I just love this face.
Animal Welfare
Spring Fever, Part II
Having grown up in southern California, I don’t think I ever really appreciated spring until I moved to a part of the country with a real winter. It was only a few weeks ago that it was finally warm enough outside for me to open the windows in my apartment. That’s probably my favorite part of spring: the first dose of glorious, fresh air. I thought of the chimpanzees and how it wouldn’t be long before we would be able to open the barn doors in their playroom and let the warm air in. As Jackie said in this post, that opportunity came just the other day, and the chimps seemed to be just as grateful as I had been. Here’s some video from that day.
Spring Fever
The other day it was finally warm enough that I could open the barn doors in the playroom. Because of the cold it’s been a while since we could do that, so the chimps were so excited! Everyone started pant hooting and ran over to enjoy the fresh air. Jody immediately began to build a giant nest using several blankets and a sleeping bag but alternated between nesting and chasing silly Annie and Missy around the playroom. Jamie put her hands in the kiddy pool and chased folks around with it. Everyone was super playful and goofy, and spent quite a bit of time hanging out and enjoying the sun and spring-like air.
Here are a couple of photos of Jamie relaxing in the green hand chair donated several months ago by volunteer Pam:
And Jody in her sleeping bag nest:
Happy Spring, everyone!
NutsOnline.com Care Packages for the Chimps
Highest quality nuts from NutsOnline.com
NutsOnline.com is a company that sells nuts and dried fruit and, lucky for us, they have lots of unsalted and unsweetened options. They support many different sanctuaries and animal organizations, and now, that list includes CSNW. We recently joined forces with NutsOnline.com and now they have a care package that is specifically designed for the Cle Elum Seven! The care packages are $28 and include 1 pound bags of Mixed Nuts (In Shell), Raw Pumpkin Seeds (In shell), Hard shell Pecans, Blanched Hazelnuts, White Popcorn Kernels, and Organic Tropical Dried Fruit Mix- all perfect ingredients for our Night Bags! These care packages are available anytime through this website, which can also be easily accessed through our wishlist.
New Mirror
Not long after the chimps arrived, supporter Tamela found an acrylic mirror that we hung on the playroom wall. It has gotten pretty scratched up in the last 2.5 years, so J.B. just recently replaced it with a new one. And not unlike her reaction when it was first hung in January of 2009, Jamie spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to remove it.
Hello, Spring
Volunteers Stephanie and Kate came to the chimp house this morning armed with a bounty of goodies (edible and non-) for a party celebrating the arrival of spring!
Jody
Jody is a pretty serious chimpanzee. She seems to take everything she does very seriously, whether it’s greeting a caregiver, playing (somewhat reluctantly) with one of the other chimps, or kicking back in a nest. This is one of the things I find (simultaneously) most intimidating and most endearing about Jody. Check out Jody’s “serious face”: