Caitlin chose today as a sponsor-a-day to honor Emily Hawkes. Thanks Caitlin and Merry Christmas, Emily!
Here’s a little Jody to light up everyone’s day:
Enrichment ideas wanted
We know a lot of the people who regularly read this blog also support other great ape sanctuaries and zoos. And we know you all really enjoy seeing the Cle Elum Seven enriched, so we are seeking your ideas, perhaps things you’ve seen at other facilities, for what we have been calling “enhanced enrichment” – enrichment that creates a challenge and encourages exercise and/or tool use. Jackie put together a great video yesterday (see at end of post) that shows a few of the things that we do already.
Below is a photo of our enrichment calendar. We have themes for our regular enrichment (toys and such put out after cleaning in the morning) and projects for enhanced enrichment (usually set up in the evenings after dinner). The scheduled enhanced enrichment all began with a desire to consistently keep smart Jamie from getting bored. As you’ll see from the video, all of the chimpanzees can appreciate a challenge. Free-living chimpanzees spend hours each day traveling, looking for and acquiring food, so presenting food puzzles is a good way to keep those innate parts of their brains exercised.
MacBook update
Are you ready? We now have $1,225 pledged or received towards the MacBook Pro! The current price on our amazon.com wish list is $1,705.99, which means we only need $481 to make the purchase!
Big, big thanks to Candy Crannell for spearheading this fundraising and making a large pledge yesterday, and to Kathy B., Gayle, Leslie, Theresa, Catherine M., Jeani, and Pam!
Consider joining this group of supporters. You’ll keep the blog going strong by replacing our dying computer in the chimp house. You can mail a check (PO Box 952, Cle Elum, WA) or donate online. Just send me a quick email: [email protected] or leave a comment on this post to let me know your pledge.
We’re close!
A not-so-scary alligator
A couple of weeks ago I had the camera as Jody was walking towards the pool full of snow. Before reaching her destination, she stopped to try to close the mouth of this alligator. It wasn’t realistic enough to warrant fear of a predator (as in the Predator in our Midst post from two years ago), but Jody still didn’t like the looks of that gaping jaw.
the good, the bad and the snow
Thanks to Candy’s initiative on our Holiday Wishes post, it looks like we have $120 pledged towards the new MacBook. Having a new Mac really is essential for our blog, so we appreciate the pledges from Candy, Kathy B., Theresa and Catherine Mollyneaux! Please comment here or email me if you’d like to join in the pledges.
Sorry for the lack of posts for the last few days. On Thursday we had a crew out from a national magazine doing a story on Sarah. You’ll have to wait until February to find out which mag (if you know, don’t tell!)
On Friday and Saturday we were having technical difficulties with the old Mac as well as memory cards for the camera. Jackie and I were worried it was the beginning of the end for my old MacBook. It’s okay for the time being, but who knows how long it’s going to hold on. We do really immediately need a new 4 to 8 GB memory card. There’s one on our Amazon wishlist, if you want to snatch it up for us. We also got a foot of snow yesterday and I had to take off early from the chimp house to attempt to plow the driveway with the tractor (yikes!).
In other exciting news, our Board of Directors will be purchasing the new Cannon camera for us!! We are so excited! It’s going to make videos of the chimps on Young’s Hill possible and will add to our collection of great photos. We have the best board! Being on a board is serious business. Basically, they are responsible for the organization, which is a particularly big deal when talking about a sanctuary or other non-profit that cares for living beings. Having a strong board with lots of professional expertise is essential. And boy do we have it – just check them out on our Board of Directors page.
I promise we will post some photos or video later today.
Wish List item for today
I’m madly and happily fulfilling orders from our online store today and we’re really close to being out of 10.5″ x 16″ padded envelopes. I’ll order more at the end of the day, but thought I’d mention it on the blog in case someone wanted to pick them up for us through our Amazon wishlist or elsewhere. They’re a pretty good deal through amazon since the shipping is free, but if anyone can find a better deal, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m always looking for good prices on shipping supplies.
It’s a wintry mix kind of day at the sanctuary. A good backdrop for sending out holiday gifts.
Speaking of which, I’m really in love with the Burrito lip balm. The scent / taste of pomegranate is pretty subtle and it’s a high-quality vegan lip balm made by EcoLips. Who wouldn’t want to carry Mr. B. around in their pocket? I’m sure a lot of folks would be happy to get one or two in their stocking or for a Chanukah gift, or perhaps incorporated into the ribbon on a package that contains other sanctuary merchandise!
Happy Christmas, Peter Cross!
Marie thought Peter would appreciate a season’s greetings sponsor-a-day while he is away from home. So, a very Happy Christmas (as you Brits say) to you, Peter!
This is the December photo in our 2010 calendar, and one of my personal favorites:
