Personalities and Preferences:

Starting your level 3 training is almost exactly like your first day of high school. You are a freshman, lowest on the totem pole and all you want to do is make sure the older kids think you are cool and spend their time helping you instead of shoving you into a locker. Granted, I'm really stretching the metaphor here; but the sanctuary is like the high school, the seniors rule the house, and the chimps are the seniors of the place. No matter what I think I know about how things work, the chimps are ultimately the ones who let me know what's going on. 

Monday was a interesting day for me in my training. Usually I get to interact most with Jamie, because a) she is really interested in the humans of the sanctuary and b) other chimps take longer to warm up to interaction with the humans. This time, I got to spend some time with Foxie, Burrito, Jamie (of course) and shockingly, Missy! 

(photo by CSNW)

This is Missy! (Also known as Miss, Miss-Miss, Missy-Miss and most commonly identified by the white patch of skin on her upper lip.) 

Missy is known as the acrobat. She is almost always in a constant state of motion running around inside and outside and is often only a reach away from her best friend Annie. Both Missy and Annie are not very interested in their human caregivers, so even some staff have yet to interact with Missy in the way they have with Jamie or Burrito. So, it came as a shock to me and staff member Katelyn, when Missy presented her back up against the caging asking for grooming FROM ME. Missy sat for at least 10 minutes, rotating like a rotisserie chicken after one side was groomed enough, and back again. It was amazing. When a chimp who pays little attention to staff members she's known since the beginning wants a newbie to groom her, its a little shocking and also amazing.  

Another big moment of the day was holding one of Foxie's "babies." 

(photo by CSNW)

Foxie loves troll dolls. And Doras. They are her babies, and she usually always has one on hand. Most staff believe they are substitutes for the actual chimp babies she had while in medical labs. All of the female chimps were breeders while in the lab, and Foxie had 5 babies including a pair of twins.  Fox loves playing with her babies and caregivers, often passing them in and out of the caging with staff member Katelyn, who will do a dance with them and give them back to Foxie. She is a chimp who takes a little time to warm up to new people, and on monday let me give her a little knuckle rub! Not for very long, but it was progress! While Katelyn and Foxie were playing, Katelyn handed me her troll doll. Like touching, you have to be around for a little while before Foxie is okay with letting you hold her babies. I was ready for spit to fly once Katelyn handed me the doll. To my surprise, Foxie didn't mind at all. Katelyn said this was a really good thing, and probably means that Foxie and I can play once I'm officially a level 3! 

Later in the day after all the chores were done and before dinner time, Lisa took me outside to see if Burrito wanted to play. Burrito loves playing chase and tug of war with his caregivers, and is usually up for playing anytime. We went to the greenhouse where Burrito was and Lisa showed me how to play tug of war with him. Both of them having play face on and laughing, I was so excited to try and get some time in with Burrito. Not long after that, and just as Lisa and I were going to switch places, Jamie rolls in bipedally, pilo-erect and throws poop at Lisa for playing with B. (This is a daily occurance with Jamie, she doesn't really like when caregivers give other chimps all the attention, and especially if you didn't ask if playing was okay. Like Foxie and her trolls, sometimes one caregiver will play with Jamie inside while another caregiver plays with someone else outside, so Jamie is getting the attention she wants.) We apologized to Jamie, and she presented her back for grooming, which I had the pleasure of doing. I grabbed a small stick and began to groom Jamie's back while Lisa continued interacting with B. After a few minutes, Lisa said we could switch and I could see if Burrito wanted to play chase. B, lying on his back with a toy in his mouth could not have been bothered, and when I tried to play chase he just breathy laughed at me like "uh, are you blind? Jamie is right here and there is no way she's going to let us chase." So we just played a mirroring game (where I mirrored what he did, which most of the chimps hate but Burrito really loves.) until it was time for dinner. 

and their delicious dinner was lettuce, corn, carrots, peppers and a night bag (which is a bunch of nuts.) 

So, its getting pretty exciting as training goes on, getting to interact with everyone more is SO AMAZING and I can't wait to continue. Everyone has such a distinct personality and play favorite that you have to remember what each chimp likes. Foxie likes quick almost poke-like knuckle rubs for play, but Jamie wants slow almost massage-like knuckle rubs. Missy likes being groomed slowly and only where she presents whereas Burrito likes to play chase and bang loudly on anything that makes noise. It's honestly amazing getting to know each personality individually and solidifies my life plans more and more each time I'm there. 

Oh don't worry, Jamie is still the boss and always supervising me. Here she is watching my clean room 4: 

 And here she is taking a siesta before dinner: 

And just because I know Jamie cares, here are the awesome socks I wore for her: Neon orange lions on them, and she definitely checked them out. 

In my sanctuary news, I am all registered for the NAPSA (North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance) workshop 2014 in San Antonio! All of the sanctuaries of the US will have a representative there and Lars and I will be learning all the ins and outs of just about everything we will need to know about starting and maintaining and chimp sanctuary. I'm honestly probably too excited about it. Booked our swanky hotel (the Menger, seriously so beautiful) and made a countdown for it. Lars and I are working on business cards, websites and a name so we can trade at the workshop and make some seriously awesome connections. It's definitely a big scary step but super informative. (Even Lars is excited people, this is real.) Locations are down to: Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Texas. Here's to making a decison! 

I really also have to give Beth, Josh, and Lars all of the love. They are seriously holding me together at this crazy busy point in my life, and I know it's only going to get more hectic as time goes on. They will definitely have a wall in my sanctuary with their names on it in the BIGGEST letters, and will get to meet my chimps first. Do chimps have godparents? Well. they will now. Seriously, amazing people I've got in my corner. 

lurv lurv lurv 

b

"She would rather eat poop than take food from me."

July marks my two year anniversary with Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest! Wahooooo! A true testament to the age old "time flies when you are having fun." I can still remember my first shift at CSNW, driving home from Cle Elum and just crying like a small child. This is what I wanted to do, and I was so horribly happy. And now, after 2 knowledge packed years, I've made it to the 3rd level, and again am so horribly happy. 

Monday was a very good day serving the chimps. I assisted serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. For the longest time, I was always the most nervous to serve to Jamie, because she was who I had to impress. If I could make Jamie happy, then everyone else would be cake. WRONG. wrong wrong wrong. Jamie is as calm as can be when I'm serving. You know who can't stand me at all? Neggie. Negra Chimpanzee ain't having none of my serving, my tattoos or my sheepish demeanor when I offer her food. 

(photo by CSNW)

Neggie is the oldest chimp at CSNW, and compared to all of the other chimpanzees, physically, it is clear that prior to coming to the sanctuary she had a harder time. Neggie was the only chimp at CSNW who has born in Africa, captured as an infant and brought to the US to be a medical tester. Like the other ladies at CSNW Negra was a breeder, and used as a hepatitis vaccine tester. Many of the staff believe she still suffers from PTSD, as she often asks for grooming from the human caregivers and almost immediately threat barks in disgust like she didn't want to be touched at all.  Neg doesn't really "like" anyone in the way that Foxie plays with her dolls with her caregiver or Jamie walks around the hill with boots with her caregiver. She usually keeps to herself and takes many many naps. 

This is Annie, who is only a few months younger than Neggie, and you can see that Neg looks vastly older than Annie. Most birthdays of the chimps are honorary as the info from the medical labs can't be exact all the time, they were guessing how old the chimps were when they arrived. Neggie is 41, but many think she is older than that. 

Anyway, when I first arrived at the sanctuary I fell in love with Negra. She reminded me so much of my grandma, a woman who's been through so much and is sassy. She can and SHOULD do whatever she wants, because she's had a long and stressful life. In the past few weeks I've discovered that Neggie is not about taking it easy on the new server. Serving all the meals on monday I had the normal layout:

-served Jamie first, she was calm and took all food from me easily.

-Foxie blowing raspberries as loud as she could, so annoyed at my slow pace. 

-Burrito also blowing raspberries and banging (excitedly) on the caging. 

-Annie, hanging back and waiting for me to serve some others, ultimately taking food from me easily.

-and my sweet, ever so patient and wonderful Jody girl, who a midst all the chaos sat patiently and always gave me her lips, (which is what you want to do. serving to hand is also acceptable, but a little more tricky.)

and of course, my two least impressed ladies, Miss and Neg. 

Missy and Neggie have a different relationship. Neggie has a habit of taking Missy's chow, and because Neg is older and higher ranking than Missy, Miss hands it over to her. She could fight to keep it, be vocal and tell Neggie to buzz off but in this community its easier to fly under the radar. 

Neg is not a fan of me at all. She can sense my hesitation with her and plays into it with every meal. Neggie likes to do this thing where you offer her food, and she will put her hand out, or her lips to the caging to say "yes I want those radishes" and when you put it up to the caging she will rip it as fast and as hard as she can from you and threat bark. When this happens, whoever is nearest to her will also threaten me, as the chimps each other's backs when it comes to being mad at human caregivers. Even though I didn't do anything to Missy, she heard Neggie getting upset and was there to offer back up. Even though Neggie often steals food from her. Its like the notion of family, I can make fun of my sister all I want, but if you say anything I'm going to punch your lights out. 

Neggie's trick sounds pretty cute right? WRONG. Its scary every time, even when I know its coming. She has this look in her eye like "Sure, go ahead and offer that to me. See what happens. I dare you." She even goes so far as to completely turn away from me when I am serving. She even turned down limes and beets (some favorites) because I was serving them. During lunch on monday Neggie was no where to be seen, so we walked around the other side of the greenhouse to see if she wanted some of the food I had and she was eating poop. (which is common for Neggie to do.) I looked at Katelyn and said "This is how much she hates me. She would rather eat poop than take food from me." 

Guess you can't win em all. 

The progress on getting on Neggie's good side continues, although at a glacial pace. 

In other news, location hunting for the chimpanzee sanctuary I want to start has begun! Working on a mission statement, board of directors and a name. Pictures of all of the poster boards full of timelines and ideas coming soon. My house is a disaster area. But here we are. By the eve of my 30th birthday, I will *hopefully hopefully* have a home somewhere in the PNW for chimpanzees who have been medial testers. 

Jumping in with both feet and I couldn't possibly be more terrified and excited. 

TUNE IN NEXT MONDAY; where maybe Neggie will take food from me, instead of eating poop. (probably not though.)

-b 

A Poke, a Threat Bark and some Spit, OH MY!

Sitting down to write this particular blog is proving to be very difficult. So many emotions, all the feels. You know those times when you are so happy/excited/nervous/relived/stillnervous that you just jump up and down and mutter strange noises that sound like words without the vowels? 
That's pretty much how I feel about this Monday with the chimps. 

here's a visual, for reference. 

As we know, I am in Phase 2 of Level 3 training, this is called the "assisting" stage. Essentially I am a puppet and only do what the caregiver with me says I am allowed to do. I don't do anything unless the caregiver instructs me. This is exciting because I get to start interacting with the chimps face to face. *poops pants* 

We start during lunch (I had to finish my last 30 minutes in the observation stage at breakfast, and breakfast is a very high arousal situation. Everyone hasn't eaten since dinner and they are pretty amped up. lots of banging and vocalizations. Not ideal for the chimps or a new caregiver to start the assisting stage with breakfast.) The chimps had corn on the cob, carrots and bananas. All long foods, usually what a trainee starts with so you aren't as close to the caging and you can practice the way you need to hold foods. 

Lets keep in mind here, that I am a new caregiver. I'm inserting myself into the hierarchy, whether the chimps like it or not, and have never served the chimps before. I've been briefed by the staff: 

 * Jamie probably won't take food from you. You're new, and she won't want food you've touched. Don't take it personally. 

*If she takes food, she will probably get upset when you serve anyone else. Since you've never served before, Jamie might think you won't come back around to her with the rest of her servings. And she will let you know. 

*The chimps might not be happy to take food from you. Watch for pokes. 

*Always always offer Jamie food first. She's the alpha and you are new. Its like getting on your boss' good side on the first day. 

*Don't let it scare you when Burrito bangs on the caging at you. He's just really excited to eat. If he rips things from your hand, its usually not aggressive. Just excited. 

*Its a good idea when you are starting out to check in with Jamie when serving if she doesn't want something right away. Let her know you are going to serve someone else and you will be back with more for her. 

*Take your time and practice how to hold your fingers. They will yell at you for being slow, so just tell them what's going on. 

*Keep in mind how close your body is to the caging. We don't want anyone reaching out and pinning you to the cage. 

YOU try keeping that in your head while 7 chimps are all waiting for their food. (that's not even the whole list.) 

Elizabeth served the corn first, to take some anxiety and excitement down with the chimps so they had some food to munch while I *slowly* served some bananas. So there I was, a bowl full of bananas and 7 chimps ready to test me. 

there I am. 

As instructed, I offered my boss Jamie a banana first. Simultaneously the correct and scariest hurdle. Jamie, as I've said before, is the most intelligent chimp at CSNW and loves to give new caregivers trouble. She wants to make sure we know she's in charge and we run things by her before doing them. I was ready for a number of things to happen: 

a) she wouldn't take the food or even acknowledge me. (very common with new caregivers)

b) she would find some poop for me to eat. 

c) she would display and vocalize once I offered the banana.

d) she would simply walk away. 

Offering food to a chimp goes like this: I show Jamie what I have, say "James, do you want a banana?" she nods (or walks away) and I place the banana in the caging and once she has it I let go (or try my luck with another chimp.) Jamie could also choose to not take the banana, and let me offer it to another chimp before becoming loud and aggressive as if to say "I DID NOT SAY YOU COULD OFFER ANYONE ELSE." 

To my utter shock and disbelief, Jamie did exactly what I least expected. She gently took the banana from me. No poking, no threat barks and no poop. I wanted to scream and cry with joy. Jamie was okay with me serving to her. The only parallel I can draw to the human world is getting a promotion. Jamie said I could stay. I quietly said "thanks, James" gave a submissive head nod an said "I'm going to serve Foxie now James, okay?" and moved down to Fox who had her lips through the caging and was blowing raspberries as loud as she could, as if to say "Hello! I'm starving down here!"  

The rest of lunch went shockingly well. Missy, who takes a little longer to warm up to humans got a little upset with me because I was taking a little too long, which was expected. Offering Jamie a chow bag I got a little poke, also expected, spit from Fox and a threat bark from Negra because I'm new and Neggie barks at everyone. 

Neggie's spirit human would have to be Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada. She's terrifying, but she is one of the strongest women you know. 

I could even believe I had served my first meal. I felt like I just got off a roller coaster. Like I was just in a room with 7 individuals I respect more than anyone and all I wanted to do was impress everyone and make sure they were all happy.  SO. MANY. EMOTIONS. 

After lunch, Lisa radioed me to come to the greenhouse. Jamie was letting Lisa groom her, and we were going to see if Jamie would let me step in and do some grooming. *poops pants x2*

Grooming is big in chimp culture. I would equate it to getting your hair done in a small shop in a small town. (insert Steel Magnolia reference here) Its a time to wind down, hear all the gossip with your friends. Chimps are in low arousal, relaxed and trusting of whoever is doing the grooming. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBf9YjuPSo0

I watched Lisa groom Jamie with a stick for a few minutes (video link above) Lisa gave me the tool and got up so we could trade places. The second she stood up, Jamie spun around and grabbed her own tool and looked at me like "Oh no no, I will be doing the grooming around here." Jamie inspected my boot with her stick. Sincerely another big moment of the day, although it might not sound as glamorous as it actually was. Jamie being interested enough to groom me means a lot. I took off my boot, showed her the inside; my socks; and let her groom me until she noticed Ellie (the elk) outside and had to go show her who was boss. 

I served dinner with Katelyn, and this time the chimps had onions, sweet potatoes, peppers and apricots. Katelyn served the apricots first, to release some tension once again and get the most prized item out. I thought I got lucky with lunch with everyone being so nice and easy going for my first meal. Like in the movies when they be-friend the nerd to get what they want. "oh I'll be nice, because you have the food I want. But next time, look out for poop. it's coming." Now I was serving smaller foods and was once again ready for the chimp revolt with a new server. And again to my shock, the chimps handled me serving dinner (slowly, again because of the onions who decided to be slippery bastards.) and all went well! Jamie had a look on her face, I'm not even kidding, that seemed to say "oh hunny. you are so young and inexperienced with serving it's almost laughable. One day you'll learn how to go faster." The pity in her eyes was unmistakable. It may have taken a little longer, but it was a success. Caregiver Katelyn said the chimps seemed very comfortable and relaxed with me, which rarely happens on a trainees first time serving food. 

Longest blog post ever? Oh trust, it will only get worse after more interactions with the chimps. Not sorry. 

here is Burrito (closest to us) and Jody. I love the way Jody relaxes, all sprawled out on one side. Burrito sat down, looked at Jody and took the similar position. Jody knows how to get comfortable, for real. 

My way of decorating the green house after cleaning. Soon the chimps will say "oh great Becca's here. She likes to tie all the blankets on shit." 

In other unrelated news, LFJ and I are writing and illustrating a book on the differences between primates. You know, so maybe I'll stop yelling at small children at the zoo for calling an orangutan a monkey. (Probably not though, I love yelling.)

That is all I have for this week! Stay tuned for what happens next on "Becky becomes a caregiver." (I would watch that TV show.) 

lurb lurb

b

A lovely reader asked
"Why do you say "served" instead of "fed" when talking about the chimps?"

        We say we are "Serving" the chimps because we are there for them. We don't "feed" them like you feed pets, we are feeding them as individuals we work for. Feeding implies that it happens on our schedule, when in reality it's their time and when they want it. (obviously not whenever or else the chimps would over eat and be unhealthy) We ask Jamie if we can serve breakfast, what foods we can serve first and if it's okay to serve an individual. This is their home and we are just living in it. It keeps all our egos small and reminds us why we are here.