Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Terry

Unseen Bits

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As caregivers, we collect photos and videos on our phones constantly throughout the week. However, not everything makes it to the blog. Often when we get to our designated blog day, the chimps do something that inspires an idea or specific theme so we end up saving the content for later, or if we are nice, we share it with a co-worker if they are in need. The only thing about saving it for later is that it can get lost on our camera roll. Luckily for all of you, I have found some of the best unseen clips from the vault (aka my phone) and made a video to share! It would be a tragedy if these videos did not get shared with all of you!

Photos from the vault!

Terry grooming Honey B. It was such a tender and sweet moment between the two of them:

Rayne intensely grooming Mave:

Rayne striking a pose on the firehose:

A bonus photo!

This morning as we all arrive to the sanctuary it was very chill, but the morning fog looked so beautiful:

Jamie seemed to enjoy the fog and crisp air because she was so excited to go for a walk this morning. She came sprinting out of the raceway!

CSNW’s Funniest Home Videos: Part Two

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It has been quite a busy day here in the chimp house, so I’ve decided to keep my written blog brief and hope the video speaks for itself! 🙂

Back in January I wrote a blog titled ‘Cheers to The Goofy Moments‘- the first instillation of our own version of America’s Funniest Home Videos. We’ve been continuing to collect blooper moments throughout our work days here in the chimp house when we can. I hope you get a chuckle out of watching them just like we do!

Enjoy!

Bonus Photos:

Annie, gazing lovingly at the Frisbee Puzzle Enrichment they received today:

Terry enjoying the cool, cloudy afternoon by taking some time for himself out on The Bray:

 

A Place Like This

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On Thursday, I wrote a blog about grief. Today, I would personally like to thank each and every one of you. For an emotion that often leads to loneliness, it felt like so many of us brought comfort to each other. I am not sure if you all know how special you are to CSNW. While we may write the blogs for you to all learn about the chimps and fall in love with them as individuals, you all have created a community with a very supportive and positive atmosphere. It can be hard to find a place like this on the internet.  So thank you for creating this wonderful place.

Today was a peaceful quiet day with slow morning patrols, chimps playing, Willy B displaying :), Jamie asking for grapes from the vine, Cy flipping through magazines, and chimps grooming in the warm greenhouses. Please enjoy some chimps selfies!

Willy B:

Jamie:

And sweet sweet Terry:

Terry to Cy’s Rescue

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Despite Cy being the tough, alpha male that he is, he is easily frightened by random things. As you all know, Cy loves to “read” and consumes probably 5-10 magazines every day. Due to his reading obsession, we have discovered a decent number of things that frighten Cy and cause him to alarm call. Chimpanzees naturally alarm call to warn their group members of danger.

On the list of things that frighten Cy, is cows. Doesn’t matter the kind of cow, the look of the cow, any cow is enough to make him jump back and drop his magazine. Kelsi captured this exact scenario on video last year if you haven’t seen it already (click here)!

A few days ago, Cy was flipping through a farm magazine when he suddenly stumbled upon some photos of cows. We quickly knew what was happening as Cy began to loudly alarm call. Cy’s group members are used to this behavior from Cy, but they still always come to investigate in case it is more than a scary magazine. After several minutes of Cy alarm calling, Terry decided to save the day (or maybe he was annoyed with the endless alarm calls) and attempted to destroy the magazine that was causing Cy to be upset. He began ripping it apart with his teeth and even passed pages to me (who was sitting on the other side of the caging) because he knew I could throw them out.

We now have a theory that Cy must love the thrill of a scary magazine because Cy then reclaims the magazine scraps and tried to still look through them, while continuing to alarm call.

This isn’t the first time I have seen Terry try to save the day. Last October, I posted a blog about Cy alarm calling because of a giraffe in his magazine and Terry attempted to rip the pages apart for Cy but ultimately just threw them down the stairs. I will link that video here!

Dance Break

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A week ago, volunteer caregiver Krissy, had a very sweet moment with Terry during cleaning. While interacting with him through the mesh, she began dancing for him and he ended up joining her. I snagged the clips from our camera footage and it is enough to make your day! Enjoy 🙂

Big Day on the Bray

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Today was a big stepping stone for all the residents at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. We felt that all the chimps on both sides of the building were ready to be out in their respective outdoor areas at the same time. For those who may not be familiar, Foxie’s group has a two acre outdoor habitat called Young’s Hill and Rayne’s group has a newly built outdoor habitat called The Bray. These areas are two separate spaces where the chimps can go outside as they please all day and when they look up there are no bars above their heads. We had been alternating access until Rayne’s group seemed comfortable outside and had a good understanding of the double electric fence. Until today!! In unknown situations we often plan in case something turns into an emergency, but we really just anticipate that there may be a lot of yelling back and forth or displaying and we just hoped for the most anticlimactic scenario, which luckily for us, it was sooo anticlimactic. Both groups were so calm and seemed to act like they have been doing this all along. What were we so worried about?! However, just because it was calm didn’t mean they didn’t interact or notice each other!

Gordo seemed to be mesmerized by Foxie, obviously, look at her! He was a little pilo and couldn’t take his eyes off her. And that cute little Foxie was just confidently strutting her stuff around Young’s Hill. Foxie was so brave, not a hair standing on end, she was even going for a perimeter walk on her own for a bit which Gordo seemed to be kind of following her from the Bray. We weren’t sure Willy B was even paying attention enough to notice Jamie’s group had access to Young’s Hill, but maybe 7 to 10 minutes later he spotted Jamie and was mesmerized, just like Gordo! Willy B was even venturing out onto the grass to get a better look, but Jamie was playing it cool and pretending she didn’t notice. Honestly, it was great to see both groups out foraging and not reacting to each other! Obviously, every day will be different with different reactions, but this was a great way to start!

Gordo watching the neighbors, specifically Foxie from afar:

Willy B realizing Jamie is on Young’s Hill:

Jamie foraging on Young’s Hill and pretending not to notice Willy B:

Terry and Rayne foraging on the Bray and spying on Jamie’s group:

Rayne:

Terry on Esher for a better view:

Cy could not be bothered, he was just enjoying the forage:

I will leave you with Bubba <3:

The Morning After Jubilee

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After yesterdays festivities, today has been pretty low-key for everyone. I think both chimps and humans are exhausted from such an awesome day of nonstop partying! If you didn’t see yesterdays blog, STOP EVERYTHING you are doing and look now! And if you missed Diana talking about Negra’s story, be sure to check that out too! Don’t forget that until the end of June all donations will be doubled until we reach $30,000. Follow this link to learn more about how you can help us reach our goal!

Cy on the Bray:

Lucky hanging out by the hammock:

Gordo heading back from exploring:

Willy B:

Guess who!

It’s Rayne!

How did we get so lucky to have such a sweet and kind soul like Terry?! It has been so fun to watch Terry grow in just the few years he has been at CSNW and watch him make new friends. I am not sure if we share this often, but he is quietly good friends with Honey B (maybe don’t tell Honey B). I often will see them on the cameras grooming or hanging out in the same area together. She even grooms with him from time to time! And I don’t know if I have ever met a gentler chimp than him. What I am trying to say is that Terry is just such a nice guy with a really good heart <3.