Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Lucky Day

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I recently was graced with a sweet and fun play session with Lucky! See today’s video to join in on the fun. Usually when Lucky wants to spend time together, she invites me to groom, so this was an extra special treat. She loved being tickled with a durable spoon, and we drew a small crowd of chimps as the play session went on who wanted to join in on the fun…Gordo, Cy, and Terry all wanted to be involved at different points (and got some one-on-one time once Lucky and I were done!). I’d like to credit my original chimp friends from Chimp Haven (Agnes and Juan especially) for teaching me all the best chimp tickle spots. Lucky seemed to approve.

I thought I’d also provide a brief George update as I know he has many friends that are wishing him all the best. He is getting more and more comfortable in his new home and exploring his surroundings by the day! We have been thrilled to see him start nesting (to learn more about nesting and see it in action, see previous posts here and here), both with blankets and paper. We learned that he enjoys paper towels and uses them to wipe his hands and face, especially after his morning smoothie to take care of that pesky smoothie mustache.

It’s easy to see how George has captured the hearts of so many, he is such a sweet and gentle individual. We are enjoying getting to know him, and hope you all are enjoying getting to know us and the other 15 chimpanzees, 3 cows, and one very handsome barn cat (aptly named Barn Kitty – pictured below) who also call CSNW home! We are so happy to have you here!

A Day Full of Laughs and Little Moments

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Today was a pretty busy day for humans and non-humans! As you will see in the video, there is not better way to pass the time than playing and spending quality time with an old friend. Foxie and Burrito spent quite a bit of time laughing and playing with each other while we cleaned their Playroom. Their friendship always warms my heart. Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, George had an exciting moment, received access to the chute again! Click here to watch the video of George using the chute for the first time! It was a big spectacle, especially for  Cy’s group, who had the best view and were very curious observers.

I’ll be honest, it was a bit noisy throughout the chimp house today (but hey, that’s life with chimps!). Eventually, things settled down, and George got to enjoy some peaceful solo exploration of the chute. Every day brings something new, and today was full of connection, curiosity, and a little bit of chaos—the best kind.

Click here for today’s video!

Settling in with George

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In today’s blog video, see how George is starting to settle into life at CSNW!

I’ve been thinking a lot about George and all that awaits him. I am especially excited to see what he thinks of The Bray, which got me thinking about Willy B’s many (some recent!) milestones exploring The Bray. Here are a few more photos from his big adventure to the top of The Bray recently!

Play On Their Terms

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Some chimps love to play with their human friends.  Think Burrito, Cy, Terry.  Others are less interested in human interaction, for different reasons.

Annie and Gordo are two of these chimps.

I don’t often get to interact with Annie.  She tends to be a nervous chimp, and it seems like she is a little uncomfortable about interactions at the mesh caging.  Most of my interactions with Annie have happened with a window between us.  I jump at these opportunities!

Gordo likes to play chase with his human friends.  But you have to be paying attention to his cues, because they are quite subtle.  On this occasion, Diana had been playing with Willy B (another chimp that engages less often with caregivers) and Gordo wanted to play, too.  So I attempted to entertain Gordo.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t into it.  I tried a few different methods, with little success.  Until I tried, what I like to call, “I’m gonna get you” (one of Burrito’s favorite games!).  Gordo loved it, and laughed so hard Diana could hear him throughout the building!

I hope you enjoy today’s video of me with Annie and Gordo, playing on their terms!

 

Marvelous Miss Mavis

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Some of the greatest joys of being a chimpanzee caregiver are all the little moments spent with the chimps each day… games of chase, tickles, grooming, kisses (safely, to the backs of our hands), breathy-panting, and getting to be downright silly with our chimpanzee friends every day. And we get paid to do it! In today’s blog video, join me for a surprise (to me) play session with Mave!

Mave is someone who does not often seek attention from me, and that’s okay! It is completely up to her who she wants to interact with and when, and oftentimes she prefers the company of her chimpanzee friends to the humans. So imagine my surprise when I arrived at the sanctuary one morning and there she was, breathy panting and head bobbing…at me! I looked around briefly to see if it was directed at someone else, before realizing my time had come. I dropped everything I was doing and accepted that we’d be running a little bit behind schedule that morning, because that’s what you do when Mave wants to play!

 

Good Morning Cardio

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Over the course of the years, you may have seen some of the videos posted by other caregivers of them greeting the chimpanzees in the morning. Most of those videos include head nodding, breathy panting, kisses, grooming, etc. Nice slow and calm morning greeting one could expect. But not all caregivers are greeted in the morning the same way. My mornings usually consist of some kind of cardio activity.

Note: The video has been sped up as to not allow the video to stay in it’s nearly 20 minute length it was. I was going to add some music to accompany the video, but I think it’s better with the pitter patters and chimpmunk (see what I did there) voices. And if you’re looking at the time stamps of the footage, the time stamps are different by an hour. This is because there are two security camera systems. From time to time they have to be calibrated so the times can sync up. It was when find this footage I realize I had forgotten to calibrate them after Daylight Savings Time. (They’re sync’d now.)