Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Honey B & Co.

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It is so fun to watch a chimp like Honey B, who has always preferred human interactions, to seek her chimp friends out instead. Watching Honey B and Dora both flourish socially in their group has been one of the most rewarding parts of my job, as well as witnessing Mave find her soulmate, Dora. Please enjoy this video of Honey B, Dora, and of course, Mave!

Chimpmas is right around the corner! We have started to add enrichment and items that we need around the chimp house on our wish-list!

Mora:

The beautiful Rayne:

Thankful Every Day

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It’s the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which means… it’s Giving Tuesday! 🙂

If you haven’t heard of it before, Giving Tuesday is an internationally recognized day of giving as it aims to promote generosity as a part of every day life. Which, if you ask me, is just a sincerely lovely & comforting thought.

We rely on the generosity of you, our supporters, to do the work we do. All our residents deserve sanctuary and you are what makes that happen. We are grateful, every day, for each of you.

If you find yourself wanting to participate in Giving Tuesday, I would encourage you to donate by clicking the link here. There are so many ways to donate- from sponsoring a day of sanctuary, to donating directly to our produce fund, becoming a Chimp or Bovine Pal to one of our residents, or donating stocks– I can confidently tell you that every donation is felt and appreciated. Today, and every day, no donation is too small.

There are also the non-monetary ways to support the sanctuary, which I feel like sometimes get overlooked but are just as important! Sharing our posts, for example, to your social media or with your friends and family help us increase our reach. Which, in turn, helps us connect and share our residents stories with more people. That is so, so important to us. We owe it to our residents to share their names & stories as far & wide as we can. A simple share helps us do just that!

On that note, I hope you enjoy the short & sweet video today of best chimp friends Missy and Annie. 🙂

Annie, from the photo vault, during a sweet summer forage:

Also, in the honor of giving thanks, look at this amazing pile of donations from a week or so ago! Thank you so much to everyone who donates items from our wish lists or who sends us chimp-approved items. We are currently adding items that we need for our upcoming Christmas celebrations to our wish lists, so please check it out if you’re interested in helping us celebrate! 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving!

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No matter how you celebrate this holiday, it’s a wonderful time to reflect on everything we have to be grateful for. Whether it’s the meal you eat today, the company you keep throughout the days, or the quiet moments you enjoy.

Here at the sanctuary, it’s all those things and more. We have a large family of chimps, humans, cattle, a barn kitty, a little family of deer that seem to have taken up residence on the property, and all of you that support us from afar. Every day is unique and special as we work to give our residents the best possible care that we can, and we couldn’t do it without you.

So, from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of all of us, thank you. I hope that you find comfort, joy, and happiness in your corner of the world.

 

Chimp Lesson #7: It Can Wait

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Last month, caregiver Sabrina wrote the first in a series of blogs titled ‘Lessons the Chimps Have Taught Us‘. Today, I would like to add to it. 🙂

We mention it quite often, but our days here are buuuusssyyy. We have a lot to do and time tends to slip away from us, or maybe time really does just go faster when you’re in the chimp house. Either way, we have to make conscious decisions throughout the day about how we spend our time to make sure we get everything done and also spend time with the chimps.

This morning, Sabrina and I went and did our perimeter check of Young’s Hill and the Bray. I was standing by the raceway (the connecting enclosure from the Greenhouse to Young’s Hill) while giving caregiver Jenna my safety report over the radio and Burrito was already being his wild self! Wanting to play a game of chase, he would run over to me, stomp his back foot, and go running off- with me following, of course. I thought that I would need to take a few minutes to play chase with him before doing the rest of the lead caregiver’s morning responsibilities, but he had other things in mind.

As soon as I opened the door, he was running! And, not just running, but looking back at me, clapping, breathy panting, and stomping his feet. Not only was he going for a morning jog around the hill, but I was about to go with him.

I always get really happy when a chimp asks me to spend time with them- whether it be a walk outside, a quiet grooming session, or a game of chase. It’s just, well, special. And it never gets old.

While I was happy to spend time with Burrito, my mind was definitely on everything that I had to get done today. A few steps around the hill, though, Burrito paused our race to sit down while looking back at the chimp house. The winter chill could definitely be felt this morning and there was a layer of fog around the foothills, but the blue winter-y morning light made everything extra breath-taking.

I grew up in Ohio and while the Midwest has it’s own charm and beauty, I don’t think there’s anything like the mountains on a cold winter morning.

So, all this to say that today I was reminded of one of the things that the chimps have taught me.

Your to-do list will always be there and it will always be just as important. But- taking the time to spend quality, fully present moments with people you love is a pretty good reason to put it on hold. It can wait… Burrito can’t. 🙂

I hope you enjoy this mornings walk as much as I did.

Photos from My Vault

Gordo, enjoying a sunny lunch forage:

Terry, looking out to the Bray:

Don’t forget to participate in our Comfort & Joy Online Auction– be sure to get your bids & donations in before the event ends this Saturday, November 18th. 🙂

Human Time

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Chimp house mornings are quite busy. We begin by prepping meds and breakfast and putting together the day’s food puzzles, and then spend the next 4-5 hours cleaning enclosures. The chimps spend most of that time eating, playing, grooming, and occasionally squabbling with one another. When lunch is finally served, there is a bit of a reprieve from the more hurried morning pace. It is then that we begin to clean dishes, wash produce, fold laundry, prepare enrichment, and work on the blog. The chimps know that they can’t ask for too much of our time in the morning, but in the afternoon we will usually drop whatever we are doing to cater to their wishes.

Each chimp has their own preference when it comes to socializing with caregivers. Some prefer to take walks or play chase, while others would rather sit quietly and groom. With Gordo, I’m lucky if I can get a brief bunny hop out of him, while with Burrito, I’m lucky if I can ever get back to work. Foxie wants to play with dolls, Terry wants to groom boots, Lucky wants to pick scabs off and maybe create a few new ones, and Cy wants to give a few tickles. Willy B wants to watch movies on our phones, though if he could figure out how to do this without the need for humans he probably would. That said, he does sometimes play chase with us, which involves him running away and then bouncing up and down while facing the wall. Go figure.

These moments are play time for us caregivers, too, but they are every bit as important as the other work we do.

Are you joining us for the Comfort & Joy Virtual Gathering tonight at 5pm PT/8pm ET? If you can’t make it, there’s still time to visit the online auction and bid on items for yourself or for the chimps—including helping us complete those new climbing structures. The bidding ends 11/18!

Moments of Comfort & Joy

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From the moment that we pull up to the chimp house in the mornings, the day gets busy fast. We jump right into breakfast, then cleaning, then lunch, then chimp house chores and blogging, to dinner and closing!

In between the busy and sometimes chaotic moments, we try and interact with the chimps as much as we can (and as much as they want us to). And, like Jenna wrote in her blog titled ‘Stay Awhile’, sometimes forcing ourselves to pause and be totally present allows us to witness moments that we otherwise would have missed. Or it allows us moments with the chimps that we otherwise wouldn’t have had if we had just moved onto the next item on our to-do list.

It’s a balancing act, definitely. But these moments of pause allow us to witness moments of comfort & joy with the chimps- which, if you really get down to it, is a pretty wonderful part of sanctuary. Check out today’s blog video for just a few of these happy & comforting moments from today. 🙂

Speaking of comfort and joy (look at me go, connecting all the things!)- we want to celebrate these special moments of sanctuary with YOU! If you haven’t yet, head over to our Comfort & Joy, Quid Pro Throw Online Auction to participate in the fun. You can bid on items and experiences for yourself (or for some holiday shopping- it’s never too early) and you can *also* bid on items to give to the chimps! Imagine the bragging rights you will have if you win the Mora Blanket that’s listed for us to give to Mave and Dora themselves? Just, wow. We’re also adding new items throughout the auction, so be sure to keep an eye on things!

Also, registering for the virtual event automatically gets you access to our upcoming Comfort & Joy Virtual Gathering this Sunday, November 12th at 5:00pm PT / 8:00pm ET. This virtual presentation will cover past, present, and the exciting future of the sanctuary- along with staff intros and behind the scenes footage of the chimp house! It’ll be a great excuse to kick up your feet, grab a yummy drink, all your favorite blankets, and learn more about all of us here. Diana and I will be chatting live with attendees, so be sure to say hi!

Bonus Photos:

Burrito and his favorite red Frisbee from today:

Foxie, enjoying watching the neighbors out in the chute:

Lucky having a moment of comfort in her nest in the front rooms: