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Archives for February 2013

Nightbag Rituals

February 17, 2013 by Jackie

As Diana mentioned yesterday, she got some photos of the chimps enjoying their nightbags last Friday. As most of you know, Negra is the biggest fan of nightbags and almost seems to live for that time of the day. But the reality is, nightbags are truly loved by all. Each one of the chimps has their own ritual with nightbags. If we serve them in the greenhouse, everyone immediately scatters when they get their bag, heading off to a safe and more isolated location. Nightbags are a prized possession, so everyone is careful to ensure their bag is not stolen by someone. Jamie immediately goes up to the window sill, tears it open and dumps everything out so she can pick through what she wants to eat first. Negra doesn’t tend to move away very far, as eating it is her number one top priority (not to mention I think she knows no one would steal her nightbag!). She tears a hole in the bag and munches on it through the hole, allowing nut shells and empty sunflower seeds to collect on her belly. Jody tends to lay down to eat hers, usually tearing it open but leaving it neatly on the bag while she picks through the mix with her lips. Annie usually bites a hole in her bag and holds it like a cereal bowl. Foxie’s method is pretty similar to Annie’s, only she usually dumps small amounts in her hand and sorts through it there:

Foxie

Missy usually tears it open and spreads it open like Jamie- a perk of being a more dominant chimp, in that you don’t have to worry about people stealing it as much so dumping it out isn’t as big of a deal. And then you get to go through and eat each nut and seed at your leisure:
Missy

Burrito uses the cereal bowl method as well though I think his favorite part is going back and sorting through people’s abandoned scraps!
Burrito

Filed Under: Annie, Burrito, Chimpanzee Behavior, Enrichment, Food, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, Negra, Sanctuary Tagged With: Burrito, chimp enrichment, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, Foxie, Missy, Sanctuary

In Memory of Rita Yardley

February 17, 2013 by Elizabeth

Annie Norris has also sponsored today in memory of her mother, Rita.  Here’s what Annie had to say:

“I’m sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of my mom, Rita Yardley.  We lost her this past November and today would have been her 75th birthday.  She loved all animals, but had a special place in her heart for gorillas and chimpanzees.  We miss her dearly.”

Annie has recently started volunteering in the chimp house, and we couldn’t be happier to have her.  Thanks, Annie!

web Annie lie on bridge sunshine big ears playroom PR IMG_3206

Filed Under: Annie, Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day, Thanks Tagged With: Annie, chimpanzee, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum Seven, Sponsor-a-day

Thanks, Karen Bugni!

February 17, 2013 by Elizabeth

Karen has sponsored today to make sure the Cle Elum Seven have warm blankets and full bellies. Thanks, Karen, from Missy and the gang.

web Missy headstand nest pink blanket outside_MG_8304

Filed Under: Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day, Thanks Tagged With: chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum Seven, Sponsor-a-day

Negra in her cabin!

February 16, 2013 by Diana

I took some photos last night and had a whole blog post about night bags ruminating in my head, but then, today, this happened…

negra sit in cabinNegra finally spent some time in Negra’s Cabin!

The thinking behind the cabin that you helped us build through our 4th anniversary fundraising, was that the chimps, particularly fair-weather-loving Negra, needed a spot on the hill where they would be protected from the wind and rain, which we had both of today.

Here’s the full story of Negra’s big venture to her cabin –

Now that the snow is gone and we’ve had some warmer days, Negra has been spending a bit of her time on the hill, especially when we spread food around for the chimps to find. Below is a photo from last night of Negra heading back towards the greenhouse after gathering some sweet potato:

Negra sweet potato in mouth

Generally, Negra’s been going out long enough to gather food, then coming back inside, but today was a little different.

The weather has been weird today. One minute sunny and warm, the next windy and overcast, and the next sleeting. There was a window of good weather around the chimps’ lunchtime, so we decided to set up a forage on the hill. We’re defrosting the freezer today, so J.B. took a hammer to some frozen watermelon that had been in the freezer for who knows how long and we included that in the lunch forage.

Jody went for the frozen watermelon in the cabin, and took her stash away as Negra approached:

Negra approaching cabin

Negra approaching Jody in cabin

Negra displacing Jody in cabin

Once in the cabin, Negra actually just sat for a while. I think and hope that she was realizing how great it is in there!

Negra in cabin 1

Negra in cabin profile

negra sit in cabin

Jody got all of the watermelon from the cabin, but there was still some other food that Negra found:

Negra reaching for food in cabin

Negra eating tomato in cabin

Hopefully this is the first day of many that Negra will enjoy the warmth and protection of her cabin.

 

Filed Under: Food, Fundraising, Negra, Sanctuary, Young's Hill Tagged With: chimp, chimpanzee, csnw, Enrichment, forage, Negra, northwest, protection, rescue, Sanctuary, young's hill

Chimps vs Horses

February 15, 2013 by J.B.

Every once and a while, our neighbor’s horses escape their pastures and come over to the sanctuary. I like to watch the look on their faces when they see the chimps for the first time. It goes from interested to confused to frightened in about five seconds.

I think the chimps enjoy engaging in territorial behavior from time to time. CSNW is different than most other chimpanzee sanctuaries in that we have only one group and they are together at all times. They never see or hear other chimpanzees and therefore they rarely have a reason to defend their territory as a group or to patrol the boundaries of their enclosure. But occasional visits from wild deer, stray dogs, and escaped horses and cattle keep them on their toes.

Jamie, being the alpha that she is, seems to live for this kind of thing.

Filed Under: Chimpanzee Behavior, Foxie, Jamie, Play, Trolls, Young's Hill Tagged With: behavior, chimpanzee, horses, northwest, rescue, Sanctuary, territorial

Whole lotta love!

February 14, 2013 by Debbie

Lots of people have shown their love for the Cle Elum Seven this Valentine’s Day! Both Adrienne A. and Tracy H. sponsored today for the chimps! It’s also volunteer Stephanie’s birthday today and she brought tons of party supplies. We also got some awesome Valentine’s themed enrichment donated from Felicity W., Tamela B., and Dick & Robbi B. Thanks to all our wonderful support this holiday we threw a lovely party for the chimps—complete with a lot of decorations, fun enrichment, and some berry “cocktails” with a tiny bit of sugarless and vegan whipped cream for a special treat! I would say the chimps had a good time.

web IMG_0897
Negra:

web Negra sit in nest with streamers decorations neggie face valentines day party PR IMG_3330

Missy:

web Missy lick cup valentines day party PR IMG_3370

Jamie:

web Jamie look in boot forage party valentines day PR IMG_3350

 

web Jamie look at camera decorations valentines day party PR IMG_3356

Foxie:

web Foxie strawberry in mouth gift bag forage valentines day party PR IMG_3310

Annie:

web Annie eat berry cup whipped cream forage valentines day party PR IMG_3300

Filed Under: Annie, Enrichment, Food, Foxie, Jamie, Missy, Negra, Party, Sanctuary, Thanks, Volunteers

Thanks, Tracy Headley!

February 14, 2013 by Elizabeth

Tracy Headley has also sponsored today for the chimps!  It is a day of love, indeed.

And what’s more lovely than Foxie giving Dora a ride on her back around Young’s Hill?

web Foxie walk dora on back YH IMG_3108

Thanks, Tracy!

Filed Under: Foxie, Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day, Thanks, Young's Hill Tagged With: chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum 7, Cle Elum Seven, Foxie, Sanctuary, Sponsor-a-day, young's hill

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Cle Elum, WA 98922
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