Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
We often talk about how Missy is on always on the move. If she sees her friends out on a walk without her, she doesn’t hesitate to race out and catch up with them.
Even when Missy is moving slower, she is usually on the alert.
And she is always listening for any signs of disturbance on the wind.
And when things are calm and quiet, we still get the sense that Missy’s mind is racing just as fast as her legs can move.
Lettuce is a simple, yet extremely effective way to Negra’s heart.
Happy LOVE Day everyone!
Today we got a break from Snowpocalypse 2019 with some lovely blue sky and sunshine at the sanctuary. When it starts to warm up around here, the snow comes cascading off the roof of the building in big sheets to keep us busy digging out our sidewalks. We are on just the edge of this weather, with the snow just starting to creep over the eaves in a menacing fashion. The main part of the building gets an amazing build up of delicious icicles:
The chimps have been playful since early this morning, running around and engaging their caregivers and each other in games of chase. It’s always a delight to start your day with everyone around you in a cheerful mood.
This morning I opened the door to Young’s Hill. As I walked down the greenhouse steps that lead back toward the main chimp house building, Burrito playfully kicked the plastic covered caging next to me. He likes to start games of chase this way. Having the element of surprise (the plastic makes it hard see him coming) must be pretty satisfying.
As an added bonus to this morning’s game, I also got covered in a waterfall of fresh powdery snow. The force of Burrito’s strong kick managed to knock a stream of (fortunately) soft snow loose off the greenhouse roof. The snow shower may have been an unintended consequence of his game, but either way, well played Mr. B!
Today, while searching for blog topics,I found this short little video in my Desktop file. Coincidentally, it was from this day in 2017! I’m not sure if I’ve shared it before, so that also might make it a bonus, never before seen moment. Of course, I’ve been known to be wrong, so I leave it up to you to decide. Any avid followers out there recognize this little clip?
Many of you may remember this pretty fantastic video of an example of quintessential Jamie enrichment (taken last December):
Jamie loves a project to work on. She likes things she can investigate, take apart and reassemble just the way she wants. She likes things with pockets, compartments and zippers.
We love setting up these special little projects for her and and we could use your help designing more of them. Diana added this Folio to our Amazon wish list as an example of the something we would like to get her.
We also think she would like a used briefcase or messenger bag. If you want to help enrich The Boss, feel free to search your closet or local consignment store for these type of items.
One of the challenges we face when coming up with new enrichment for the chimps is determining if something is safe for them to actually have. Sure Jamie would LOVE to have a real cordless drill, but we also have to think of all the ramifications of her actually wielding such power.
Besides the obvious potential weapon and definite ruin of the building aspects of the drill, we have to consider things like batteries. After the chimps investigate their enrichment, they often try to break their new objects using any means possible. If Jamie did get her hands on a drill, we would never want to see one of the chimps get hurt from biting into a battery.
A long story short, we have a strict list of enrichment guidelines, so please check out this link before you decide to send Jamie a present. We are always happy to help guide your quest for the right item. Feel free to send me an email ([email protected]) if you have any questions.
If you choose to accept this mission, you can send her package to:
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
PO Box 952
Cle Elum, WA 98922
Happy searching!
When your boss orders you to stop cleaning and start playing, you make time!
