We do a lot of cleaning at the sanctuary. We thoroughly clean the front rooms and playroom in the morning (unless one or more of the chimps decides not to follow the morning routine) and we spot clean throughout the day. When we clean the playroom, the chimps stay in the front rooms. When we’re doing our big morning clean, during and after their breakfast, we’re always conscious of trying to get done quickly so that the chimps can have the playroom back. What we’ve noticed is that at least some of the chimpanzees take this time to play in the front rooms. We’ve already shared a few videos of Foxie and Jamie playing in the front rooms while we are cleaning the playroom. Somehow playroom cleaning time = Jamie and Foxie playtime (along with the occasional addition of Missy, Jody and Annie). It’s kind of a play routine they’ve established around our cleaning routine.
Below is another video of Foxie and Jamie. This short video is action-packed! It includes double troll doll action, a sheet, and a leap-over move never seen before. The noise you hear in the background is J.B. squeegeeing the floor of the playroom.
boy that Foxie loves to play! she’s persistant canoodling & rousing up Jamie .. Shelly C – dig that hot pink sheet, one of yr gifts!?!
I love how they’re at ease with all the loud squeegeeing racket..
(Go J.B.!)
sure hope in the new year there will be more chimps released from research & entertainment getting their chance to be at ease like this to have a real home and a family with top-notch care .. an end to exploitations.
This is the BEST yet! Thank you Diana. I love the “leap frog” and then when Jamie picks up a troll and puts it in her mouth just like Foxie has…..and then Fosie tries to pull the troll out of Jamie’s mouth without success! What a delight to see such happy chimps. Thank you thank you.
They crack me up! They are so fun and easy with each other, it amazes me how gentle they can be with each other, you can truly see compassion and love in their interactions. Whoever says no humans don’t know compassion or caring are out to lunch! Happy Holidays and playtimes to the Cle Elum Seven!! Michelle at Rabbit Ridge Designs
OOPS….should have re read it first, meant to say NON HUMANS, not “no humans”! Heck, some humans really don’t know compassion or caring as much as Foxie!! Look at why these guys are here! Maybe this coming year we all can have a hand in getting more chimps out of facilities and into sanctuaries like ours!
I, too, loved the pink sheet it seems they’ve learned to entertain themselves quite nicely.
You go girls!!! That video is a blast. What fun to watch Jamie try to get a troll by Foxie, to no avail! It is such fun to watch Foxie and JAmie enjoying themselves.
I’m glad you explained the squeegee noise. Otherwise I would have thought a couple others were having fun. It was JB having fun instead.
Enjoy Connecticut JB. Diana are you also going or do you get to stay and play with the chimp people?
LOL – I seem to be spatially challenged today. 🙂
So – there are bedrooms, front rooms, a play room, an outdoor area and a kitchen area – yes? When you clean first thing in the morning, are the chimps in their bedrooms while you clean the front rooms? Or do you move the chimps into the playroom to clean the front rooms? And is it indeed ‘front roomS’ – plural? How many front rooms? Are they all connected to the playroom? The playroom is an extra tall space, with platforms and climbing space … how about the front rooms? Single-story height, or more? And how many bedrooms – one per chimp?
I need a diagram! 🙂
Meanwhile – it’s delightful to see that they have a routine that includes play, and to see the bonds they have with each other. It’s reassuring to know that you tend to them so diligently, and satisfying to see that even surprising noises don’t upset them. Life at the sanctuary is good – and they’ve learned to trust that.
I hope you all (humans and chimps alike) have a warm and satisfying holiday. Blessings to all for what they give so willingly – peace, safety, friendship, and caring.
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
No Dee I cannot take the credit for the hot pink sheet, but I would have bought one like that for Foxie if I would have seen one. I love this videos, they are truly best friends and that is wonderful to see. Thanks Diana!
You go girls! Hearing chimp laughter is the best sound in the world! They are truly both having a ball. It doesn’t get any better than this. Having a good time when they want, eating good food, and being loved. These chimps are enjoying a life changing move to the fullest and I love watching them enjoying it. Thank you so much for sharing yet another wonderful video of the fun!
You go girls! Hearing chimp laughter is the best sound in the world! They are truly both having a ball. It doesn’t get any better than this. Having a good time when they want, eating good food, and being loved. These chimps are enjoying a life changing move to the fullest and I love watching. Thank you so much for sharing yet another wonderful video of the fun!
I think I can answer some of your questions, Anna, since I volunteer there from time to time. The “front rooms” and the “bedrooms” are the same thing. They are single storied and run along the long axis of the play room. Each one has a bench built in so if the chimps want to sit there or sleep or jump on and off or what ever they can. The various cat walks and lofts etc go over the rooms from the play room. There are four or five (can’t remember which) front/bed rooms which can connect with each other and and can connect with the play room. The staff can change that as they need to. At night the chimpanzees can be anywhere they want to sleep. They take their blankets to where ever they each want to sleep. In the mornings have their breakfast in the front rooms which means the staff can shut off the play room while they eat and clean the play room. Then when the play room and lofts are cleaned and when the chimpanzees are through with breakfast the staff open the doors and the chimpanzees go into the play room allowing the staff to clean the front rooms. That is, as Diana says, unless one or more chimps decide they do not want to do that routine on a given day in which case everything changes until it suits the chimps! 🙂 So great, they are in charge. No one ever MAKES a chimpanzee do anything. The chimps access to the outside area is from the play room.
One thing I am constantly impressed with is how clean and sweet smelling the sanctuary is. It is quite amazing. Once in a while, if someone has just had a poop there is a little smell but it is not for long and there is never a residual smell. It is a beautiful place.
Thanks so much, the highlight of my day. I feel like a shut in with over 18″ of snow on the ground, this is one of my outlets to the rest of the world!!!! Everyone’s done so well with their comments all I can say is so much fun to watch and feel their happy abandon!! you have give them the best Christmas present ever!! Happy Holidays to all!!!
Thank you, Margaret and Karen! That really helps me with a much clearer picture of the facility. 🙂
Thank you for responding to Anna’s questions, Margaret! You did a good job of explaining the building.
Here’s some more detail: there are four front rooms that have doors in between and each of the front rooms has a door to the playroom. The last front room is larger because it extends into the human hallway that is in front of the front rooms (have I lost anyone yet?). This larger room (room four if you want me to get technical about it), has two windows and two benches/beds, and there have been many photos of the chimpanzees taken as they sit on the bench in between the windows. There’s a lovely orange and brown safari mural covering the walls of that room designed by Julie of Posh Pallette.
One thing we’d love to do in the Spring is turn one of the windows into a door so that there are more options for shifting the chimps, and they can have the choice of being outside or in the front rooms while we clean the playroom. All of the doors are pneumatic and operated from control boxes (thank you for this feature, Keith!)
Most of the video we’ve taken of the chimpanzees playing in the front rooms has been in room one – it has the yellow concrete wall on one side. In the videos you can’t see that there is a bench/bed above. The front rooms are about 10 feet tall (Keith can correct me if that’s wrong). Like Margaret mentioned, there is a loft in the playroom which takes advantage of the space above the front rooms.
Are there some pictures in the archives that Anna and other people could go and see pictures of the inside of the building? I thought I remember seeing some, but I may be wrong.
I looked thru the archives and if you go back to April 18, 2008 there are some construction pictures. The one of the playroom is looking towards the outside area with the front rooms on the left. Hope that helps.
As I searched I came across so many of the “first” pictures and it’s completely amazing the transformation that has occurred. I thought there might be some pictures from the housewarming in June so I looked thru that month and the difference between then and now…
Thanks Anna for your question, it was really enlightning to look again at how much change has happened (and in such a short time) in the lives of the chimps and those associated with them as well.
I thought there were some house warming pictures??