I know I’ve said it, and other folks have said it, but I just don’t think it can be said enough- we love to watch Negra play. Missy seems to have a way with Negra that makes her almost always successful in getting Negra to play… and when she does, it brightens my day. As Diana so eloquently put it, “Neggie rules.”
chimp enrichment
Two continuously playful chimps
I’m pretty sure these two never stop playing.
April Fools’ Day!
So, I’m pretty sure this may one of my favorite “holidays” to celebrate at CSNW. We are always trying to mix things up for the chimps, and April Fools’ is just a blast! Last year, we decided to “fool” the chimps and play out the day backwards by serving dinner at breakfast time and breakfast at dinner time. Last year was so successful, we decided to make that a tradition- one day a year we do everything backwards. So, we started the morning by saying “Good Night!”, followed by night bags. Then, we served a “dinner” of barley with coconut, lettuce, and a pear. Negra was completely beside herself when Diana brought out night bags with “breakfast”! She was squeaking louder than ever!
After we cleaned the playroom, we decided to mix things up a bit further and we set up a “kitchen” in the playroom. We had several older bowls, utensils, cookie sheets, and kitchen canisters to complete the look of a kitchen. We filled large bowls with soapy water for the kitchen sink, which you will see was a hit in the video. Jamie immediately picked up the cookie sheet and started licking it. The chimps were thoroughly enriched by our kitchen in the playroom.
Here are a few photos of the aftermath:
Volunteer Stephanie just served “breakfast” for dinner, which consisted of smoothie and fruit. Once again, everyone was super excited! However, unlike last year we didn’t fool Negra on the night bags– she was still asking for it at the end of the day, but it was a fabulous day for everyone involved.
Good Morning!
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.
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!
Chimps’ Choice!
It’s been a while since we had a Chimps’ Choice item, and we have an awesome idea!
We love to challenge the chimps with puzzles. Not to cause stress, of course, but to keep them stimulated and enriched. Jamie loves nothing more than a project but she’s so smart that it is difficult to come up with a project for her that actually challenges her. Something that would take me an hour to figure out, Jamie masters in less than 5 minutes. The puzzles that Cari donated the other day are just perfect and we would love to have more. The website has a variety of puzzles, but not all of them will work for us, so I added the specific ones we think will be best to our Amazon Wishlist. They are the PVC Puzzle, the hanging sliding feeder, the Forage Raisin Ball, and the Discovery Food Ball. All of these puzzles have a chain attached to them and hang on the outside of the caging. They encourage tool use and creative problem solving skills, and I suspect they will be just the thing to keep Jamie and the others enriched and occupied for years to come.
***Update: The company that sells these puzzles, AbsolutePrimate.com, has a $75 minimum, so if you would like to participate, instead of ordering them through the website, please send us a donation and we will order them. Be sure to mention Chimps’ Choice or puzzles in the gift note section.
