Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Nesting

Personality Anecdotes

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As you may well know, this sanctuary is chock full of personalities, and the more you get to know the chimpanzees and cattle, the more you appreciate each individual’s many sides.

First, I want to say how incredibly thankful we are for the donations that have been coming in for our year-end fundraising. At this moment we are 35% towards our goal!

Each and every donation is even more meaningful to us this year, and we are so appreciative of all of your support as we work towards the day when we will be telling you all about the personalities of the new six chimpanzees who we hope will be coming from Wildlife Waystation in 2021!

On with the show—

Personality exhibit #1: Betsy

Every once in a while when we go to hang out with the cattle, we discover Betsy has mud caked on all over her face. Our best guess is she dips her head into the soft banks of the creek on purpose. She’s the only one of the four who does this. She seems quite content with the mud, so maybe she’s on to some sort of mountain mud facial.

Personality exhibit #2: Jamie

Today Jamie decided to use the “foot box” as her own personal boot box.

She stored her boots in there for about a half hour, until she was ready to move to another part of the building, boots in hand.

Personality exhibit #3: Negra

Negra is continuing to construct over-the-top, really quite outrageous blanket nests. The photo below is the last view I had of her this evening before turning the lights out.

Looking at that photo above, and learning that Negra often pouts her lips through the caging to kiss her caregivers’ hands generally elicits the impression that Negra is a very sweet chimpanzee.

I’m not going to say that she’s not sweet; she certainly can be, but her personality really is more sharp than saccharine.

As we’ve mentioned before, she has a bit of a mafia boss relationship with Missy in particular. I witnessed this aspect of their relationship yesterday.

The chimpanzees were finishing up their breakfast and I was lucky enough to walk by the front rooms just at the right moment to see Missy attempting to pass Negra while carrying several pieces of primate chow. Negra whimpered and held out her hand. Missy paused just for a second and then proceeded to put all of the chow into Negra’s outstretched hand.

Now, if you didn’t know their individual personalities and just witnessed this moment, you might understandably surmise that Missy was being nice to Negra and her hand off was a moment of altruism. But, Missy also wouldn’t generally be described as “sweet” by those who know her well. Don’t get me wrong, she and Negra have very sweet moments together:

 

Negra and Missy playing

Negra (left) and Missy (right)

but Missy is a very politically shrewd chimpanzee.

Missy likes primate chow, but she doesn’t love it. So it’s not a bad deal for her to give up something that she may consider low value as a “pay off” to keep in good standing with Queen Negra. I would probably do the same thing myself.

Fort Honey B

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Honey B likes to build nests with blankets, toys, paper and boxes. We discovered yesterday that Honey B builds forts. Earlier this week, caregiver Anna and I found a broken down box that we put out for enrichment. As we cleaned the Mezzanine, we noticed the box wasn’t just in the nest as nesting material, but setup almost like a barricade (no photo was taken). Fast forward to yesterday, when we set out more boxes, not really thinking they would actually build a fort. Anna and I were almost done with the day, just finishing up our last checks, when Anna called me on the radio to come look.

It was magnificent! A perfectly circled box fort, with a built in green bench to complete the fort! It looked almost too perfect. We actually had to text our volunteer Lisa to ask if she had set it up. With her confirmation that she did not make the fort, Anna and I could say with confidence that this was Honey B.

I mean, just look at the craftsmanship!

While Honey B built her walls, there were walls being built outside her window this week. The expansion is really coming along!

For Honey B, boxes can be used for other things. This morning, as Anna served the three breakfast, Honey B really wanted to drink some juice that was meant for Mave. In an effort to get the cup off the table, she slyly pushed her flattened box out to its full extent. We couldn’t say no to such a clever attempt, so of course Honey B got to drink some juice as well.

We just absolutely love Honey B. Life is never boring with her by your side 🙂

    

The blanket shredder strikes again!

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As we welcome Autumn to the sanctuary, we also welcome the days of cozy nests. Negra in particular is usually found on top of a mountain of fabric,  with a nice big blanket pulled all the way up to her chin.

And then there’s Jody…  Jody loves a big nest… but she also loves to alter hers in a certain way.

You might notice how Jody’s “shred until comfortable” nesting technique interferes a bit with Negra’s “big blankets are best” nesting technique.  This shredding behavior really came to a head last year and Kelsi had to put out a call for blankets to refresh our supply.  Well that time has come again, we need more blankets!

This time around, we are on the hunt for some heavier duty blankets that are still easy to wash/dry but are less easy to tear in half (in addition to our usual polar fleece blankets).  We think some thicker faux minky type blankets might be what we’re looking for. We need thick blankets with a solid strong edge seam! Check out our Amazon Wishlist for some of the blankets we’ve added so we can keep all the chimps as cozy as can be this year.

Jamie:

Burrito:

Annie:

Willy B:

Mave:

Honey B:

Missy:

 

The Perfect Nest

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Each chimpanzee makes a nest in their own unique way. In fact, I bet most chimpanzee caregivers could name the chimp if someone simply described how they make a nest at night. Here at CSNW, we’ve got Jody, who gathers up as many blankets as possible, throws them over her shoulder and drops half of them in a doorway as she searches for the right bench to sleep on. And Burrito, who throws a single blanket over his shoulder on his way to bed like he is carrying a towel to the swimming pool. And Honey B, who wraps herself up like a to-go burrito. All ten of of the chimps here have a particular style and a ritual when it comes to nest-making. As do most humans, I would assume.

Here are a few bonus photos of Foxie from this morning.

To Know Honey B

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Be loud. Be proud. Be different. Honey B might be a great example of this. Every chimp is unique. They have different preferences, needs, and wants.

Honey B is unlike anyone I have ever met. She is a goof, but she also needs you to take her seriously. She knows what she likes, but is curious to try most new things. She is curious but questions everything. She is always up to something which keeps us on our toes. She is funny and knows it. She seems comfortable with who she is. Honey B has a certain level of intensity that pulls you in or better yet draws you in. I am constantly mesmerized by her. Sometimes it’s because she creatively used enrichment, often it’s because we just played a crazy game of chase that turned into her making up new moves, I actually have a very hard time not laughing out loud when she does something crazy awesome, and other times it’s the intensity of her grooming you. When she grooms you, you are the only one in the room. Honey B is a loyal friend to have, however, Honey B also knows how to stir the pot and then watch the chaos unfold. Also, we can’t forget her incredible fashion sense! Everyday with Honey B is an adventure and life with her is never dull day.

Honey B playing upside down.

Honey B upside down poking me with her toe.

Honey B.

She loves lounging on firehose.

Honey B loves to wrap herself into blankets like a burrito.

Or make an elaborate nest with paper and other enrichment.

Her impeccable taste in fashion.

Honey B wearing a blanket like a sarong.

Chimpanzees are terrible at social distancing

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Even if we were able to explain to the chimpanzees that we thought it would be best for them to keep their distance from one another, I guarantee they would not be compliant. Chimpanzees are in each other’s personal space constantly.

When they are grooming, it can be difficult to see where one chimp begins and the other ends, like Burrito grooming Foxie’s back today:

Even chimpanzees who are more human-focused frequently want physical contact with their caregivers. We’re strict about safety and never want to put ourselves in the position of being harmed by a chimpanzee. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re even more strict as we protect them as much as we can from potentially picking up any viruses from us.

Jamie can still find ways to groom us, or more accurately, groom “her” boots.

As for isolation, chimpanzees don’t take to it very well.

When Burrito was in his long recovery a few months ago, he actually did remarkably well. It helped that he still had contact with his chimpanzee and human companions through the fencing every day and he was able to watch the group to keep tabs on what they were up to. I think he discovered some benefits to being alone, such as midnight bagel deliveries and not having to deal with other chimps during mealtimes. Still, he was more than ready to go back with his group.

Jody has been isolated from her group for the last few days while she recovers from her foot procedure. She too can interact with the other chimpanzees and the humans through the caging, but she’s less comfortable than Burrito with this temporary separation.

I’m sure many of you can relate right now as you isolate alone or with your family.

One of Jody’s favored activities is nesting, so we are providing lots and lots of blankets for her. She, in turn, is ripping up those blankets to create even better nests.

Today Kelsi put a big pile of blanket strips that Jody created in a laundry basket and we put it in front of Jody’s room so she could pick them out herself.

We’re trying to keep her busy, and maybe she’s learning that it’s okay being a spectator instead of in the mix with the other chimpanzees once in a while too:

I heard someone describe this period the world is going through right now as everyone isolated alone, together. We’re glad to be a part of your together.

A Chimp Guide to Shelter in Place

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I am extremely lucky to have a job that requires me to come in to work everyday. During these difficult times, it helps to have something to focus on that’s a welcome distraction from the outside world. Fortunately, the chimps don’t really know what is going outside of CSNW. Life goes on as normal for them! Which is why they have put together a guide to help inspire ideas on how to make self isolation fun. Or at least take your mind off things for 3 minutes and twenty one seconds!

Also….

Honey B has so much confidence. It is truly inspiring. She is always rockin’ some new enrichment.

Neggie’s wonderful face.

Annie enjoying the warm weather on Saturday.

Jamie 🙂

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