Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Diana

Foxie adopts a small British boy

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For two days, Foxie abandoned her trolls for a new doll! We’ve been calling the doll (more of an action figure, really) the small British Boy. He is solid hard plastic, has a top hat, knickers and cloth vest. He’s actually a ring-bearer – he’s holding a pillow with a ring on it in his hand.

His legs and arms move, and the best part – he has eyelids that open and close. Foxie spent a lot of time “grooming” his eyes. She was smitten. She held on to him for at least two days straight. It was adorable. I haven’t worked at the chimp house in a few days, so I don’t know the fate of the British Boy. We’ll let you know. It was difficult to get photos because Foxie is always on the move, but here are a few.

Foxie climbing while holding the British Boy and a green monkey!

Shop Food Fight and Herbivore TODAY

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Hey everyone, to continue with our holiday shopping initiative, all of the businesses in Portland’s vegan mini-mall are giving a percentage of their proceeds today, all day. If you’re not in Portland, there’s still a chance to help out by shopping at Food Fight and Herbivore online. Food Fight Vegan Grocery has an amazing selection of vegan grocery products and miscellany. My favorites include Tings, Sjaak’s Organic Truffles, Sheese all the way from Scotland (I like the cheddars), Ener-G Egg Replacer for baking. Oh – Sarah recently made meringue cookies and “accidentally” made whipped cream out of the Meringue Cookie Mix – both were out-of-the-world good. They even have crazy stuff like vegan haggis and cavier. I think you get the point – Food Fight has some really great stuff for all people who like food.

Herbivore Clothing has awesome clothing and accessories and also many, many books. I love the Herbivore bunny, which they have on three different shirts.  They have really great barrettes, belts, luggage tags, necklaces, bags and wallets – including coin purses made by our friend Laura Bee! And the books – wow! Because I’m so focused on food – I’ll recommend a couple of my favorite cookbooks: Buddha’s Table (Thai food!), Veganomicon (the best all-around cookbook there is), and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. There are lots more, a few that I will now purchase since part of the money will go to our chimpanzee friends.

Happy Shopping 🙂

Chimps enjoy a slide show, and so will you soon!

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Kathy C., who you may recall recently donated a new telephoto camera lens, is working on a photo slide show of the Cle Elum Seven. The slideshow is set to music and has LOTS of photos. We’ll have it for sale in our store once it is ready and we’ve made copies!! Kathy gave us a preview and we were so excited, we decided we should show it to the chimps themselves to see what they thought. They loved it!

We did not receive an money from Apple for this promotion of their laptop – maybe we should think about that…

Burrito watching slide show

Jamie watching slide show

Foxie and Jamie watching slide show. Foxie has a big paper wadge in her mouth – wadging is a natural behavior sort of like dipping tobacco without the chemicals and addiction. Chimps in the wild wadge with leaves. In captivity they use various things. Jamie, of course, is wearing a scarf.

Negra watching the show from the comfort of her bed.

Negra and nuts

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I think we’ve mentioned a few times on the blog how much Negra enjoys nuts. We frequently scatter nuts in the outdoor area on warm days or the playroom if it’s a bit colder so when the chimpanzees go into that area after we are finished cleaning, they spend fifteen to twenty minutes foraging. Burrito is particularly good at finding food in the straw and really seems to enjoy looking. This time of year is great because nuts in the shell are easy to find, and this adds more for the chimpanzees to do – they have to crack the nuts to get to the meat inside (they use their teeth). Negra squeeks with anticipation as soon as she sees us bringing out the nuts for scattering. Here are a couple of photos of Negra taken just the other day as she was gathering and eating nuts in the outdoor area.

Disclaimer: This post is a bit of a set up. Denice has shopped around for the best deals on nuts and will let you know about what she’s found in case you want to give some mixed nuts in the shell for the chimps for the holidays. Nuts in the shell can last up to two years if frozen and a year in the fridge, so we can follow the lead of the squirrels and stock up now!

Day of play

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Yesterday ranks as one of the most playful days for the Cle Elum Seven. Foxie was in the center of the play throughout the day. It began with her and Jamie wrestling in the morning in the front rooms while J.B. and I cleaned the playroom. It was gorgeous outside in Cle Elum yesterday, so the chimpanzees went outside as soon as they had the opportunity. We even served lunch outside because the weather was so nice. Foxie, Jamie, Missy and Annie played for over an hour straight after lunch. One of the best sights of the day was Foxie and Missy hanging from the ceiling of the outdoor area, each by one arm, tickling each other. Here are just a couple of photos (taken with the new lens, of course!)

Below is a shot of Jamie with a beautiful playface. I can’t believe how much she has changed. Check this old blog post to compare.

Black Friday shopping anyone?

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I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE CHIMPANZEE SANCTUARY NORTHWEST ONLINE STORE IS OPEN!

Blog readers get the first chance to shop!! Just click on the words “online store” above, and you can finish all of your holiday shopping from the convenience of your living room, office, kitchen, or wherever your computer may be. It’s easy, it’s fun, it’s convenient, it’s cool, and it’s all for the best cause – the Cle Elum Seven.

For those of you in the Seattle area, be sure to at least venture outside on Friday to go to Sam’s Cats and Dogs, Naturally in Monroe. They are generously donating 10% of their sales to the sanctuary all day on the busiest shopping day of the year! They are open from 8am to 9pm. Here’s the location and contact info: 202 N. Lewis St., Monroe, Washington 98272; (360) 805-5060  Buy some treats for your animal friends at home while supporting your friends at CSNW!

Giving Thanks

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Please see Audrey’s comment in the post below this – she and I must have woke up with the same thoughts today!

Today is certainly a day to ponder thankfulness, and there is so much to be thankful for this year. I am personally thankful for the seven chimpanzee people who have come into my life and for all of the amazing human people that have come along with them. It is such a huge benefit to this job to be able to meet such fantastic, compassionate, thoughtful folks. I am thankful to all of you for being a part of my life and, especially, the lives of the seven chimpanzees who are now a part of all of our hearts.

Have a wonderful day.

Diana