Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Missy

Fresh Produce & Green Grass

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We are really excited because today we put in our first online order for a Charlie’s Produce delivery that will come straight to the sanctuary! Before Covid-19, Charlie’s was our primary source for produce that we picked up at a nearby business. However, when Covid-19 hit, a lot of things changed and we had to start shopping for produce in person. In addition to the convenience for staff, Charlie’s also has an amazing assortment of fresh produce and the chimps will get to have a lot of variety in the food we serve them! On Saturday’s blog, Diana said that it never gets old to watch the chimps forage. That is so true and it never gets old watching them enjoy food that excites them!

There are a lot of different ways to donate to the sanctuary like becoming a pal to the chimps or bovines, sponsoring a day on the blog, but my personal favorite is becoming a produce patron. What is more rewarding than donating towards the thing that brings the chimps the most joy (their food!)?

Whenever I serve the chimps I feel so thankful for everyone’s donations and feel blessed to be able to hear the sounds of the chimps eating. Listening to Jody making dinosaur-like food grunts or Burrito food squeaking for sweet potatoes is simply the best. If you are ever looking to find a way to donate, become a produce patron and just imagine Foxie blowing raspberries for fruit smoothies, Honey B food grunting for a head of lettuce, Or Willy B eating his leeks like Bugs Bunny. That will always put a smile on your face.

Foxie eating her banana this morning.

Negra eating some celery.

And a carrot.

Jamie sitting on the firehose is the best and Foxie holding her carrot with her foot is pretty great too.

As much as I just talked about fresh produces, today’s real theme in the chimp house seemed to be grass. Everyone at some point was out on Young’s Hill foraging for grass!

Jody foraging for grass.

Burrito finding some shade and grass.

Missy searching high and low for some good grass.

Negra has been out morning around on the Hill a lot this spring.

Foxie doing Foxie things.

Burrito Distractions

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Burrito is the best kind of distraction. This video of Burrito doing a headstand and rolling in paper is a perfect example. He can certainly entertain himself, but it’s hard to get any work done around here! He is always getting someone to play with him, human or non-human. Just ask Chad!

The weather today was amazing. And it looks like it’s only going to get better. We have been trying to take advantage of this weather, so we did a lunch forage again!

Missy was very pleased when she found a head of lettuce!

Burrito had his hands full of tomatoes and lettuce.

This was such a sweet moment, Missy giving Jody reassurance.

Jamie with a beautiful troll scarf.

This is how I found Mave this morning :).

Now I shall leave you with one last photo of sweet Negra.

Lunch with Honey B, Willy B, and Mave

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Yesterday, I served Honey B, Willy B, and Mave lunch. Honey B could not have been more excited about sweet potatoes! She was food squeaking and breathy panting before I could video most of it. It is a true pleasure to serve the chimps meals. I can be so fun because it’s the simple things like sweet potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, or even ice that they just go crazy for. Today was another busy day of construction on the new playrooms and a staff meeting. So please enjoy this video of chimps eating and some photos!

This morning Missy and Annie were playing. I tried to snap some photos, but the lighting wasn’t great. However, these silhouettes photos actually turned out kind of cool!


Missy has such a great play face in these photos.

Missy in the green house.

This morning as the seven where given access to Young’s Hill, Jamie took a friend along. Foxie has been obsessed with this St. Patrick’s Day themed soft troll, but this morning Jamie was carrying it around :).

Jamie taking a nap in the playroom.

Or so I thought…

The weather was so amazing today. While the three were hand served and soaked up the sun in the chute, the seven had a Hill forage.

Burrito found some lettuce in Negra’s cabin.

With a mouth full of lettuce, he went to find some more!

So, he climbed.

And climbed!

Negra was spotted foraging for one of her favorites, lettuce.

Jamie of course got a good haul.

While we cleaned the playroom, I found a ripped out page from Jamie boot book in a very cozy nest. I am not sure if I should feel humbled or nervous. Is this a message of some kind ;)?

I will leave you all with a kiss from Burrito.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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My goodness today was a busy day! We had two great parties for the chimps and a staff meeting too! The seven celebrate with a Hill forage and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. On the other side Honey B, Willy B, and Mave celebrated with some pots of gold in the chute as well as a St. Patrick themed meal. What was on the menu you might be asking? Of course, there was lots of cabbage, beets, potatoes, and corn! Since today was so busy I thought maybe I would let the photos speak for themselves.

Here is a photo of the three’s pots of gold(en potatoes). It was a great day to eat in the chute and sit in the warm sunshine.

And another photo of what was for lunch!

Negra was the first one out for the party!

Jody got a few good hauls of cabbage.

Burrito didn’t do too bad either.

Missy zipped around everyone snatching up cabbage and potatoes left and right!

Annie took a more low key approach than Missy.

Foxie took a birds eye view approach.

And Jamie, well Jamie did every well for herself :).

I love this photo of her.

The three didn’t really want their photos taken today, but I managed to get a few.

When Mave saw lunch she got very excited! You can see she is pilo in this photo. Mave was hooting and asking for reassurance.

Willy B enjoying some corn!

And Honey B enjoying her pot of gold(en potatoes).

Give Them a Show

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We often see the seven put on a show for the three and vice versa the three do big displays towards the seven. Some can be to show off or impress each other, some are to warn or threaten, and others might be because things were getting a little chummy and they wanted a reaction from someone on the other side. In the winter, we have to close the chute off at night. We tend to shift the three up into the mezzanine in the morning. That way we can clean the front rooms and chute right away so we can let the three have access to their outside enclosure as soon as possible. For the seven, we try to shift them into the front rooms or green house so we can clean the playroom first. This is my long-winded way of explaining that once we have finished cleaning the phase 1 front rooms and the playroom it is the first time the three and seven have seen each other since the day before. The playroom gives a great view of the chute. So, when the seven are shifted into their freshly clean playroom we often hear the chimps yelling or displaying at each other. It’s short lived. However, Jamie occasionally shows off a bit for Willy B and she definitely had his attention! Willy B is always stealing glances at Jamie, I mean who wouldn’t!

After her big display, it was time to settle into a good book, or two, or three!

And since I was there to hand her some books she agreed to have her photo taken.

It’s Wednesday, so we need some bonus photos!

Negra was the first one out this morning!

She was having a craving for fresh snow.

Jamie <3.

Jamie and Missy thinking about grabbing some snow snacks too.

I found Mave rolling around in this blanket.

I took this photo on Thursday or Friday when it was very cold. Honey B grabbed the biggest blanket and sat out in the chute.

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.