Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Rayne

All About the Girls and Cardboard

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Sometimes the best enrichment is the most simple enrichment. For example, all the chimps love boxes whether it’s to help build a nest, use as a tool to display with, or just play with. As you will see in the photos below and video above playing seemed to be the theme today!

As we continue on with our intro week we decided to try an all girl group again. Honey B, Mave, Rayne, and Lucky all volunteered to be a part of it today. We had tried this group before and their behaviors weren’t positive enough to open the door. But it has been a while and they all have done other introductions with each other so we thought we would give it another go! They did amazing, so good that they stayed with each other all afternoon. Rayne was just a jokester the whole time. At one point she was wrestling all three ladies! Honey B hasn’t had a person in her group to match her energy in a long time, Honey B and Rayne are a perfect match! Watching these four chimpanzees grow and develop friendships has been a true honor.

Now for box photos!

Gordo in a box:

Gordo having pomegranates in his box:

Lucky on a bench in a box:

A bonus photo of the handsome Cy:

And of course we could never forget that today is Honey Cow’s 14th birthday! She enjoyed the warm sunshine on a brisk day, fresh hay with her friends, and some tasty cob that Betsy swore was for her ;).

Getting to know Honey over the past few years has been a privilege. She is a fierce and loyal friend, self-assured, she can be sweet, and she is not afraid to tell you to go away! Cheers to the amazing Honey.

Jamieween 2021!

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Jamieween is finally here! Today we celebrated the one and only Jamie’s 44th Birthday, as well as Halloween! Today was full of scarecrows, pumpkins, pomegranates, shrunken apple heads, birthday gifts for Jamie, and much much more! The chimpanzees here had quite the celebration today. Enrichment Coordinator, Chad did such a good job planning all of this for them. A huge thank you to everyone who bought items for today off of our wish list! Everything really added to the celebration today. Also, thank you to all of the care staff who helped get these great videos and photos!

I hope that Jamie and the rest of the chimpanzees here enjoyed themselves today. I know we all enjoyed watching them. Back in the day my time as an intern here only breached the surface of who Jamie is and I’m getting to know her so much better. I’m still leaning some Jamie language, but its a fun ride and it is a privilege to be able to help care for her. She is definitely a special chimpanzee.

Jamie’s group had a 2 part celebration that began in their Greenhouse. Willy B enjoyed time in the Courtyard with his scarecrow while Mave and Honey B celebrated inside. The Lucky Six enjoyed their pumpkins and Halloween bags full of things like nuts and cabbage.

Shrunken apple heads!

Jamie enjoying her pumpkin bags next to her new book.

Jamie gathering as many as she can.

Missy taking over after Jamie moved on.

Annie investigating the scarecrow.

Missy enjoying her pomegranate next to the scarecrow.

Burrito with his corn on Young’s Hill.

Foxie with her pomegranate.

Foxie made sure her doll got to enjoy the forage.

Negra found lots of Brussels sprouts.

Jody trying to carry as much as she can to enjoy her food back in the Greenhouse.

Jamie found three pomegranates!

Terry enjoying the celebration.

Lucky found some goodies.

Cy taking a break from reading.

Dora with her forage finds.

Gordo and Dora.

Rayne took hers to the Greenhouse.

Mave and Willy B are excited about pumpkins!

Mave and her pumpkin.

Honey B enjoying her stash.

Willy B found some pumpkin bags before making his way to the scarecrow.

Willy B ready to dive into the pumpkin head!

 

And…….Burrito ended up being the Great Pumpkin Thief this year! As you can see in the video he brought it down from a platform on Young’s Hill, but it rolled away. It ended up rolling into the fence and we had to bring everyone inside so we could get it unstuck. After spot cleaning the seven’s playroom we put it back inside to see who would grab it. Jody really wanted it and tried several times, but Burrito was the winner this year.

 

 

The Holdouts and Foot Boxes

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On any given day you can bet that we are cleaning around Cy and Lucky. These two are known holdouts and when they decide to stay somewhere they settle in for the long haul. Pretty much if they decided to stay in the front rooms you have no luck in cleaning the front rooms. Though this may throw a wrench in our schedule, they are great company!

Cy reading his magazine in front room 6 while we clean front room 5 and the chute.

Lucky taking a little snooze next to Cy.

Today we also put a “Foot Box” in front room 5 just like on the other side of the building. The purpose of the foot box is so that the chimps can present a hand or foot and we can get a x-ray. Obviously the foot box is new and it has to go through a rigorous inspection process by the chimps. I would say it passes their inspection standards as you will see in the video above.

Rayne and Gordo looking in.

Terry taking a little peek!

Bonus!

Missy, Jody, and Burrito have a very nice grooming session.

Missy and Annie grooming themselves.

Let the Countdown Begin!

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Eleven more sleeps until Jamieween. Though this blog isn’t really about Jamie, the Jamieween countdown has begun! As many of you may know or even agree, Jamieween is known as a staff and volunteer favorite for chimp celebrations! Not only do we get to celebrate Jamie and all her amazing-ness, but there is always an amusing pumpkin heist too! Not to mention Halloween is some of the staff’s favorite holiday. The gifts for Jamieween have been rolling in and we could not be more grateful. This is just a handful of items for Jamie’s haunting celebration! Personally, I can’t wait for Jamie to get her anatomy apron.

I don’t have much content for today because it was rather uneventful and eerily quiet today. So quiet that I had to check and make sure there were chimps in the building! But I do have lots of photos of Cy and Rayne.

I mean come on! How handsome is he?

Rayne and Cy sharing a bench.

Rayne is the absolute best! She is the type of person that when you see her she instantly warms your heart.

Rayne enjoying some rose hips.

I have a few extra photos to share with you all, as well.

Same bench, same sitting position, can you tell these two are related?

Honey B enjoying a leek in the green house.

Chilly Days

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October is flying by! I still feel like just the other day it was 100 plus degrees outside and now it’s cold in the mornings! Today it didn’t seem to warm up in the afternoon and most everyone (humans included) spent as much time as they could inside. Lots of naps were taken, Burrito played, and Cy read some magazines. It feels like winter is right around the corner! At least with the way October is moving Jamieween will be here before we know it! I’ve heard a lots about this fun day and I’m ready for it.

As a reminder don’t forget this week coming up, Tuesday October 12th, is Giving Day for Apes! The donation window has already opened up, but on the 12th lots of things will be happening throughout the day. There’s lots of prizes that the participating sanctuaries and rescue centers can win so make sure to stay tuned! If you want to read more about Giving Day for Apes you can here.

We also have our own fundraising page here.

Enjoy some photos from the day.

Jody resting after breakfast in the front rooms.

The cold didn’t hold back Burrito today! I always say I wish I had the kind of energy that he does. Even first thing in the morning he’s ready to go!

Burrito in a tub!

Jamie keeping an eye on the neighbors.

Lucky making good use of the oversized comfy wolf blanket.

Cy resting while we clean.

Rayne joined the bench party. Left to right: Cy, Lucky, and Rayne.

Cy’s morning rest didn’t last long. He had some celebrity gossip to catch up on.

 

 

 

 

Feels like Sanctuary

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Today really felt like sanctuary, I mean everyday does, of course! But everyday is different, each chimps mood varies, what they feel like doing, or not doing. Today was full of patrol walks, laughter, exploring, displaying, excited breathy pants, and of course a few non shifters ;). The beauty of sanctuary is choice and with that choice gives them a sort of freedom, not the freedom they should have and very much deserve, but the closest freedom they can have. Some days I will catch moments that just make your heart want to burst with joy, like Jamie chasing Foxie on Young’s Hill. Because those moments are what sanctuary is all about!

We just updated our wish list for Wildlife Toybox. They have some really fun durable enrichment, we especially need the mirror cover for our “Looky Lou”!

Rayne says goodnight!

Snippets

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Here are a few moments that I captured on my phone throughout the past week.

People often ask if it’s difficult to care for chimpanzees without being able to touch them outside of the very limited contact we have through the mesh. Perhaps it’s a function of the institutional cultures in which we were trained, but it’s not something I really think about. Nor do I care much about it when it does cross my mind. They have their world, we have ours, and there are clearly-defined, logical rules for the areas where those two worlds meet for the sake of everyone’s safety. The way we interact with the chimps in our care becomes natural and comfortable for both them and us, and pushing those boundaries does nothing but put our own desires above their best interests.

That being said, there’s not a person on earth that’s seen Mave in action and not wanted to be enveloped in her soft, fuzzy embrace.

So sue me.