Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Rayne

This, That, and The Other

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Throughout the day, I had several ideas for things I wanted to share on the blog. They were all just small things that happened. Everything doesn’t always go as planned, as you may know. Every single time the idea would pop into my head, by the time I got the camera out (either the DLSR camera or my phone camera) the thing I was going to write about vanished. I was, however, still able to get snippets of each thing.

First, I randomly took a photo of a toy school bus inside Jamie’s greenhouse after we got done cleaning it.

I didn’t know that a short time after I took this photo, Jamie would utilize it.

During lunch, she was putting portions of her meal into it and bring it along with her. This is the only photo she allowed me to take from this far away.

Second, as we were cleaning her greenhouse, I was scrubbing the walls when a little friend gave me a startle.

This little frog was just hanging out watching me clean. Nobody seemed to notice them after we gave them access back to the greenhouse. They were more interested in the spread of lilacs we had placed in there for them. Jamie even sat directly above the frog without a single notice.

Speaking of lunch things, one item everyone was served was a romaine heart. You wouldn’t expect anyone to be excited for romaine hearts, however, the chimps LOVE them and were very excited for them.

Rayne took hers and found a secluded spot in the Riverview Greenhouse, away from the commotion of the food peering that was happening inside the playrooms.

After lunch, her group went out onto The Bray. As some were going out, others were going in. As you might suspect, there was a little bit of a traffic jam on the boardwalk. Three of the biggest boys were the cause of this jam. From left to right: Willy B, Terry, Cy

Lastly, there was one final patrol on Young’s Hill before dinner was going to be served. Here are Missy and Burrito returning from the great outdoors.

A New Throne

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Followers who have been reading the blog for a little while may remember the Comfort & Joy Auction from last fall. The items bidders made for the chimpanzees were then highlighted throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas series. Though we covered some, we did not cover all of the items. Mostly because some items took a little longer to get. Well, today were were *finally* able to give the California chimpanzees another one of the items from that auction. Today, Honey B was able to finally get her chair! But before we get to the photos of Honey B using the chair:

Sending a special thank you to

Diane Mattis

Thank you so much for bidding on this item. Honey B wasted no time utilizing it. Every time I went back to their side of the building to get photos her using it, the chimpanzees would stop what they were doing. I was able to get some not so great photos though. It’s the context that counts, right?

Honey B was the first to claim her new seat

When I first found her, she was surrounded by others grooming her on her new throne

As you can see, in one photo, Lucky left when I was trying to get a photo, and Terry left when I tried from a different angle. Hopefully you get the idea though. All three of them (Rayne is also included) were grooming Honey B as she sat atop her throne.

As Honey B was taking in the ambience the new chair brought to Marmot Mountain Playroom, their neighbors were busy enjoying Spring.

One of my favorite things about Spring, and my indication that it is spring, is when the Pacific Bleeding Heart flowers begin to bloom.

This plant lives right outside the door that leads to their front rooms. But there was no time to admire the flowers, or so I was told.

It was time to go around Young’s Hill.

Luckily for me, about half way through our walk/run, Burrito got distracted by some morning Spring grass. Unluckily for me (but actually luckily for me), Missy picked up where he left off.

Missy is a chimp’s chimp. She will choose her family 99.9999999999999% of the time over dealing with the humans. In my case, she usually gives me one or two good acknowledgments a year. But unlike some of my colleagues, my interactions have never been grooming with her or playing tug-o-war. It has always been running around the hill. As you may have guessed, I lose every single time.

When we reached the very top of Young’s Hill, Missy took a break and sat in the shade to lookout upon her home.

When the break was over, it was time for a quick snack of fresh Spring grass.

Not far behind Missy was her best friend, Annie.

And Burrito came around shortly after.

A little later on, they all enjoyed a nice breezy lunch forage. Though she spent some time in her cabin eating the goods she found in it, Negra ultimately decided to grab some last minute picks and take it back to the Greenhouse.

This nice sustained Spring weather has been amazing so far. We hope you are all enjoying the weather wherever you may be as well.

Bonus Photos

Rayne in relaxation mode

Jamie doing her first patrol of the morning

Missy with a lilac bounty she collected from Young’s Hill the other day in honor of Jody

Mave, Dora, and Honey B having a nice lunch together in the outdoor chute during their watermelon bowl forage yesterday

New Beginnings

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I think it is time to celebrate something. This morning started off like any other. Jamie’s group went out onto Young’s Hill, including Negra! It was the perfect morning to forage for grass and feel the warm sunshine.

Negra:

However, later in the afternoon we closed off Young’s Hill because… Rayne’s group went out on the the Bray for the first time!!!!!! I don’t think any of us expected this group to explore so much the first time, it was amazing to watch.

Rayne walked out onto the Bray, not a hair was pilo, like she had always belonged there. It was really magical to watch her be so confident walking out into the unknown, she was truly at ease.

Terry explored so much!

Willy B surprised us! He never really explored much when he was in the the old courtyard, but today he explored everything, even the top of Esher.

There is so much more we want to share, but it will have to wait until tomorrow! All I want to say is that we are so proud of them, not everyone went out, it will still take some time for them to get comfortable, but today for all of us staff this felt sooo good!

We will be splitting Hill time between the two groups until Rayne’s group becomes more comfort and secure on the Bray, but we have started the process!

Bonus photos of Foxie:

Grief

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I guess I will start this blog on a personal note, and if you stick with me, I think I will make it come full circle. If not, I appreciate you all just being here reading the words that have been running around in my head :).

Grief looks different for every human and non-human. Grief has played a large role in my personal life and if I am honest my professional life as well. I would not be the person I am today without it. Grief and opportunity lead me to make some amazing impulsive decisions that at another time in life I may not have taken the risks or the leap. With the loved ones I have lost, the feeling doesn’t go away. Slowly, we heal and find a way to manage the void left behind. For me, their absence in life is always here, but I have learned that it is okay to acknowledge the sadness of a loved one you had hoped to share more memories with, over time it does get easier to cope with.

As I mentioned before, grief looks different for each individual. Some let the grief swallow them whole and come out of it when it is time, others mask with humor, or avoid, some make themselves so busy they can’t think about it. None are wrong, just different. For me, though I can express myself around others and share my feelings, showing those emotions is a different story. I tend to avoid my feelings and mask them with humor until I am alone, and then let the grief swallow me whole so that no one has to take care of me… because I do the care-taking. It’s hard to take care of the people who usually do the caring.

We as caregivers wear many hats and a difficult aspect of that is that we do see a lot of trauma. Some days we are just caregivers and other days we are jumping into help with an unexpected procedure or observing wounds to make sure it doesn’t need medical intervention. While other days, it’s a lot of emotional trauma of hearing the chimps scream and fight- hoping it doesn’t turn into an injury. This job can be hard because we cannot ask them to stop or always protect them from harm, no matter how much we try. Sometimes I don’t think we talk about the struggles that we endure enough. It isn’t always something we have time to unpack, we recognize it, make a note of it, but we have to continue to care for the other chimps. On the other side of the trauma, the things we endure can have incredible outcomes. Burrito is our miracle chimp, against all odds he made it and with everything he has been through, he has only gotten more hungry for life. Or making the group of 9, there were so many emotions during the intro process, watching them figure each other out, not knowing if it would work out, but here they are, one year together as a group. While we may have helped facilitate the intros, it is an incredible accomplishment made by Cy’s group.

For us humans (and the chimps too), I think as the days have passed by, we are slowly unpacking everything that unfolded. Everyone was working around the clock to help Jody and her family. Now that we have stopped moving the grief is settling in. The beauty of the individuals that I am so lucky to be surrounded by at CSNW, is though we may be unpacking in our own ways, everyone is there for each other. The community of CSNW is one of the warmest, most comforting places to be a part of. It makes someone like me uncomfortable to be vulnerable, accept sympathy, or even cry in front of someone not so hard. I am so unbelievably lucky to work with such remarkable people who can not only console the chimps who have lost such an important member of their group, but to also console each other when losing such a remarkable chimp like Jody.

Jody was everything that sanctuary embodied. Jody had gone through so many traumas in life. Jody didn’t owe us anything- especially her trust or friendship. But Jody was resilient, she was strong, she was brave, and she was so loving to the individuals she cared for. Jody stayed that way even in her final days. CSNW gave her security, safety, and love. Jody’s friendship was something to earn, but when she let you in, you were loved so fiercely and so loyally. For 15 years Jody enjoyed everything that sanctuary had to offer her and we are only better for knowing her.

I would like to share a few of my favorite blogs of Jody. One of my all time favorite memories of Jody is when she helped Foxie build the courage to climb up the Twister. Jody and Foxie worked on it for many morning before Foxie finally made it up there. I also loved a few weeks ago when J.B. found Negra out on a structure on the top of the Hill, that morning Jody made sure Negra went outside, almost as if they had a plan to get Negra up there and of course Jody was waiting for Negra to come back. Any of the great pumpkin heists! Watching Jody foraging for leafy greens. I also really loved this particular video of Jody and Negra playing!

Because my blog was not particularly uplifting, I will leave you with a few interactions with the chimps that have helped me get through this week.

The first day I came back from Jody’s passing, I was greeted by Negra. She was breathy panting, grooming my hands and my elbow. She would give me kisses for long periods of time. Negra would put her forehead on the mesh for me to knuckle rub, then her back to groom, and even her foot to knuckle rub. If anyone knows Negra, she really never gives her foot like that, like at all. Every time we made eye contact, we would just breathy pant together for long periods of time. We did these things together for at least 20 minutes.

Jamie and I went for one of the longest walks we had been on in a while. When I came back from the walk, I went through the greenhouses on Honey B’s side of the building. Honey B greeted me by giving me her belly and breathy panting followed by sweet kisses and grooming on the back of my hand. Honey B also was holding a plank of wood she had proudly found and wasn’t ready to give it to Caregiver Chad just quite yet. Gordo stopped by to tickle my hand and ask to play chase. Cy came by to look longingly in my eyes. Rayne came to inspect my toes (I was wearing one sandal and on the other was Jamie’s current favorite boot), and Terry gave me a very tender kind kiss. After I played a little chase with Honey B, I came back to Jamie where she was ready to receive her boot. After I gave Jamie her boot she went off to make a nest, which allowed Burrito and I played a mellow game of tickle, slow chase, and follow his lips- where he gives you kisses on the back of your hand and you follow this lips around all different parts of the mesh.

Yesterday, I was on Rayne’s side of the building for cleaning. I went upstairs to clean greenhouse 3 where Rayne met me. We sat across from each other through the double mesh. Rayne ate her breakfast chow while she stared into my eyes for a while. After, I started to clean again when Honey B showed up. Honey B and I, again much like Rayne, sat across from each other through the double mesh. She breathy panted and put her face on the mesh to give a kiss, though we couldn’t reach each other through the double mesh, I put my face up again the mesh to give a kiss back, Honey B and I did this for a while before she too moved on… I am sure to find some mischief : ). Gordo stopped by in between the kisses and wanted to play, but he didn’t want to wait long enough for Honey B and I to be done. And Mave stopped by in between to put her face up to the mesh and stare into my eyes before she left to find her Dora. After Honey B left, I started to clean again when Cy joined me upstairs. Cy and I played a silly game of chase and gazed into each other’s eyes. Eventually, everyone moved on and I finished cleaning.

These were some sweet moments that helped me in my moments of grief this week.

It’s easy to dwell, but the interactions I have had with the chimps this week are a good reminder of why we do what we do. I feel like everyone has come forward in their own small way to heal. I find solace in our dedication to the chimps. Each of them are beings with such depth, we owe it to them.

Silly Burrito:

Jamie in a giant nest:

And a few of sweet Jo <3:

 

Different Interests

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The beauty of sanctuary here at CSNW is that every chimpanzee gets to explore their interests. Jamie has her boots and books, Foxie has her dolls, Mave has her Dora, Dora has her Mave, Honey B always has mischievous plans, and Cy has his magazines. Recently, Cy has found something else that has peaked his interest, romance and romcom movies. Cy is the leader of his group, but to us staff he really is a big softy. So it really didn’t surprise us when he seemed to love movies like The Notebook, Love Actually, Must Love Dogs, and Hitched. What did surprise us is that Cy will now request a movie before bed, to which we say, of course!  It’s very sweet, his caregivers will set a sleep timer for his movie, usually The Notebook, then Cy will make a nest in front room 7 and eventually fall asleep to his movie.

We also believe that Cy is a BIG Ryan Gosling fan. If you have any romcom DVDs gathering dust please feel free to send them to Cy! I am curious now- what everyone’s favorite RomCom?

Bonus photos! Rayne and Honey B are half sisters, can you tell?

Sack Lunch Review

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Recently, Netflix released a brand new show available for streaming called Chimp Empire. The documentary follows the lives of the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park. The Ngogo group has always piqued my interest. They were, and still are, the largest community of wild chimpanzees to ever be documented with more than 160 members. To give you an idea of how big that is, the average number of chimpanzees in a group is usually somewhere between 15 to 30. I would highly recommend anyone who can to watch it. The footage is some of the best footage I have seen come out of a research area. The only other time I saw footage this amazing was from the Disneynature movie Chimpanzee.

Usually when shows or movies like this come out, I usually watch them with a grain of salt. Usually programs as such over dramatize the stories or just plain make them up. For example, Disney’s Chimpanzee had amazing footage, however parts of the story that was told was somewhat stretched. By “somewhat” I mean “really” stretched. When I first began studying chimpanzees, the best piece of advice my professor gave me was to watch films like these and be amazed by the footage, but tune out the narration. With Chimp Empire, I took the same approach to watching it, however I will say the narration of the chimpanzee hierarchy and politics is pretty spot on.

Whenever I watch any show that has chimpanzees (or any primate really), I always feel a little bit awkward watching them. I work with chimpanzees, and prior to that, studied them. So why would I do anything in my personal life that is related to my professional life? It’s even a little more awkward if I watch them with anyone else because I am 100% that person who will point out the flaws/inaccuracies in these nature shows (and yes, I do cite my sources).

As I watch them though, I usually begin to justify my viewing because to me it is different. There many many similarities I see between the chimpanzees in the show and the ones I work with. There are, however, many many differences as well. To me, watching chimpanzees in the wild and watching them in captivity is like watching two completely different species. As I’m typing this, I’m starting to realize I don’t even know if I can describe it properly to make it make sense to a broader audience. I guess one of my theories is watching chimpanzees in the wild there a certain flow to how they interact with each other and how and why they do things. Most of this societal flow is learned at a very early age with the mother as an important role in shaping their offspring’s behavior. In contrast, chimpanzees in the sanctuary world never had that opportunity to learn from their mothers, or pass that knowledge down to their offspring. In a certain way, chimpanzees in a captive setting (not including AZA accredited zoos) are figuring things out as they go. This why introductions with chimpanzees who never met each other can be difficult; they have learned what the could from each other growing up with no “seasoned” individual to pass on their knowledge. It’s even more complicated when dealing with a chimpanzee that came from the entertainment world because they pretty much have zero social skills since most don’t even see another chimpanzee until the finally find a sanctuary home. And yes! It really is heartbreaking to think about in what they have missed not being born and raised in the wild.

So if you have the capability, I do recommend watching the footage from Ngogo in Chimp Empire. I give the footage 5 out of 5 Razzle Tazzle Terry Berries.

Speaking of Terry, today him and his group had a nice lunch forage in their greenhouses. We decided to spice up their lunch with the addition of one of their favorite food puzzles: grab bags! Usually, grab bags are filled with toys, scarves, socks, and a food puzzle of the caregivers choice. I tend to think the reason why grab bags are such a popular item because you never know what you’re going to get when you grab one. This time, we also included parts of their lunch. Being thrilled is one way of putting their reaction when their lunch was brought out to be set up.

Terry flipping through a magazine with peanut butter smeared between pages in the out door chute

Gordo going “all in” on his grab bag

He found a piece of pineapple at the bottom of his bag

Willy B looking around for what he is going to go for next

Mavis!

Cy found some walnuts and hazelnuts in one of the bags he grabbed

Beautiful Rayne!

Speaking of Rayne, she seemed to enjoy a cardboard bookcase we set up in the Mezzanine

Honey B!

Gordo taking it easy after lunch was over

Then there is this guy…

Burrito spent pretty much all day sitting at the window watching everyone who passed by in the outdoor chute. He even took his dinner to go!

What’s in the blog? WHAT’S IN THE BLOG!?!?

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The answer is a few things are in today’s blog!

First up is this series of photos I got of Mora yesterday. For those who are new to the blog, Mora is the name staff have loving given Mave and Dora when they are together. Usually where you find one, you’ll find the other. These photos I got from the perspective of the foot box while I was playing with Dora. I had a hard time deciding which photo would make it to the blog. However, after consulting with other staff members, the answer was all of them should just make it since they too had a hard time deciding.

Dora and Mave through the foot box:

Next up, I have been thinking recently about some of the amazing soundtracks/compilation albums. As I was listening to one on the way to work the other day, I asked myself, which songs would be a part of “Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest: The Soundtrack.” Enlisting some help, here are the songs staff think would make a pretty good Spotify playlist:

“Baby Love” by The Supremes

“Enter Sandman” by Richard Cheese (Metallica cover song)

“Feel the Noize” by Quiet Riot (Slade cover song)

“Heavenly Day” by Patty Griffin

“Ice, Ice, Baby” by Vanilla Ice

“Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen

“The Rocky Montage” from the movie “Rocky”

“Get Ur Freak On” by Missy Elliot

“Murder Train” song from the television show “How I Met Your Mother”

“The Girl from Ipanema” by Antônio Carlos Jobim

Everyone had their reason for their choice. Like how “Enter Sandman” was listened to during the transport of Willy B, Honey B, and Mave from Wildlife Waystation. Or how a staff member sings “Baby Love” with some lyric substitutions to include Honey B. If you had a song that you think would be on a soundtrack about the sanctuary, which one would you choose?

Lastly, early giving has opened up for our GiveBig campaign. This year we hope to raise $50,000 for our BIG personalities, BIG appetites, and BIG plans for the future! Every little bit helps us reach our goal to provide the best life for our residents. The actual date for GiveBig is May 2-3. Be sure to check out our fundraiser page here!

Bonus photos

Who is going all in for their daily night bag?

It’s Honey B!

And near by was her half-sister, Rayne!

Jody enjoying a wadge of what remains of her lunch cucumber!