Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Chow wadge

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In the wild, chimpanzees create a wadge when eating certain types of food. A wadge is simply a ball of food that is placed in the lower lip and sucked on. Wadging can be a way to extract juice and nutrients from foods that are too fibrous to swallow, or it can be a way to extract the flesh from fruits that have bitter or poisonous seeds. Chimps sometimes create a wadge when eating small bits of egg or meat by adding leaves and chewing everything together. Some think that this might just be a way to prolong the enjoyment of a scarce but highly valued food.

Whatever the ultimate reason may be, it’s clear that some foods are just meant to be wadged, and primate chow is high on that list. As Annie demonstrates here, you start but dumping the entire bag into your mouth and arranging them into your lower lip.

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Then, add water.

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Make sure you take out the wadge once and a while to check on its progress.

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Then, sit back and enjoy!

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The Wonder of the Season

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For Burrito, the wonder of Christmas includes Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s traditional hanging (and therefore spinning) Christmas tree. Just see the earnest look on his face in the photo below:

Burrito chimpanzee gazing at tree

Not surprisingly, the reason he is so enamored with this tradition is because it involves food. Today we stuffed the tree with mini-bananas and coconut covered dates. Jamie monopolized the tree in the beginning.

Jamie spinning tree

Jamie spinning tree

Jamie spinning tree

Missy, being Missy, tried a more daring approach

Missy stand xmas tree hanging

Foxie looked on from above

Foxie looking down at xmas tree from catwalk

Once Burrito thought it was okay with Jamie to approach, he joined her in the tree worshiping

Burrito looking into tree

Burrito gazing at tree

and spinning

Burrito spinning tree

Burrito and Jamie look at tree

Jamie and Burrito spinning tree

Later, someone decided to pull the tree up onto the catwalk, which provided some browsing – the chimpanzees like to eat the pine needles too, making the whole tree a treat!

Negra sit by tree

and it served as a nesting companion for Negra too

Negra lay by tree

 

Sugarplums

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While today was more like spring than winter outside, inside the chimp house is looking pretty Christmasy. Volunteer Denice decorated the Christmas tree with lights, the boot ornaments that Karen Young gave us last year, holiday photo ornaments of each chimpanzee, monogrammed stockings from Jayne R. (one for each chimpanzee), and some toys. The troll doll elf tree-topper is not pictured, because it didn’t last long – as soon as Foxie spotted it, she wanted to hold it.

christmas tree 2013

Jamie was quite interested in the decorating process, and we’ve been removing and showing the ornaments to all of the chimps over the last few days. They gaze for a long time at the photo ornaments, and Jamie loves the little cowboy boots, of course.

Jamie watching Denice decorate the tree

Jamie looking on as Denice decorates the tree

Holiday songs and sayings have been making frequent appearances in my thoughts all week long (you too?), and today I was thinking about ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and sugar plums dancing through sleeping heads.

It reminded me that I have been wanting to explain one of my favorite times of day at the chimp house when I’m Lead Caregiver. It’s when the day is over.

All of the chimpanzees have contentedly-full bellies from their dinner and night bags, they’ve gathered up all of their blankets and made their cozy nests for the night, the caregivers have said goodnight, and, if we’re lucky, we’ve gotten a nest grunt in return. The rest of the staff and volunteers have left for the evening, and I’m alone in the quiet.

I feel satisfied after doing a day of physical work – cleaning and, quite literally, running around. I can glance around the kitchen and see what’s been accomplished during the day.

I think about the last several hours with the chimpanzees and reflect on the many endearing, amazing, surprising moments that have occurred. I think about the chimps on the other side of the kitchen door sleeping soundly, and I feel so gratified that we were able to provide them with yet another day of sanctuary where their needs are the main focus.

Even with a job you love, it’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of everyday tasks or looming deadlines. And, to be frank, it can be stressful to rely on donations – to be thinking about money and fundraising all the time (perhaps now would be a good time to mention the Holiday Pal Fundraising Contest). But being able to experience the profound peace at the end of the day in the chimp house and know that this exists because of the work and support of thousands of caring people is a giant gift – for the chimps and for my own motivation to continue to provide the best care we possibly can for them.

So, here’s to  sugar plums or whatever other treats or happy thoughts we want dancing through heads tonight and every night.

Negra sleeping

Grooming Tools

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Chimpanzees mainly groom themselves and one another directly with their hands and mouths, but a couple of the chimps at CSNW use tools for grooming. Missy likes to groom herself with a splinter of wood. Sometimes she just scratches herself, but other times she can be like a surgeon with her instrument as she picks at a bump or scab. In fact, volunteer Deb once saw Missy use a wood splinter to open up a small abscess that had gone unnoticed by the staff. As a former nurse, she said the process was not all that unlike how a doctor would perform what they call an I&D (incision and drainage – sorry to gross you out), though hopefully your doctor would use a sterile instrument and not a stick.

Jamie, on the other hand, uses tools to groom her caregivers. I think this is mainly because of what she wants to groom. As you may know, the caregivers at CSNW only present certain parts of their bodies to the chimps for contact (e.g., a bare elbow) and only in limited circumstances. This is because there is always the potential for a chimpanzee – even someone that we are good friends with – to grab us and injure us. So if Jamie wants to touch our fingers or the tops of our shoes, she has to use a tool. Jamie knows this and seems to enjoy grooming with a tool even more than using her fingers. Sometimes she even tries to reach into our pockets or lift up our shirts to see our bellies.

We often describe Jamie as “intense,” and if you look at her eyes while she is grooming or using a tool, you can see the focus and concentration that she has. You can also see her display sympathetic mouth movements as she grooms, which Diana described in the comments section on a previous blog post.

More fun in the sun

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In general, chimpanzees tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves, but Missy just takes it to another level. Today, you could see the joy in her eyes as she scanned the hill, trying to decide which way she would run and what things she would climb and jump off of along the way.

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After some deliberation, it seems she decided she would run every which way and jump off of everything.

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From the looks of it, it was as fun as she thought it would be.

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The other chimps weren’t quite as energetic, but they all seemed to enjoy this unusually beautiful December weather we are having now. Annie and Jody walked to the top of the hill together.

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Burrito tried to tag along, but his bipedal walking (something he does when he ventures past his comfort zone on the hill) slowed him down.

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Foxie followed close behind him, balancing a yellow-haired troll on her back.

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And Jamie made her way around the perimeter of the hill as she always does, making a slight detour to cross the log bridge where she politely reminded the photographer that he should get moving because the walk was not over yet.

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Negra enjoys the sun more than anyone, but she chose to soak in the rays from her comfortable nest on the heated playroom catwalk. And with everyone else out on the hill, she finally had some peace and quiet.

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Veterinary Clinic Progress

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I’m happy to say we have more progress to report on the veterinary clinic!

With the help of our supporters and some generous foundations and businesses, we’ve been able to check more items off of our wishlist. Patrick and Carrie Hardie facilitated the donation of a steam autoclave, an automated external defibrillator (AED), and many other supplies. And Project V.E.T.S. has come through for us again. First, they connected us with Willamette Equine Veterinary Services in Oregon, who donated an automatic x-ray processor. Then, they awarded us with a grant that allowed us to shop for new and reconditioned equipment at apexx Veterinary Equipment, and apexx generously donated the first 25% of the cost of every item. This allowed us to purchase a laryngoscope set and an IV fluid pump (pictured below).

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We’ve also been busy at the sanctuary making a place for the clinic next to the chimp building. One reason for this is this is that we don’t want to have to travel too far with an anesthetized chimpanzee on a stretcher. But more importantly, it’s best for the clinic to be in a secure environment in the event that a chimpanzee comes out of anesthesia unexpectedly. We could either reinforce the trailer to make it chimp proof, or simply park it within the perimeter fence that already surrounds the building. We chose to do the latter, but that entailed extending the fence 10 feet to the west, relocating the entry gate, and adding 60 feet of gravel driveway. Thankfully, volunteer Mark spent some cold mornings with us setting posts and running wire.

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With the fence modifications complete, we were also able to begin the installation of the wildfire sprinkler system, a project made possible by a grant from the ASPCA. A high-pressure pump will send water through PVC pipes around the base of the fence and up to sprinklers mounted on the tops of the fence posts. The pump will be powered by a generator and the sprinklers will soak the chimp house and surrounding area in the event of another wildfire.

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It goes without saying that the health and safety of the chimps is our top priority, so we are incredibly grateful to all of our supporters that make improvements like these possible. Thank you!