Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Compassion Satisfaction

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Yesterday, Chad wrote an incredible blog, it was so accurate and concise. Chad’s words in his blog are very important and very prevalent in our field. It hasn’t been talked about a lot until recent years. Though this job a dream, it is so rewarding and fulfilling, it can also be extremely taxing- not just physically, but emotionally and if you are not careful it will drain you. It’s hard to find a balance, it’s hard to feel like you are doing enough, or to not feel guilt, it’s hard to not give your whole self to the job, you can often feel pulled in a million different directions, and it’s hard to turn work off and be at home.

This year I received the opportunity to attend the NAPSA conference, where they spoke a lot about compassion fatigue/burnout. A big takeaways from the conference was one of the ways to fight against compassion fatigue, finding compassion satisfaction. That could mean something as simple as a positive interactions with the chimps- something that made us feel good. For example: making some type of enrichment that stimulated the chimps and made them happy, watching the chimps play, having a fun interaction with the chimps. Those moments remind us why we do our job and why it’s all worth it. However, the trick is that we don’t always have the time. For me personally, I have been trying to have a minute of reflection, what did I love about today? Today, I loved that Jamie was in a fun and silly mood, so much so that she made me carry her bonobo book and wear her favorite pair of Doc Martins to walk around Young’s Hill. That moment and small others like it have helped lighten my heart when it is feeling heavy.

If you haven’t read Chad’s blog I urge you to read it, his words are very important to those who care for others. Chad’s words comforted me on a topic that can be so difficult to discuss. He reminding me that I am not alone in those feelings and that though it is hard to do, it is not selfish to need to take care of yourself sometimes. So thank you Chad!

I will leave you with a photo of Jamie. We have added some items to the Amazon Wish List today, including Jamie’s birthday boot! We also added a lot of day to day items we need around the chimp house. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Jamie:

Ladies Who Goof

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I think we all can agree that most of the time Honey B can be a pretty big goofball, whether she is goofing by herself or with a friend! Honey B has no problem finding things to keep her occupied, but as someone who cares for Honey B the best way she occupies her time is when she is being silly with her chimp friends. Dora seems to agree! I hope this video brightens your day as much as it did mine :).

Here are some bonus photos of upside down Jamie hugging a charlie brown stuffed animal! Earlier today caregiver Sabrina and I caught Jamie in a goofy mood herself. As you can see Jamie is upside down holding Charlie Brown close to her.

Although Jamie was pretty content with Mr. Charlie Brown, she was gesturing for something. I found her I’m Lucy Book, which resulted in happy grunts as she took her book. She has never looked more satisfied than in this moment:

 

 

Lucky Honey B

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If you have been following the blog recently, you probably have seen the videos of Honey B and Lucky playing hooky during cleaning to spend some time together. To my recollection, I remember during the introduction process they would play with each other, but when the full integration commenced, I haven’t really seen them together. But lately, with their play sessions while playing hooky, I began to wonder if there was a friendship we were completely glossing over.

Since the day when Anna posted the video of them playing in the front rooms, I began watching them a little more closely. Here is what I have noticed:

  • Honey B and Lucky do have some pretty epic play sessions. These play sessions aren’t exclusive to just holding out when caregivers are shifting the group. (I should have noticed this when I posted the video of Honey B literally pulling Lucky into an ongoing play session she was in with Rayne.)
  • During conflicts, Honey B has been seeking Lucky out first and foremost for reassurance, which Lucky always gives her. When the conflicts are over, they reconnect and groom (or play).
  • During some downtime, they can be found grooming with each other
Lucky and Honey B grooming

On the surface, this may seem like an odd pairing. On one hand, there is Honey B. Somewhat social. Not afraid to be scrappy with anybody. Loves to play. On the other hand, there is Lucky. Mostly found by herself. Isn’t too involved during conflicts. And only plays when she feels like it (though as mentioned before, Honey B seems to be her ticket). At the same time, this pairing makes sense in a weird way. There is a meme out there that says, “Introverts don’t make friends. They get adopted by extroverts.”  I’m not saying Lucky is fully introverted or that Honey B is fully extroverted, because they’re not. On some level to me though, this seems to be what is happening.

I’m not entirely sure when this budding friendship started, or even if it will last. I am, however, a person who likes to take time to just relish the now and I am all for this friendship pair. They are, in fact, two rockin’ sisters!

Here are some bonus photos!

Annie on Young’s Hill

Annie made a stop at Jody’s burial site this morning

Foxie in the morning

Gordo during breakfast and lunch

Dora helping herself to some of Honey B’s nightbag (Only Dora is allowed to get away with this!)

Lucky in the Riverview Greenhouse

Jamie on her morning patrol (That is a Troll doll in her hand! She is playing a game of keep away with Foxie)

During their morning patrol, Jamie, Missy, and Burrito would stop to eat the greenest of grass patches

Burrito!

A patch of bamboo beginning to grow in between Young’s Hill and The Bray

Lastly, a pair of unidentified track outside the top of Young’s Hill! We are unsure of who made these tracks, but we suspect maybe a badger?

A Good Distraction

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For caregivers, there are many different types of distractions in the chimp house! Often when cleaning, Foxie will ask you to play troll toss, or Willy B would like you to stop cleaning so he can look at videos on your phone, or Cy wants to play chase, and of course there is the possibility of perimeter walks of  Young’s Hill with Jamie. Often the best distraction is when the chimps are playing with one another. We always stop cleaning for a moment to observe. For example, Burrito is often the best at getting his group members to play with him, even if they didn’t think they were in the mood. Burrito is so good at distracting, he can even get Jamie to be off-duty!

Of course there are other types of distraction that aren’t as fun, like when a caregiver is trying to write a blog and there is endless displaying on Willy B’s side of the building which turns into a fight that required us caregivers to respond to. For Burrito’s group, that same fight on the other side of the building, turned into watching their favorite reality TV show: Mave on the Bray. That is right, MAVE was on the Bray today! Although, the reason Mave was on the Bray may have been because all nine chimps went outside screaming and gave caregiver Kelsi and Jenna a bit of a scare, but Mave, Dora, and Honey B looked good out there! When Mave returned, Honey B gave her a big hug and Dora also fully embraced her. However, terrifying as it was, it was spectacular to see everyone out there. It was the first time the entire group were on The Bray. I am not sure when Mave or Dora will go back out, hopefully soon but maybe under different circumstances. Miss Honey B, on the other hand, may only go out when she is screaming at people (that seems to be her personal pattern so far). More updates to come if Mave, Dora, and Honey B continue to go out on The Bray!

I had more content I wanted to add to this blog, but naturally I got distracted ;).

Mave on the Bray:

Jamie:

Jamie and her book:

Burrito:

Negra and Burrito foraging in Neggie’s Cabin:

Negra :):

 

 

Being Jamie’s Friend

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Being Jamie’s friend means you have accept her on her terms, love her for who she is, and take her on her good days and bad days (or minutes or hours). I love Jamie to pieces, but I also understand that living with her is probably not the easiest at times. She can be a tad bit controlling or even manipulative. Sometimes being her friend is knowing that she will beckoning you to come over, making you think she wants to groom or play when really she just wants you to give her grapes. Or that at some point while grooming she may decide she is over it and want you to go away, but instead of disengaging from the interaction she will act like she is going to throw poop at you or even actually throw poop at you. Sometimes being Jamie’s friend is watching her make questionable social decisions in her group. However, these are all parts of Jamie, it makes her who she is and Jamie is a remarkable chimpanzee.

I know I have written a blog like this many times, but I think the sentiment is worth repeating, especially for a chimp like Jamie. She is so extremely intelligent and very aware of her situation.  Jamie uses her brilliance to her full advantage, as she should! For example, not letting us close off Young’s Hill at night, making it so staff can’t go home. Jamie is tough, stubborn, and controlling. However, Jamie’s controlling nature gives her power in a situation where she has surely felt powerless in her life. In sanctuary we want the chimps to feel free to make choices and give them that power back. I think chimps like Jamie show how comfortable they are in sanctuary when they can be themselves and are accepted for it.

As serious as Jamie is, it’s important to take advantage of the times when she does decide to let loose. When Jamie wants to play, you drop everything and say yes! Like this morning, Jamie was so funny. We played chase for a long time and Bat Jamie even joined us! Jamie has so many different layers to her and I love each and every one of them :).

Bat James:

Testing, Testing 1-2-3

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It has been a little while since we have talked about enrichment for Rayne’s group. If you happen to have been wondering, yes. They are still destructive in comparison to Jamie’s group. We have been taking it slow to see what works and what doesn’t. The problem with that is that it is what it is; slow. Though more and more things are added to their growing repertoire of enrichment, some in that group have a burning desire to eat plastic, stuffing from stuffed animals, and some other things. Just because they are destructive, does that mean we should stop trying? If you’re hardheaded and stubborn like myself, then you know the answer is “no.”

It has been a slow process of introducing them to new things, but things are still moving along. We recently attempted to introduce them to firehose cubes. Before Mave, Honey B, and Willy B integrated into the Lucky Six, firehose cubes were on the list of food puzzles they received. Since the cubes are pretty durable, we decided that was going to be the next step. The first trial run was overall a success! There was some minimal damage when caregivers were able to retrieve the next morning, but nothing that would stop the second trial run.

Though six of the group of nine have not experienced firehose cubes before, they had some to show them the ropes.

Mave working her way through a firehose cube as Dora looks on

Willy B reunited with one of his favorite food puzzles

For others, it came naturally. For instance:

Rayne, the queen of all natural intuition, didn’t even hesitate to grab one and rummage through it

(Cy is to the right perusing through a magazine and Lucky is in the back)

 

Hopefully (fingers crossed) you all will be seeing some more photos of firehose cubes with Rayne’s group.

Here are some bonus photos from today:

Mave being silly with a sock

A photo montage of Missy before and during a lunch forage today

Jamie during today’s lunch forage

(Always has to keep an eye on what everybody else is doing)

Negra looking like the queen that she is

Burrito returning from a “walk” (read run) around Young’s Hill

A Place Like This

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On Thursday, I wrote a blog about grief. Today, I would personally like to thank each and every one of you. For an emotion that often leads to loneliness, it felt like so many of us brought comfort to each other. I am not sure if you all know how special you are to CSNW. While we may write the blogs for you to all learn about the chimps and fall in love with them as individuals, you all have created a community with a very supportive and positive atmosphere. It can be hard to find a place like this on the internet.  So thank you for creating this wonderful place.

Today was a peaceful quiet day with slow morning patrols, chimps playing, Willy B displaying :), Jamie asking for grapes from the vine, Cy flipping through magazines, and chimps grooming in the warm greenhouses. Please enjoy some chimps selfies!

Willy B:

Jamie:

And sweet sweet Terry: