We try to plan themed enrichment days to keep us creative, and today was troll scarf day. We tied lots of trolls to lots of scarves. Jamie likes to wear these troll scarves around her neck, but Foxie prefers to drag them around with her. Here’s what Foxie did with one of the scarves we put out this morning:
chimp
Adorable Burrito and NEW STUFF
First, adorable Burrito – a photo taken tonight at dinner with our fab new camera:
Now for the new stuff! I was away for a few days to spend the x-mas holiday with family, and when I returned, the chimp house had been transformed! Thanks to everyone who got us the new stuff off of our amazon.com wishlist!!
J.B. picked me up at the airport in Seattle yesterday and we went to a store to purchase the new computer. After consulting everyone who had donated towards our new and improved technology (Candy Crannell, Kathy B., Gayle, Leslie, Barb in Ohio, Theresa, Catherine M., Jeani, Pam and Sue), we decided to go with a desktop. It was less expensive than the laptops, and we managed to get an even better deal on it at the store. So, we also purchased a much needed printer (ours broke about a week ago) and a large memory card for our new camera. Check out the snazzy looking office space in the chimp house now! Photos and videos look AMAZING on that big screen and the printer works like a champ.
Here are the other great gifts we received from generous supporters that have improved our days in the chimp house. We so appreciate your support and your response to my Holiday Wishes post about the things we needed.
Boot dryer for Jamie’s collection of boots:
Stainless steel bowls for produce:
Ergonomic kitchen mat for volunteers and staff working at the sink:
Coffee maker for volunteers and staff. A welcome return to caffeine!
New foot bath mat – no more tripping over the old pan and bleaching our pants.
Much needed hand-soap. Isn’t this a nice, artistic shot? It was also taken with our new camera.
We also received new memory cards for the cameras, which helped us to post this. And new blankets for the chimps (my favorite is a chili pepper blanket). And some awesome crayons for the chimps.
Wow, huh? We are pretty lucky to have such generous and thoughtful Santas among our supporters. We’re off to a great New Year already!
Happy Day to Emily Hawkes
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:
Burrito’s favorite thing
One of Burrito’s most endearing qualities — and he has many — is his unadulterated enthusiasm for food. He is one of the least picky eaters I’ve ever met. Here he is devouring some lettuce:
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.
