Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Diana

Valentine’s Party?

by

Shelly C. thought it would be great to have another call for some party donations for the upcoming Valentine’s Day party. Let us know if you’d like to contribute – it’s kind of like passing the hat around the office, only parties for the Cle Elum Seven are way more fun than office parties. This will be their first Valentine’s celebration!!! We’re brainstorming the menu already.

Oh, and speaking of celebrations, we’re almost done mapping out the birthdays for the group. We had to choose birthdays for most of the chimpanzees because they were not known, but we know they all deserve their own special day. I’ll update y’all soon with the actual dates.

Thanks!!

Foxie “disciplining” a doll

by

J.B. posted a video a few days ago with the background sounds of Foxie hitting a troll with a spoon. It’s not an uncommon occurrence these days. I consider it a good thing, because now she interacts with more forms of enrichment – spoons!  This video is of Foxie “disciplining” a Madame Alexander doll with a ladle.

Sippin’ 4 the Seven

by

So, we have this totally amazing and fun event coming up – a wine tasting in Roslyn, WA being organized by this cool wine and antique shop called Vintage Vine. The event, Sippin’ for the Seven, among many other things, will be the debut of the new photo slideshow – all of the great photos of the chimpanzees in a five and a half minute slideshow set to music.

In my ideal world, everyone who reads the blog would be able to come and celebrate, raise a bit of needed funds, see the slideshow and listen to stories of the chimpanzees.

This is kind of a big event for us, so anyone who lives remotely close by should definitely try to make it. Roslyn is a great town (it’s where they filmed the show Northern Exposure), and there are places to stay overnight if you’d rather not drive back home after the sippin’.

If you really can’t come, we understand (say you live in South Carolina or California, for example). You can still participate in the event by making a donation. If you donate $40 or more using this donation form: http://chimpsanctuarynw.kintera.org/Sippin, I will send you a wine glass with the CSNW logo on it and a really nice postcard.

If you own a business, you can sponsor the event and we’ll include your business in the event program – contact me for details: [email protected]

Let’s see how much fun we can all have raising funds for the Cle Elum Seven!

Those helpful opposable toes

by

For dinner, Elizabeth set out a lovely forage of bowls of creamy wheat cereal (aka farina) with fresh strawberries as well as whole apples. We’ve been getting a LOT of apples lately, so Elizabeth and I decided to set out three for each chimpanzee. Missy got it just right. Those opposable toes really do come in handy when you want to keep a grip on your two back-up fruit!

Today was the first day I had seen the chimps since the big fight and I was AMAZED at how quickly injuries are healing. Chimpanzees are darn tough – phsyically and in spirit. They would have to be to be able to survive everything that they have been through in their lives. Burrito and Missy spent a lot of time grooming, and Burrito displayed a couple of times during the day. So, things seem to be returning to the status quo.

I was talking to the chimps’ friend Margie the day of the fight, and she compared the chimps’ fighting and quick making-up to how some big human families interact – screaming matches one minute and sitting down to dinner the next 🙂

Jamie has something to remember… her red tutu

by

Last week Jamie took a small piece of cloth mesh  (it may have been part of a troll costume), and tied it around her toe, then her finger. Jamie really likes shoes and feet, so I often show her my own toes. I have a toe ring, so maybe she was emulating that, or maybe she had something remember 🙂


Today she spent much of the day wearing her new red tutu, courtesy of her friend Tamela.

Short video of Foxie upside down

by

This video shows Foxie outside on a cold (28 degree) day recently. Foxie is often the first to come out when we open the outdoor area. Along with Jamie, Missy and Annie, Foxie will spend some time running around and playing until she gets cold and goes back inside. She will often rub against the platforms like this. I like this video because of the way she rubs her feet together as she hangs upside down. It could be because the bars are cold, but she also did this when it was warm. The bars would be pretty cold for most humans to climb all over, but chimpanzees have thick skin, and they don’t seem deterred by the coldness.

Kitchen view & Jamie in a box

by

We often talk about how we can see the chimpanzees in the playroom when we’re standing at the kitchen sink, so I thought I’d share some photos so you all can better picture what we’re talking about. It’s a neat feature both for the humans who work in the kitchen and for the chimpanzees, who can see produce being washed, meals being prepared, and general organizing of the kitchen, which seems to be necessary almost constantly.

Right on the other side of the window above the sink is a human area where we wash toys and store cleaning equipment. To the right you can see the caging of the playroom and the playroom itself (you can just see the stairs in this photo).

This was our produce for today – one big box to sort through. We compost anything that is too far gone to serve and wash the rest. After it dries, it goes into the refrigerator behind the sink. All of the appliances and cupboards were donations.

And here is, roughly, the view the chimpanzees have, although they can climb higher to get a better vantage point, and they can also see into the kitchen from the loft. Usually there’s more going on than J.B. contemplating a tomato.

I consider this troll doll our kitchen mascot. He(?) sits in the windowsill in front of the sink. He was improved with a ball point pen by Jamie a few months ago – she spent quite a bit of time drawing on him. I usually see this side of him, but sometimes….

…he’s turned around. Jamie adorned his front side with the pen too.

In case anyone is a little bored with the lack of chimpanzee photos in this post, below is one I took last week. Boxes aren’t just for Burrito, Jamie enjoys a good box in the morning too.