For introductions, my wish was to have Gordo and Terry involved with Willy B and Mave. But Gordo and his 5 friends had other plans. While trying to sort them out, a fight broke out and although everyone was OK, it derailed the sorting. The final combination ended up being Cy and Terry with Willy B and Honey B. After many displays between the guys, the introduction remained through the mesh. At the time of separating the groups, Willy B and Honey B refused to go back into the Mezzanine. It wasn’t until dinner was offered that they decided it was the right time to go back to their enclosure and reunite with Mave.

View of our Spring snowy day

Jamie in the process of drifting into a nap in the green house

Terry grooming my boots

Cy and Terry grooming each other

Rayne, Cy, Lucky and Terry grooming

Rayne, Dora, Cy and Lucky grooming

National Burrito Day!

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Today is National Burrito day!!! I wanted to shower everyone today with Burrito photos but he had other ideas. I went on two walks around Youngs Hill with Burrito and Jamie before 11AM. Burrito was in from the get-go but Jamie had special requests. She required me to wear one size smaller boots, and also requested that I drive the Gator both times. During those walks Burrito took the opportunity to climb the Twister structure to try and get a better look at the construction happening outside the perimeter of the hill. Once he came back in, he spent most of the day asking caregivers to play chase with him and wanting to play through the mesh while actively running away from the camera. Totally understandable because it has been a beautiful day out, perfect to keep everyone very active and moving.

Burrito eating an avocado during lunch

Burrito climbing the Twister structure during one of our walks around the hill

A play and groom session between Burrito and Caregiver Chad

On the other side of the Chimp House, the chimps in both Honey B’s and Rayne’s group spent most of the day in their green houses enjoying the nice day.

Willy B

Honey B looking as flawless as always

Gordo

Lucky

Leeked Photos

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As you can tell from the title, there is some leeked content. I guess this kind of leekage isn’t so bad ;).

Please enjoy these photos of Cy eating a leek:

Terry really liked his leek too:

Bonus photos!

Cy:

Rayne basking in the warm greenhouse sun:

Willy B staring at himself through the camera:

Honey B is ready for bed, and bids you a goodnight:

Happy Spring!

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Happy first day of Spring! Let’s hope this means warmer weather is on the way soon! It was cold today with even a little bit of snow, so it didn’t feel much like Spring. The chimpanzees didn’t seem to mind though! The three chimpanzees in Willy B’s group were all enjoying interacting with a slinky today.

First, this morning Mave was using it as part of her nest. Honey B is sitting behind her.

Willy B then decided to drag it around the front rooms with it around his ankle!

Honey B also took a turn dragging the slinky around.

Willy B looking pretty handsome.

Here’s what some of the other chimpanzees were up to today!

Terry enjoying time in the Riverview Greenhouse.

Dora spent a lot of time in the Riverview Greenhouse today.

Missy decided to take some of her lunch (red bell peppers and chow) out onto Young’s Hill.

Jamie on a walk with one of her caregivers.

Foxie relaxing in Greenhouse.

 

Sunny Tuesday

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Sunny days are always great, specially after some days of non-stop rain. Today, the clouds scattered away and the rays of sunshine made an appearance. To say the least, everyone, including the caregivers were very happy to catch a break from the Pacific Northwest gloominess. If only there were away to turn OFF the wind!!! But regardless of the wind, the chimps in Jamie’s group went on countless walks around the hill and spent most of the day in their warm greenhouse. Cy and his friends also spent the day in their greenhouse and every so often you could walk by and someone would pop their heads off the edge of the platforms for a subtle “hello”. Willy B and his friends were very into the raisin boards they got for daytime enrichment, although it is very likely that Willy B got every single raisin.

Annie looking over at the neighbors before sprinting over to catch up with Jamie, who was going on a perimeter walk with caregiver Grace and her sweet new boots:

Honey B sitting on a wooden chair

A Cy close up

Dora was very interested in the mechanics of a phone camera

Jamie observing my every move while I squeegeed in the play room

A sequence of Foxie with a doll in her mouth making her way over to the greenhouse window to meet up with Jamie

Gordo in the platform of the greenhouse very much aware of the display Willy B had going on on the other greenhouse

Jody resting in the greenhouse

Willy B securing ALL the raisins in the raisin board enrichment that his group got today

Takin’ It Beezy

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Caregivers are racing around completing chores on this rainy Monday afternoon, so today’s blog post is absurdly simple.

In honor of National Napping Day, here’s a portrait of Honey B lounging on the heated floor in one of the indoor enclosures.

Chad explained yesterday that the chimps have no concept of “daylight savings,” but they definitely know how to spend a gloomy, damp day like this one.