This is one of my favorite sights: Jody gathering blankets for one of her huge, elaborate nests.
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Old projects and new projects
Life with chimpanzees is wonderful, but it is far from predictable. Sometimes things don’t happen when you plan (and vice versa). Awhile back, we did a fundraising drive to raise money for a new door in the chimps’ enclosure. In exchange for donations, we promised to paint donors’ names on a new mural in the outdoor area. Well, we may be slow, but we do keep our promises! Today, volunteer Kim McAndrews (who is our volunteer graphic designer from Peach Design who designed the Out of the Box auction logo, among many other things) is working hard on that mural. Here are a couple of shots of a work in progress:
As if that isn’t enough excitement for one day, David Binczewski (of Booshoot Gardens fame) and volunteer Ken Mikkelsen are here helping J.B. plant the first round of bamboo on Young’s Hill.
We’ll be sure to share more photos when the projects are completed!
Intruder
While no match for equatorial Africa, living in rural Cle Elum does afford the chimpanzees some interesting experiences. The other day a garter snake made its way into the chimp house, and the chimps let their feelings on the matter be known.
Jody and her sunflower
Diana got some close-up footage the other day of Jody eating a sunflower from our garden. Notice how quickly Jody is able to shell the seeds with her prehensile lips.
Felicity Day 6
This month’s Felicity Day (the 6th in a series) is from Lue Clifford, Felicity grandmother.
As you know if you’ve been following the blog for a while, for her birthday this year, Felicity Wood asked her loved ones to donate to the sanctuary in honor of her birthday. And they did -we’ve been happily celebrating Felicity day’s since May and donations raised went to our Anniversary Fundraising. Thank you Lue and thank you Felicity for helping to support the care of the Cle Elum Seven!
Happy Felicity Day Six from Jamie, Negra, Jody, Missy, Annie, Foxie and Burrito.
Here’s handsome Burrito to say thanks:
People you love would love to give to your chimpanzee friends in your honor. Just send people this link to the donation form: http://sponsoradayforchimps.kintera.org/ and this link to take a peak at the Sponsor-a-Day calendar: https://chimpsnw.org/you_can_help/donate/#SponsorADay
Lazy Play
Chimpanzee play isn’t always rambunctious. Here’s a video of Foxie and Jody having a lazy morning play session.
It’s harvest time!
Despite the less than desirable season, the garden was once again a success this year. We’ve had many a meal that was exclusively from our garden- for example, I served cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions at lunch, and every bit was from the chimps’ own soil. What a special feeling!
Kale:
Leeks:
Strawberries:
Green Zebra Tomatoes:
We’ve also had an abundance of sunflowers, so I cut several today for the chimps. Some were a bit unsure, but Missy and Jody were especially excited. Negra put hers down and immediately asked for grass instead, but eventually decided they weren’t so bad.
Negra enjoying a sunflower:
Missy:
Jody:
