the bray

Let’s Do a Perimeter Check!

September 27, 2024 by Krissy Brasfield

One of the first things we caregivers do each morning is to perform a perimeter check. We check the all important rattlesnake fencing for holes. Next, we check the primary and secondary fencing that surrounds the chimps 4 acre habitat to be sure that it has remained sound through the night. We also make sure everyone onsite has performed a radio check, we check locks, and we make sure the fence voltage is within an acceptable range.

Next, we let the chimps out onto their respective outdoor habitats! Young’s Hill is home to Jamie’s group, and Cy’s group has access to The Bray. It’s fun to see who is first to go outside each morning!

Come along with us!

Mave’s Day of Berries & Dora!

September 25, 2024 by Kelsi

Today is Mave’s 35th Birthday! We celebrated Mave with paper boats full of berries topped with vegan whipped cream and of course a banner of Dora, her favorite person! Mave is one extraordinary chimpanzee. We have always described Mave as a laid back gal, she can be known as the peace keeper, and she is also know to be a little more of a serious chimp at times. For the most part, I think her friends find her to be a calming presence, however Gordo might not agree. Mave can also be described as very loyal to the individuals she holds most dear. Mave had lived in a small group for a long time. We can’t say for sure that the group of 3 (Mave, Honey B, and Willy B) necessarily chose each other, but they most definitely are loyal and have a bond with one another. However, during the introductions process, one of the highlights for me was watching Mave grow in her friendships and have more choice in building different relationships. Mave and Dora chose each other and it was the coolest thing to watch because Dora was also known to be reserved and a little more in her own world before introductions. I think that Mora or even Mora B has really helped Mave come out of her shell and that everyone’s quality of life was enhanced. We observe Mave laugh more, play more, and do things that make her get our of her comfort zone, like venturing out into the Bray! Life is just better with Mora!

Cheers to the very beautiful and magnificent Mave:

Mora:

Fool Me Once…

May 21, 2024 by Chad de Bree

After relishing in a decent streak of sublime weather, that streak came to an end today. With the chilly air and dark clouds over head, I don’t think anyone can blame the chimpanzees for staying indoors all day (albeit the first morning patrol). In fact, not a single person is in an area that offers optimal viewpoints to observe them. They are all tucked in for a nap.

Negra seemed to set the mood of the day early in the morning.

Since I wasn’t able to get many photos today, here are some I captured of Burrito during yesterday’s lunch forage.

*RECORD SCRATCH*

Ok. Never mind. As I was writing the above, I glanced at the security monitor and saw someone move through the outdoor chute onto The Bray.

It was Cy! He was on his way to his new spot.

After watching him up on the new structure, with magazine in hand, it hit me as to what he was doing. It was nice and quiet at the top of the Bray, and away from the ruckus down below. He spent roughly ten minutes seemingly just taking in the view and peace. He decided to leave when he noticed part of his group decided to also head outside.

On his way back, he crossed paths with his sister, Lucky.

Lucky also decided to take a moment to take in the scenery and quiet

As did Terry.

At the bottom of the Bray, on the boardwalk, Willy B was watching Missy’s group. (Gordo and Rayne were out and about too, just hard to get photos of.)

Speaking of the neighbors, when they realized over half of Willy B’s group was out, they decided they too needed to be outside. Well, minus one.

Missy was the first out, and since I didn’t stretch this morning, I didn’t attempt to catch up with her.

Annie, who was right behind Missy at first, took a detour to grab some of the ever-so-popular prickly lettuce growing on Young’s Hill.

Foxie on the other hand, decided she too wanted a fortress of solitude in the form of one of her new structures.

And then there is Burrito. The person who made me stop taking pictures to run around Young’s Hill and play with him. He did seem a bit distracted. That is when I realized he was looking at Lucky. He tried really hard to play it cool and to make it seem like he wasn’t paying attention to her at all.

And I will leave you with this additional photo I took of Burrito during yesterday’s lunch forage. My phone camera was acting funny and captured the photo like this:

There’s just something with the lighting and coloring that made me love this one of him.

Catching Up With the Nine

February 3, 2024 by Sabrina

With all the snow and sleet as well as Honey B recovering, the group of nine haven’t been able to get out on the Bray. Today all that changed, after breakfast and some relaxation while caregivers cleaned, the group got outside at lunch time to enjoy the sunshine we’re having right now! Enjoy today’s video of the nine going back out on the Bray!

Cy:

Willy B:

Moments

October 29, 2023 by Grace

It’s been six months or so that Cy’s group has had access to The Bray, their two-acre outdoor enclosure, and in that time we’ve seen some pretty big wins for that group. Whether it be Lucky deciding to be brave and head out for the first time, Willy B deciding that the grass might not actually be so bad, or Cy making it all the way to the top of the enclosure- I think I can confidently say that it’s been a point of compassion satisfaction for all of us here.

We’re pretty transparent in this daily blog, which means that we’re also pretty vulnerable. We have the responsibility and opportunity to connect with you to share the stories of the chimps in our care, which means that we can celebrate wins like the above together, but also that we mourn the losses that come with sanctuary life together, too. This year has been a lot of both and you’ve seen us write about sensitive topics like compassion fatigue and grief.

Some days, for me, it all comes together and it’s not solely compassion fatigue or compassion satisfaction. Some days it feels like both.

This afternoon I was walking (read: meandering aimlessly) around the chimp house hoping for a blog idea to come to me. After walking back and forth a few times, I finally went out to the chute to see if anyone in Cy’s group was enjoying the afternoon sun despite the chill in the air. Terry, who had been relaxing in the warm winterized greenhouses, came with me and went out onto the Bray. I went walking with him and turned around to see that Lucky, Rayne, and Cy had joined us too. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, the birds were chirping- and there we were, experiencing it together.

One of the foundations of our work here is ensuring that the chimps have as much choice as possible in their day to day lives, whenever we can. Whether that’s respecting someone’s choice to not shift out of a certain enclosure, accepting if someone doesn’t want to hang out with us humans, or giving them a variety of enrichment that they can choose to interact with (or not), we do what we can when we can. The caveat is that, due to the hand that humans have dealt them, they are here with us in sanctuary and we have to make big & small decisions for them every day.

I’m not sure if this makes sense, but watching Terry and his friends enjoy a random afternoon walk on the Bray on a chilly fall day in the foothills of the Cascade mountains epitomized these wins, losses, and choices in that I witnessed their freedom to choose an activity that I believe brought them joy. Today’s win, a moment of peace on the Bray, stemmed from tough decisions about how we could set them up for success in such a big, new enclosure and give them security in their choices. Then, as I’m standing on the Bray with Terry and his friends, I look over and am happy to see Annie heading in from being outside on the Hill. I look over a little bit more to see if anyone else was out and I see the spot where Jody is buried.

Wins, losses, grief, acceptance.

Some days the wins feel extra big, some days you feel the losses extra hard. And, some days when the sun is shining and the wind is cold, you feel it all at the same time.

Terry resting his eyes in the warm, winterized greenhouse:

P.S. Have you heard about our upcoming Comfort & Joy Auction and accompanying festivities? You can pick and choose how you want to participate, but we are asking you to take a moment to send us a video telling us which chimpanzee at CSNW brings you joy and why! Click here for details and instructions.

A Good Distraction

September 13, 2023 by Kelsi

For caregivers, there are many different types of distractions in the chimp house! Often when cleaning, Foxie will ask you to play troll toss, or Willy B would like you to stop cleaning so he can look at videos on your phone, or Cy wants to play chase, and of course there is the possibility of perimeter walks of Young’s Hill with Jamie. Often the best distraction is when the chimps are playing with one another. We always stop cleaning for a moment to observe. For example, Burrito is often the best at getting his group members to play with him, even if they didn’t think they were in the mood. Burrito is so good at distracting, he can even get Jamie to be off-duty!

Of course there are other types of distraction that aren’t as fun, like when a caregiver is trying to write a blog and there is endless displaying on Willy B’s side of the building which turns into a fight that required us caregivers to respond to. For Burrito’s group, that same fight on the other side of the building, turned into watching their favorite reality TV show: Mave on the Bray. That is right, MAVE was on the Bray today! Although, the reason Mave was on the Bray may have been because all nine chimps went outside screaming and gave caregiver Kelsi and Jenna a bit of a scare, but Mave, Dora, and Honey B looked good out there! When Mave returned, Honey B gave her a big hug and Dora also fully embraced her. However, terrifying as it was, it was spectacular to see everyone out there. It was the first time the entire group were on The Bray. I am not sure when Mave or Dora will go back out, hopefully soon but maybe under different circumstances. Miss Honey B, on the other hand, may only go out when she is screaming at people (that seems to be her personal pattern so far). More updates to come if Mave, Dora, and Honey B continue to go out on The Bray!

I had more content I wanted to add to this blog, but naturally I got distracted ;).

Mave on the Bray:

Jamie:

Jamie and her book:

Burrito:

Negra and Burrito foraging in Neggie’s Cabin:

Negra :):

Big Day on the Bray

June 28, 2023 by Kelsi

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: