Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jamie

Don’t Mess with Honey B

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I wanted to write a light-hearted blog because, well I think we all need it. But this morning Honey B, Willy B, and Mave had a big fight at breakfast. Don’t worry everyone is fine, but it was an intense one! It was mostly Honey B and Willy B fighting, because Willy B tried to steal her chow. Chow is no joke. Each chimp really looks forward to getting their bags of chow. In general, the three seem to be less physical with each other. They have their occasional fight, but a lot of the time it’s just screaming. This morning, Honey B was not having it. Honey B has always been described as fun and silly, which she is, but I would NOT want to be on her bad side. Honey B can be, let’s go with feisty, but another word could be ruthless. Surprisingly, Honey B tends to avoid any drama that doesn’t have anything to do with her. If Mave and Willy B are worked up she will leave the area, but she also tends to be the person who will strike first if she thinks something is going to happen to her. I won’t lie, I think it works. During the fight, Honey B quite literally beat Willy B with a scooter. Again everyone is fine, but Willy B’s pride might be hurting just a little. Mid-morning we found Willy B grooming Honey B, so I think everything is all good now, but I don’t think he will try taking her chow for quite some time.

On a lighter note, Jamie received a late Christmas present. I am sure many of you are familiar with the Bodies Exhibit. We found the book version and it seemed pretty on brand with Jamie so we put it on the wish list. It finally came today! Jamie was in a very cozy nest upstairs when caregiver Anna went to go give it to her. Instead of coming down right away, Jamie had Anna flip through the pages for her. Later, after lunch Jamie took the book and began skimming it.

This is the page Jamie left her book on.

I think we should get some bonus photos!

Willy B taking a nap.

Yesterday Mave, Willy B, and Honey B watched the chimps from Chimp Haven on Disney+. Mave settled in to watch her soaps.

Jamie was on patrol after hearing the fight this morning. She went straight out onto the Hill to get a better view of the other side.

Burrito <3.

Missy sprinted out onto the Hill and had Burrito and I joined her on a mid-day run! She is seriously so fast! I took a video but I was embarrassed by how heavy I was breathing.

Honey B making a nest with toys this morning.

Watch out for this one, she doesn’t take crap from anyone!

Goodbye 2020 and Good Riddance

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As the year is winding down, I think all of us are ready to say goodbye to 2020 and embark on a more hopeful 2021! To say we all want to kick 2020 to the curb would be an understatement! 2019 at CSNW  was such an exciting and scary year. The introduction of the two chimp groups is something we unintentionally do not discuss unless asked. It was, to be honest, a little traumatizing. When 2020 came around we all couldn’t wait to move on. Burrito was on the mend and we were looking forward to the future. But 2020 brought a pandemic. Sadly, due to covid, we couldn’t have our amazing volunteers come to help us. We strapped on our PPE and tried to carry on, but the hardest part I think we’ve all dealt with and are still dealing with as care staff is the stress of protecting the chimps from COVID-19. For me personally, it comes in waves. I know we have to trust in PPE, but it doesn’t make it not scary. We have all made sacrifices and have lost time with our loved ones, but their welfare is so much more important! We all seem to be managing well enough with our new normal and healing from our old wounds from 2019. Then, the rattlesnake incident happened. Burrito, as we have all said a thousand times, is truly an amazing individual! He has never let life get him down. He always survives and only gets stronger, though if you ask me, he can stop having almost near-death experiences at any time. But his spirit is inspiring! He might be what has got me through this year. Burrito has an appetite for life and has also never seemed happier! So not to dwell too much, but our year and some hasn’t been the best. BUT, through all of our adversities, we have SO much to look forward to!

We are looking forward to the future! We are so close to having the new playrooms finished! Six new chimps will come here to call CSNW home, which means there are going to be more social opportunities for Honey B, Mave, and Willy B, even though that sounds a little scary to us too :). Chimp relationships are so much more important. Though we cherish our moments with the chimps, their relationships with each other are far more important. And of course, we have Burrito!

The other thing that got us through 2020 was all of you. Our supporters and donors. When it felt like the world had lost humanity I always looked to the CSNW supporters. And we know the chimps helped you all through these difficult times through the blogs. However, you all helped us through our trying times. Your faith, support, and kindness has helped us get through 2019, 2020, and will help us through 2021 and years to come. Thank you for your support through donations, but also through your loving and kind words. You all will never know how much you kept us going during these trying times.

Okay, that is enough feelings for one day. We all know it’s been a crazy year so let’s all put 2020 behind us and watch some chimps play and look at their portraits below! Cheers to a new year!

Foxie.

Jamie.

Annie play biting Burrito.

Annie.

Neggie.

Snow and Unicorn Blankets

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What a day! We just want to say goodnight from a very busy chimp house. Again, I can’t wait to write up a blog about Jamie I have in my head, but alas it will have to wait another week. I thought I would share a sweet moment with Honey B. Most nights when we close up the chimp house on phase 1 Honey B, Willy B, and Mave will already be nestled into bed. They usually like to go to bed early, whereas I am not sure Jamie even sleeps. But the past few nights as I am about to lock up the 3’s side, Honey B has been up and it almost looks like she was waiting for something. So, I have been offering her a few extra blankets before I turn the lights off. Once she has the blanket she throws it on her back or quickly drapes it behind her and makes a bed, meanwhile pant hooting goodnight.

If today had a theme, besides being busy, it would be the chimps love snow! Though by late February I think we will all be over it. But eating snow never gets old!

Even Willy B is starting to come around to this snow thing.

There was still snow on the ground, but enough had melted for everyone to go explore outside. Even NEGRA! I suspect she was trying to catch a quick glimpse of the neighbors in the chute or see the construction going on.

Burrito stayed back at first to be the look-out but eventually joined everyone out on the Hill.

Burrito or Sasquatch, I guess I will let you all decide.

Missy zipped around the Hill as per usual!

Little Foxie followed Jody, Missy, and Annie out on the Hill, but it got a little too cold for her so she turned around.

After venturing on Young’s Hill everyone agreed with Foxie and spent some time inside.

Negra wrapped herself up in an early Christmas present and did one of her favorite food puzzles, peanut butter magazines. I mean who doesn’t need a colorful unicorn blanket! I do have to make a confession though. This was my intention of putting the unicorn blanket on the wish list. I wanted to see Negra wrapped in a cozy, soft, and colorful unicorn blanket. There was a VERY good chance Negra was never going to see this blanket and Jody was going to shred it to pieces. But… just look at how comfy Negra looks!

Jamie had a busy day watching us clean and supervising the electricians working around the chimp house. But, that was pretty exhausting so she got cozy in a big nest she built and took a well-deserved nap!

All in all we day a great day, but I think we humans are going to curl up in our nests now. Goodnight!

Up Close and Personal

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I had a whole blog post in my head (How to be Cool like Jamie), but today was the rare occasion that Mave, yes Mave, decided to let take some photos of her this morning. Many of you might know that Mave often does not want her picture taken or can be hard to capture in the moment. However, this morning as I was taking a few quick photos of Willy B, Mave sat down and stared at the camera phone. I asked her if I could take a few, normally I get a finger poke towards the camera and I take that as a no. But Mave just looked into the camera and let me take some close up shots. The rest of the day had the same theme. Jamie wanted her pictures taken or tolerated the camera being around. I wasn’t able to get everyone, really it was just Honey B, Willy B, Mave, and Jamie, but the ones I got are pretty good. The chimps were all in extremely playful moods today too. It was hard to choose a blog topic because I was even able to film some great play sessions! But I will save that for another blog! For today please enjoy some up close and personal photos.

This is what Mave’s pokey fingers look like.

Willy B was checking himself out in the mirror of the camera.



Honey B giving a “sup” look.

Honey B’s eyes are so mesmerizing.

Miss Mave.

Missy did not feel like participating, so she said goodbye and swung away.

I snapped a quick one of Foxie before she stuffed a doll through the mesh to play! Foxie’s eyes could make your heart melt.

The one and only Jamie.

Favorite Foods

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We all have preferences for food. Our likes and dislikes. The chimps are no different. I can’t tell you how many times Foxie has poked away something green and looked offended that I would even offer kale. Or how many times Honey B has politely given back pieces of food she does not want. I thought you might all want to know what foods the chimps think are the most delicious and the worst! Let’s start with what collectively everyone loves; cabbage and lettuce! So simple and plain, but the chimp house will erupt in excitement when they see a head of lettuce or slices of cabbage.

Now, let’s get into personal preferences. 🙂

Negra, as we all might know is all about chow and peanuts. Negra is a carbs girl so of course for our special holidays she gets the most excited for dinner rolls, well, maybe besides Burrito. They might be in a tie for that one.

Jamie will never say no to any type of pear. She really loves onions in any form, green onions, leeks, raw onion, baked onions! Jamie loves them all.

Missy might be the easiest to guess. She eats, sleeps, and breathes tomatoes. Missy also really like lettuce, sweet potatoes, and ice! For her birthday, we do tomato parties!

Foxie can be a bit picky. Do not give her green foods! Foxie mostly lives for smoothies and fruits! She also likes sweet potatoes (especially baked), tomatoes, and ohhhh she loves avocados! Foxie for her birthday gets watermelon bowls, which are one of her favorites.

Jody is a forager. She loves going on the Hill and finding prickly lettuce, dandelions, cattails, flowers, and whatever else she can find. Jody really likes bananas and carrots. There are many amazing things about Jody, but the best is when she is really content or happy Jody makes the dinosaur groan of satisfaction. That is how we know she is really enjoying something good.

Annie is easy to please. She really likes everything, except for mangoes. She is allergic to mangoes! Annie loves grass, flowers, green onion, and kale.

Burrito LOVES food! Obviously, his favorite is pasta, but he only gets it on special occasions! Burrito is also pretty easy to please. He really like all potatoes, regular or sweet!

*** Willy B, Mave, and Honey B are hesitant to try new foods. Often, they just stare at you when you try to serve them something new and delicious, like you are trying to poison them. For example, for Negra’s brunch we served waffles to everyone. The three just stared at us like we were crazy for offering! Eventually they tried the waffles and enjoyed them. ***

Willy B loves cabbage. He also really likes carrots and sweet potatoes. Willy thinks cucumbers are disgusting. He does not like tea or any other beverage that might look like a suspicious drink. However, Willy B is a fun individual to watch eat. For example, when Willy B eats a carrot or cabbage he eats it like Bugs Bunny!

Mave is a California girl! She loves a really good avocado and fresh pineapple! Mave was hesitant about baked goods, but now she loves baked onions, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes! Mave is always the first one up for breakfast, it might be her favorite meal. Mave will only eat a cucumber if there is nothing else, it is her last choice.

Honey B LOVES lettuce and smoothies! She also likes carrots, popcorn, and brussel sprouts. Something you all should know about Honey B, if you don’t already is that she is the world’s slowest eater! Honey B also rarely eats a cucumber.

When Honey B is eating, she likes to stare deeply into your eyes. We joke that her actually food is our souls. If looks deep enough she will steal it :). I believe this photo embodies that.

Mave eating is pure bliss.

Mave’s facial expression feels almost looks like a taunt. Like, you hungry? Or, you want some of this?

I managed to get an action shot of Willy B eating his cabbage like Bugs Bunny!

Don’t forget to check up on our Wish List! Thanksgiving may be tomorrow, but Christmas is just around the corner and we are slowly adding items on their list!

Foot Box or Head box?

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This is Jamie.

As many may know, Jamie tends to be a more serious chimp and is incredibly intelligent. You can always see the wheels turning in her head. Jamie knows what she likes and isn’t afraid to ask for or demand what she needs. Often when she is gesturing for one of us to put boots on she has a specific boot in mind and we won’t go on a walk until she has the one she wants. She is never scared to ask for what she needs! It might be the trait I admire about her the most. Jamie is a busy body, she will build an amazing nest to settle in for a nice nap and the next moment she is gone grabbing an enrichment item to try to break the howdy door open to see her neighbors. As a disclaimer, it is usually a wooden toy or object that will not break the lock. But, you can’t blame her for having a hard time relaxing when there are so many people to manage. As I have mentioned before, Jamie has a good sense of humor too. When she wants to, she can get downright silly.

In the mornings while we are cleaning the playroom Jamie will often find the caregiver of her choice, have them put on the boot of her choice (Diana’s Xtratuf boots with the blue), walk or run around the Hill, and then settle into a nest or observe us cleaning from the window in the green house. Yesterday, Jamie decided that I should not clean, but instead play… I had given Jamie her new boot catalog which she seemed very pleased about. Jamie took her book and began to build a nest and skimming through the book. At some point, we were playing a game where she would put her hand in the foot box and I would knock on the box. Then Jamie put her head in the box! I would gently knock the box, she did this a few times. Afterward, we played a bit of chase and then she burst into a sprint with her new book in her mouth. I apologized to Chad and took off running to catch up with Jamie on the Hill.

Bonus!

Last Wednesday as we were closing up the chimp house for the night. I found Jody working on some night time enrichment. I have never seen Jody go to such great lengths for night time enrichment before!

A Picture Blog

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Wednesdays are very busy because of our staff meeting and if you combined that with very slow internet, you get a frantic blog writer. I had hoped to make a wonderful video for you all, but the internet gods have said not today. We shall keep our fingers crossed until next week! What I would like to present to you all today is a picture blog, a virtual photo book I suppose. Please enjoy!

I don’t know if winter is fully here yet. However, it is starting to get very cold and snowy.

But, still very beautiful!

Though the chimps enjoy eating the snow. I wouldn’t say they love walking through it that much. But, if we know Jamie no weather will stop her from a walk, but maybe not today… Jamie was busy building nests with her favorite books, boots, and watching J.B. do some maintenance around the chimp house.

Did I mention it was cold this morning? Annie looked out through the raceway, debating if she should go out and grab some snow. Instead she decided her caregiver should just hand it to her.

The dreamboat himself, Willy B. Willy B has been grabbing the biggest coziest blankets he can find lately!

Cold + snow + any day really= Negra in an amazing nest! I almost couldn’t find her!

Missy is a hard chimp to capture a photos of. She is always on the move. I did manage to catch her eating a mid-afternoon snow snack!

I love seeing the cattle with their winter coats!