Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Say It Ain’t Snow

by

Today’s weather was wild.

The morning began just as yesterday ended: with golden sunshine and unseasonably high temperatures. The cattle, despite their provisioned hay, were basking in the sun and nibbling on the fresh grass that is just starting to take over the pasture.

Betsy

The only indicator of trouble was a distant wall of clouds sweeping down the valley from the northwest. By noon, however, the skies over the sanctuary grew misty and the breeze picked up. Now, as I sit here hammering out this blog post in the foyer of the Chimp House, snowflakes swirl past the windows and gusts of wind howl overhead. Like a boxer lifting themselves back to their feet after a brutal knockdown, this winter let us know that it isn’t ready to quit just yet.

Looking up the valley towards the Central Cascades

Fortunately, we caregivers had checked the forecast and expected the sunny morning to give way to a blustery afternoon. As soon as we opened up the building, served the morning medications and confirmed that the outdoor areas were secure, we scattered the chimpanzees’ breakfast on Young’s Hill as an outdoor forage, taking advantage of the day’s most agreeable weather. The colorful spread included tangerines, pears, and some pineapple tops (the larger chunks of which went into their daily smoothie).

Missy
Jamie
Jody
Annie
Missy
Foxie

Since only one group of chimps can safely access the Hill at any given moment, Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra went out first. When everyone had gathered up the scattered food, Jamie did her usual patrol of the enclosure’s perimeter and Burrito went inside to goof around with the other chimps and us caregivers.

Burrito

Meanwhile Honey B, Mave and Willy B enjoyed the same breakfast indoors and got the opportunity to use the Courtyard later, just before lunch. Per usual, only Willy B chose to venture out into the open space; the females chose to hang out in the chute and watch the caregivers do chores inside. Honey B was even kind enough to sit still while I took a portrait of her. In exchange, I showed her some chimp photos that I still had on my memory card, including the ones of her. If Honey B was impressed, she hid it well. Honey B

Apart from the volatile weather, today was busy but uneventful. Sometimes it seems like the chimps prefer their days to move that way, with a full itinerary but without anything too unexpected. The right balance of variety and routine is crucial.

Jamie walking the perimeter

Jamie is not “most chimpanzees”

by

This morning, I was sweeping paper and other garbage into a pile in the playroom when Jamie started gesturing towards to me. It’s typical of her to ask for drinks from the hose while we clean but we hadn’t pulled the hose out yet. I soon realized that she was gesturing towards the pile of garbage, and upon closer inspection I saw that I had swept up some torn out and crumpled pages from one of her boot books. She wasn’t done with those yet! I picked them up and she ran excitedly to the day nest she had made in the corner of one of the front rooms. As I handed the pages to her, she emitted a low moan and stuffed them into her pelvic pocket.

Later, while scrubbing the floors, Diana pointed towards Jamie in the front rooms and suggested that I come take a look. She had filled a bucket with water from the lixit fountain, dumped her primate chow into the water, and was stirring the concoction with a plastic tube. She then used to tube to sip the chow water from the bucket and emitted a low moan each time she popped a soaked chow biscuit into her mouth.

She’s definitely her own person. So it should have come as no surprise when Diana caught Jamie taking carrot-peeling matters into her own hands the other day.

Sweet Moments

by

The other day I was able to capture such a tender moment between Jamie and Burrito. To witness these moments is a true honor. As we have shared in blogs before, recently Jamie and Burrito will share a barrel seat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. On this day Jamie and Burrito shared a barrel while they groomed each other. They were perfectly situated by the playroom window so that they could have a view of the neighbors, you know, in case things went awry, but could also be relaxed enough for a grooming session. This newly blossomed friendship is so fun to watch. We all know Jamie as a serious and tough individual, but it’s nice to see her patient side, especially with a friend like Burrito.

This to me is such a power pose from Jamie. Can you feel that energy?!

This photo has a glare from the window, but I thought I would still share. Both Jamie and Burrito have their feet up, sitting on the barrel, watching the neighbors in the chute!

Odds & Ends

by

Every so often, I get that dreadful warning that my phone’s memory is almost at capacity. I have a certain degree of confidence I am not the only one here who constantly takes pictures with their phone, thinks “This would be great for the blog,” then forgets about them when our day to write a blog comes around. There is just so much that happens that it’s hard to share every single photo we take, especially those taken on our phones of these by chance instances.

So without further ado, here are some of the photos that have been sitting in my phone’s memory bank:

Mave relaxing. I had at one point thought to write a blog about primate feet, specifically the differences between ape feet. The furthest I got was getting this photo of Mave’s foot to show just how similar and different they are compared to ours.
Foxie food peering at Negra, hoping she was in the mood to share her breakfast even though she had already eaten her own. Spoiler: Negra was not in the mood to share hers.
Speaking of food peering, Willy B peering at Honey B wondering why she was so excited. On this day a couple of weeks ago, we served a very ripe jackfruit. Willy B had zero interest in it at first and threw his to the ground in protest. Honey B on the other hand, knew exactly what it was and ate hers in a haste and collected as many of the ones Willy B discarded as she could. There may have been some buyers remorse on Willy B’s end, though he ended up taking some of the corn Honey B discarded. Seemed like a fair trade.
When cleaning the playroom, if I am near a certain window scrubbing, I usually get a little surprise from Burrito, who seemingly appears out of no where. One day, I figured out just where he pops up from.
Mave. Just Mave. Does this photo really need any further explanation?
Burrito enjoying his breakfast oranges sitting in a cube chair.
Foxie hanging upside down, laughing in one of the Front Rooms. Play is usually her tactic for me when she doesn’t want me to close any of the doors. In this case, she didn’t want me to close the Front Rooms to allow us to clean.

Honey B decided her red skateboard needed some adjustments to it.
Barn Kitty waiting for a staff member to arrive at the sanctuary in the morning to feed him.
In case you didn’t know, Barn Kitty is a semi-feral cat who has called our barn home from time-to-time. So we have a little area in the barn for him to use or not use. It’s his choice.

There is one photo from today. Spring is officially here! And to celebrate this wonderful season, Jamie has decided there needs to be a couple more patrols around the Young’s Hill before she will allow the staff to close it up for the night.

And if you haven’t heard, we will be participating in the Global Primatology Virtual Conference hosted by Central Washington University and the Primate Awareness Network. We are scheduled to present March 25th (this Thursday) at 4:00PM PST. Be sure to also check out some of the other amazing speakers!

Meredith

by

Those of you who follow CSNW on Instagram may have noticed that we regularly feature images of the four rescued Jersey cattle who graze the pastures around the sanctuary. Since these herbivorous creatures are so different from their chimpanzee neighbors, focusing on the cattle can be a welcome change of pace for the sanctuary staff and social media followers alike.

In the recent “Bovine Break” post from a couple days ago, we shared a photograph of the four Jersey cattle resting together in their winter paddock. They have formed a tightly-knit herd and are rarely seen apart, which is justified given their history and family bonds. Still, they each have their own colorful personality and quirky tendencies, and the image highlighted one of these characteristic traits.

While Betsy, Honey and Nutmeg were all aligned so they could view the hills and forests to the north of the sanctuary, Meredith was turned completely around and facing the other direction, chewing her cud without any indication that she wanted to conform with the others. We always joke that she has idiosyncratic tendencies, but it was nice to capture it visually for all to see. Standing while the others lay down, laying down while the others stand, facing the opposite direction, lagging behind the group… such is Meredith’s nature.

I used her peculiarity to my advantage when I went out to photograph the cattle this afternoon. The other three acted inconvenienced and trotted away, but Merry quietly waddled alongside me at her own pace. She’s not always in an affectionate mood, but she occasionally paused to suspiciously sniff my muck boots and gently lick my hands. We stopped at the paddock gate where she stood and watched the others (who had nonchalantly strolled through together). Eventually, I left them to their own endeavors. Apart from the satisfaction of capturing some nice portraits, I was also content to share a peaceful moment with this odd individual.

The Peanut Puzzle

by

It took Honey B a few attempts to find the right strategy for this puzzle but she got there. The most clever – but ultimately unsuccessful – strategy was to hand everything through the food chute to a human. “Humans are good at this stuff,” she seemed to be saying. Either that or “You put it in here, you get it out!” But she didn’t need our help after all.