Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

young's hill

Portraits & Pop Quizzes

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Today is the epitome of PNW moody, cloudy, drizzly, & brisk weather. I know there are quite a few of us that are bummed about being at the tail end of summer, but I cannot express how excited I am for cooler weather, hot apple cider, snow, and all the other fun things that come with fall and winter. And after a day like today, I don’t think I’m the only one!

One of the first things that we do in the morning after we arrive is safety checks for both Young’s Hill and The Bray, so that we can give both groups access to their respective outdoor enclosures. When I gave Jamie’s group access, everyone immediately left the greenhouse to explore the hill. Even Negra went out to her cabin right away and they all enjoyed the bit of sunshine that was coming through the clouds. And as soon as Chad gave Cy’s group access to the Bray, I heard him call out that Cy and a few others were going on a patrol! It seemed that everyone was enjoying the brisk morning.

A little bit later I went out to serve Jamie’s group breakfast and found Negra and Annie out by Negra’s cabin, foraging for what looked like prickly lettuce. They chose to stay out on the hill during most of breakfast, but eventually made their way inside. As soon as they came in, Missy and Foxie went out. Then Missy came in, only for Burrito to go out. Then Foxie came in, only for Jamie to venture back out. It was a test for my memory as I tried to remember who had their carrot, who got their pears, and if someone had already turned down peanuts or not.

After we wrapped up breakfast, which took a good deal longer than normal, Katelyn and I started to do safety checks to enter and clean the playroom for Jamie’s group. Most everyone was easy to find, but we couldn’t find Missy. After searching and searching, we finally located her in Carlene’s Tower at the *very* top of Young’s Hill. By herself. With her chow bags. Happily munching away.

The theme for today seemed to be perfect weather + tricky ID tests, since everyone was exploring so far from the chimp house. So, keeping with theme, I have two ‘pop-quiz’ photos for you! 🙂 A bit of background: before staff members unlock and enter any enclosure, we have two trained caregivers complete safety checks. This includes identifying each of the chimps in that group, without relying on the process of elimination. Sometimes this is easy and sometimes (like today) it’s tricky.

Let’s start with The Bray, which Cy’s group has access to. I walked outside the greenhouse to see this which I caught on one of our cameras (with some zoom). Can you identify who is in this photo, from left to right?

Next, let’s go over to Jamie’s side! This was taken as everyone was hurrying to enjoy the lunch forage on Young’s Hill. From left to right, who do you see?

How’d it go? 🙂 If you want to see how you did, scroll down to the very bottom for the answers (but no cheating!).

It also seemed to be a good day to get some portrait photos. I hope you enjoy these snip-bits from throughout the day!

Annie, nested in the Greenhouse:

Cy, watching his caregivers down the hall:

Foxie, being her beautiful self:

Gordo, enjoying an apple (or two) from today’s lunch forage:

Jamie, on a mission during the lunch forage:

Missy, with a coveted cherry tomato during today’s lunch forage:

Terry, also enjoying an apple (or two, maybe three, or perhaps four?) during the lunch forage:

 

Photo A, Cy’s Group on the Bray, from left to right:

            Rayne, Lucky, Terry (on the log), Gordo.

2. Photo B, Jamie’s Group on the Hill, from left to right:

Burrito (running away), Missy, Foxie (back center), Jamie, Annie (closest to the camera on the right).

 

Lucky Honey B

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If you have been following the blog recently, you probably have seen the videos of Honey B and Lucky playing hooky during cleaning to spend some time together. To my recollection, I remember during the introduction process they would play with each other, but when the full integration commenced, I haven’t really seen them together. But lately, with their play sessions while playing hooky, I began to wonder if there was a friendship we were completely glossing over.

Since the day when Anna posted the video of them playing in the front rooms, I began watching them a little more closely. Here is what I have noticed:

  • Honey B and Lucky do have some pretty epic play sessions. These play sessions aren’t exclusive to just holding out when caregivers are shifting the group. (I should have noticed this when I posted the video of Honey B literally pulling Lucky into an ongoing play session she was in with Rayne.)
  • During conflicts, Honey B has been seeking Lucky out first and foremost for reassurance, which Lucky always gives her. When the conflicts are over, they reconnect and groom (or play).
  • During some downtime, they can be found grooming with each other
Lucky and Honey B grooming

On the surface, this may seem like an odd pairing. On one hand, there is Honey B. Somewhat social. Not afraid to be scrappy with anybody. Loves to play. On the other hand, there is Lucky. Mostly found by herself. Isn’t too involved during conflicts. And only plays when she feels like it (though as mentioned before, Honey B seems to be her ticket). At the same time, this pairing makes sense in a weird way. There is a meme out there that says, “Introverts don’t make friends. They get adopted by extroverts.”  I’m not saying Lucky is fully introverted or that Honey B is fully extroverted, because they’re not. On some level to me though, this seems to be what is happening.

I’m not entirely sure when this budding friendship started, or even if it will last. I am, however, a person who likes to take time to just relish the now and I am all for this friendship pair. They are, in fact, two rockin’ sisters!

Here are some bonus photos!

Annie on Young’s Hill

Annie made a stop at Jody’s burial site this morning

Foxie in the morning

Gordo during breakfast and lunch

Dora helping herself to some of Honey B’s nightbag (Only Dora is allowed to get away with this!)

Lucky in the Riverview Greenhouse

Jamie on her morning patrol (That is a Troll doll in her hand! She is playing a game of keep away with Foxie)

During their morning patrol, Jamie, Missy, and Burrito would stop to eat the greenest of grass patches

Burrito!

A patch of bamboo beginning to grow in between Young’s Hill and The Bray

Lastly, a pair of unidentified track outside the top of Young’s Hill! We are unsure of who made these tracks, but we suspect maybe a badger?

Photos from the Summer Vault

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As summer draws to a close I thought it would be a good day to dig through my phone for some unseen moments that I captured throughout these warmer months. Enjoy!

Lunchtime Annie:

Missy Magnified!

The Sunflowers that volunteered on Young’s Hill are still going strong. As the blooms start to go to seed, I imagine their days out there are numbered…

We were all admiring this photo of Negra as it really highlights her illustrious nose hairs.

“September was a thirty-days long goodbye to summer”

-Lea Malot

 

Negra and Her Corn

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It has been a beautiful day here in Cle Elum and we took full advantage of it with lunch forages for both groups! Forages are a great time to get creative and use up any last bits of produce that we have leftover in the fridge from previous meals. Today, for example, Negra’s group had a lunch forage that consisted of leftover mini sweet peppers, oranges, two leftover grapefruits, baby iceberg lettuce, leftover corn, and primate chow.

Despite the variety in today’s lunch forage, Negra focused on one of her favorites: corn. When she came back into the greenhouse I thought she had found one full and one half ear of corn, but when I looked closer I noticed that she had two half ears and one full ear of corn! Sneaky! (Side note: does no one else find it odd that we refer to corn as ears?)

I realized that I have quite a bit of footage on my phone of Negra enjoying corn- and thus the idea for today’s blog! I hope you enjoy the three minute compilation of Negra enjoying one of her favorite foods. 🙂

Bonus Photos:

Negra, coming into the Greenhouse from the lunch forage:

Annie, enjoying a piece of grapefruit:

Foxie, before the lunch forage, curled up in the Greenhouse with one of her babies:

 

Testing, Testing 1-2-3

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It has been a little while since we have talked about enrichment for Rayne’s group. If you happen to have been wondering, yes. They are still destructive in comparison to Jamie’s group. We have been taking it slow to see what works and what doesn’t. The problem with that is that it is what it is; slow. Though more and more things are added to their growing repertoire of enrichment, some in that group have a burning desire to eat plastic, stuffing from stuffed animals, and some other things. Just because they are destructive, does that mean we should stop trying? If you’re hardheaded and stubborn like myself, then you know the answer is “no.”

It has been a slow process of introducing them to new things, but things are still moving along. We recently attempted to introduce them to firehose cubes. Before Mave, Honey B, and Willy B integrated into the Lucky Six, firehose cubes were on the list of food puzzles they received. Since the cubes are pretty durable, we decided that was going to be the next step. The first trial run was overall a success! There was some minimal damage when caregivers were able to retrieve the next morning, but nothing that would stop the second trial run.

Though six of the group of nine have not experienced firehose cubes before, they had some to show them the ropes.

Mave working her way through a firehose cube as Dora looks on

Willy B reunited with one of his favorite food puzzles

For others, it came naturally. For instance:

Rayne, the queen of all natural intuition, didn’t even hesitate to grab one and rummage through it

(Cy is to the right perusing through a magazine and Lucky is in the back)

 

Hopefully (fingers crossed) you all will be seeing some more photos of firehose cubes with Rayne’s group.

Here are some bonus photos from today:

Mave being silly with a sock

A photo montage of Missy before and during a lunch forage today

Jamie during today’s lunch forage

(Always has to keep an eye on what everybody else is doing)

Negra looking like the queen that she is

Burrito returning from a “walk” (read run) around Young’s Hill

Unexpected Commonalities in Grief

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I thought I would share a moment from yesterday morning, before Missy’s birthday festivities began, that is a testament to how human grief looks so similar to non-human grief. In attempt for you to better understand the sentimental meaning behind the moment I witnessed, I will first share something personal that has happened to my family in the past week. I want to preface that I don’t want this blog to be about me, but I want to provide context for the relatability in the moment that I witnessed.

A week ago today, I had an emergency with my dog Oliver. My husband, Adam, and I had to make a lot of hard decisions regarding Oliver’s life, which at one point we thought we were in the clear, but sadly in the end, we had to make a choice that felt impossible to make. We chose to say goodbye. Oliver had been with me since I was 23. He had been with our family for almost 9 years. The word “dog” underestimates just how special and important Oliver was in my life. Oliver followed me to Canada. He traveled everywhere with me, I was never alone when I was with him. Oliver came into my life at a time when I was silently in my deepest grief after losing my father. Oliver gave me purpose and he gave me a reason to move forward. How do you grieve when the individual who carried you through everything else, isn’t there to get you through this one?

Tuesday was my first day back at work and all the chimps were so nice, I mean they always are :). But it felt different, more gentle. However, a moment that sticks out was with my friend, Missy. Missy is an individual who loves her people. It’s hard to know where humans stand in that, because well, she doesn’t need us, she has her people. On occasion, Missy will ask me to play. And that occasion happened to be on Tuesday. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe she knew I needed a distraction, but I will never know the answer to that. Missy and I spent a long while playing lazy tug-of-war, knuckle rubbing her back, and playing a short game of chase. She made my sad heart feel a little bit of warmth.

Yesterday (Wednesday), I was carrying grief on my shoulders, I could feel the physical weight of losing Oliver. At one point in the morning, I came back inside near the front rooms after having give Foxie her dolls in the Green House. Jamie started to breathy pant at me and got very excited to touch my boots (a pair of boots that do not necessarily wow her anymore). She playfully laid on her back and flailed her arms and legs around, laughing the whole time. She would bend over, stick her butt in the air and start laughing harder. Eventually, she asked me to put her favorite pair of Doc Martins on and go on a walk around Young’s Hill with her. I quickly apologized to Chad for leaving him alone to deep clean the Playroom, and I took off to join Jamie. Nothing could prepare me for the walk we took. It felt like a walk with individuals who were grieving – it’s hard to explain. Initially, things were normal. Jamie had requested I drive the Sidekick with her boots around the Hill. Missy joined us, so it ended up being Jamie, Missy, and I going for a walk. We started up the steepest part of the Hill, but less than halfway through, Missy peeled off to the right and Jamie paused. I was trying to take a video of Foxie carrying her dolls on her back when I noticed what everyone was doing… gathering. It looked like Burrito, Foxie, Annie, Missy, and even Jamie (from a far) took a moment to themselves to pay their respects to Jody around her burial site. I understand that this is my interpretation and that we may never actually know what they were thinking or doing in that moment. However, all these grieving people were in one place. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful moment and it struck me. Later, after everyone started going further up the Hill, Foxie hung back to climb up “The Twister”, which used to be something Jody would do with her, while always giving her encouragement and the courage to climb higher. But today, Foxie climbed it “alone”, but maybe someone was nearby giving her that same encouragement she had before. Foxie only went up a little more before she ultimately climbed down and joined everyone else at the top on the Hill.

Personally, this year has been a hard one, losing both Jody and my Oliver. Grief is a funny thing. It’s never completely gone and you never know when it is going to decided to show up and smack you in the face. There are good days and years, but also waves of sadness that makes things feel like they are crashing down. The date, May 1st, is always hard for me and this year marked 9 years since the passing of my dad. Some years have gone by and I have noticed his presence missing but have been able to keep moving on, while other years, like this year in particular, I feel like I lost him all over again. I know that in my own grief with losing Jody, I often will think about her during forages for the chimps or when I’m ordering produce thinking, “Oh, Jody will love this!”, only to feel a pain in my heart realizing she is no longer here. On party days, I think about how she used to walk bipedally down the Hill with an arm-load of leafy greens! Jody had been with her group members for most of their lives so it’s normal for their to be a continued absence. Though the chimps are doing quite well and have gone back into a routine since Jody’s passing, I think it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that the chimps do have the same stages of grief that we do. I am sure that they too have good days and others where there is a hole that only Jody could fill.

Thank you for letting me share this story.

Just a bonus photo of Foxie with a doll on her back:

And for my Oliver, who I will forever be thankful for and will always stay in my heart. I miss you. I love you so much.

Happy 48th Birthday Missy!

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Today we celebrated Missy turning 48 years young! Life with Missy is a very fun ride. She is a loyal friend to her very core, she would do anything for her family, she is adventurous, she is attentive, she is thoughtful to the ones she loves most, and also she is fast! As you can see from the video, Missy was not disappointed in her party. Watching Missy try to carry 7 giant tomatoes in her arms is an image that I hope we all cherish forever. Something that may not surprise any of you is that she also requested more tomatoes at dinner! I made a very long video, which has now left me here late at the chimp house. I will leave you with the extra long video and a few photos captured from today.

And our heartfelt thanks goes out to Paulette Wrisley, the second wonderful human to sponsor today in celebration of Missy and the amazing chimpanzee woman she is. We are so grateful to Paulette and Marcie for helping to make today special and for helping to ensure Missy could eat tomatoes to her heart’s content.

Missy on the Hill his morning:

Our vet Erin captured these beautiful photos of Annie and Missy!

Annie:

The Birthday girl:

Eventually Missy had enough of the camera and turned her back on all of us (very Missy):