Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

young's hill

Forage Season!

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We love forage season! It’s the best time of the year, when the weather is warm enough for chimps to hangout outside! Personally, it’s my favorite time of the year to take pictures of the chimps! I love seeing the grass contrast in the background. Please enjoy these photos of the chimps having a great day!

Burrito getting a bird’s-eye view of his neighbors while eating his kohlrabi:

Later he snagged some sweet potato:

Jamie did very well for herself (the green onion in foot is the best):

Annie bird:

Negra was the first one out this morning and the first one out for the forage:

Foxie eating a carrot:

Foxie in the green grass:

We even got a glimpse of Rayne from Young’s Hill:

Rayne really enjoyed the forage:

Bonus photos of Mave working on a Giant Kong:

*Event coming up* if anyone is in the Washington or Seattle area, we will be tabling at the Planted Expo at the Seattle Convention Center this Saturday, April 20th and Sunday, April 21st from 10 to 5. This will be our first time at Planted and we are really looking forward to it, so come say hi!

A Pear-y Good Forage

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Earlier this week, I was conducting my security checks to enure it was safe to give the chimpanzees access to Young’s Hill first thing in the morning. As I was checking a few locks that lead to Young’s Hill, Negra was sitting at the door that leads to the outdoor enclosure, clapping at me. This is more often than not Negra-speak for “Hurry the expletive up!” (I just assume Negra curses like a sailor when communicating with the humans.)

As the good loyal subject that I am, I obeyed my queen’s wishes and put a little more pep into my step. When I finally got the clearance to let them outside, Negra was the first one out, and she was moving with a purpose. Why did she want to go outside so badly? She had left some things out there from the day prior. (Also note, please watch J.B.’s video from yesterday.)

Cauliflower! Negra remembered there was leftover cauliflower from the previous day’s forage. And Negra was on a mission to find all the leftovers, regardless of the fact breakfast was about to be served.

This was a little different than the normal foraging for morning Spring grass. Just like Burrito this morning.

Burrito’s morning forging was interrupted by screaming from his neighbors, so he jettisoned back to home base to watch.

With all this foraging, I decided, “What the heck? I’m sure they’ll like another one. I’m sure there will be something leftover for her tomorrow morning.”

And just like the other day, Negra was the first one out. There was chow biscuits to be had and neighbors to snoop on after all!

Even Missy made sure to keep an eye on her neighbors to not miss anything exciting they might do.

But to others, the food was more important. Especially when one of those food items is pears!

As some of you know, Jamie is a fiend for pears.

We are pretty sure Jamie was able to find every pear slice out there.

For Foxie, her pears were carrots.

And for Burrito, his pears were shallots.

My apologies! I could have sworn I got photos of Annie, but I guess I was mistaken. Just know that she was eyeing all the kohlrabi.

With one final grab at a whole kohlrabi, Negra headed back inside.

She didn’t even break eye contact from the Bray on her way in.

Cy

As the day begins to wind down and dinner is being prepared, I will leave you with two bonus photos!

Jamie fishing some raisins out of a pool we left her.

And Missy, right above Jamie, fishing raisins out of a raisin board.

Training with Rayne

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Someone recently asked for an update on Rayne’s forehead, and here it is! As many of you who follow the blog already know, Rayne has a chronically dry forehead. It is a distinguishing feature that makes her easy to identify within her group, but can also be itchy and we assume somewhat uncomfortable for her. Because of this, Jenna wrote a plan (awhile ago) to apply lotion to Rayne’s forehead in an attempt to moisturize it and help with the dryness.

Rayne with a magazine and box of enrichment items

The update is that Rayne is a genius and has been allowing us to regularly lotion her forehead, using a paintbrush! She is especially helpful during these sessions as once we paint some of the lotion onto her head, she quickly rubs it in. Rayne’s favorite part of these sessions seems to be the juice she gets as a reward, and she especially loves getting to finish off what is left of it by the end of our session as a jackpot for a job well done. Immediately following these sessions, her forehead appears shiny and well-moisturized, making her look almost like a completely different chimp. We will be continuing to apply lotion to her forehead regularly using a paintbrush, and may try using different lotions to see if they provide more lasting effects.

Rayne’s forehead after lotion application

Enjoy some bonus photos from a forage with Jamie’s group today. The weather has been beautiful today, and both humans and chimps are enjoying it.

Foxie and her doll

Jamie with as many mini peppers as she could carry. This looks very similar to a different photo of Jamie we posted recently…Jamie loves her mini peppers!

Missy in motion

Ain’t No Foolin’

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Happy Day After April Fools Day! Hopefully nobody pranked any of you too bad!

I apologize for this very brief blog! Caregivers had their biweekly staff meeting, and today’s went a wee bit longer than anticipated. So please forgive me.

I do have photos though! I hope they paint a better picture of today than any words I could conjure up!

Negra

Annie grooming Negra, who was the first one out onto Young’s Hill this morning.
Of course a morning snack of grass was to be had!
After breakfast, it was time for a nap.

Missy

Missy returning from a morning race around Young’s Hill. She was waiting for her competitor (who will appear shortly).

Chasing a trespasser as Foxie looks on.
Can you find the trespasser in this photo?

Crow

Here they are!

Jamie

Missy actually was just finishing what Jamie had started.

Foxie

Annie

Burrito

Burrito trying to catch up to Missy during this morning’s race!

Cy

Cy being groomed by Rayne on Ryan’s Lookout.
Gordo joined.

Rayne

Rayne taking a midday rest on the Lookout.

Mave

No. Your eyes aren’t fooling you. That is Mave on the Bray! Granted it was a skirmish that initially brought her out there. She chose to hang out a bit when things died down. When the skirmish picked back up about 5 minutes later, Mave casually walked out there to give Terry and Gordo some reassurance. I decided to include this photo since it is rare to come by one of Mave on the Bray.

A Path Out

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We finally have a decent break from the snow and subfreezing temperatures. Though there are some more winter storms in the forecast, at least most days are going to be fairly mild in regard to temperature. In fact, for the first time in a long time, the sun has broken through the clouds to grace us with it’s warm presence. With the sun out, it was too good of an opportunity not to try to give Annie’s group Young’s Hill. After some light shoveling, a path to Young’s Hill was forged.

I must apologize, however. As I watched the pileup at the door that leads to Young’s Hill was opening, I realized I had forgotten the camera and my phone. I guess it boils down to I was too plum excited to see the color contrast of chimp and snow.

Foxie

Annie

Even with access to get their own snow, sometimes having the snow brought to you is the best. At least that seemed to be Jamie’s preference, with the addition of icicles and black cherry Stur water enhancers.

Missy also had joined Jamie in snow and icicles.

Some bonus photos of Willy B playing with Lucky a couple of days ago!

New Year’s Eve? New Climbing Structure!

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Thank you to that long list of supporters in the video above who donated towards new climbing structures in the Comfort & Joy online auction. What a fabulous day for some new adventure! I hope you all are looking forward to new things with the turn of the calendar tomorrow.

We have had a lot of new things delivered to the sanctuary recently! A huge shout-out to everyone who has purchased items through our Amazon wish list this month. Even with the wonders of modern technology and the efficient delivery of packages, we often don’t know who sent us wish list items. So, if you don’t receive a personal thank  you, it might be because your name wasn’t included as the gift giver. This time of year, we have quite a backlog of thanking to do too, so perhaps a thank you is on the way. In either case, please know how grateful you are for thinking of the chimpanzees and providing them and the sanctuary with much needed and much loved items.

Big thanks also to everyone who has made a donation of cash or securities this month. It’s heartwarming to receive your year-end support and read your messages about how much the sanctuary means to you. We appreciate every dollar donated and will put it to good use in 2024. THANK YOU!

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. 🙂