Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Cle Elum 7

Day to Day

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It’s really nice when the day to day routine can be broken up. Here at the sanctuary we have a fairly regular schedule, but there is often something going on to shake things up. Today, for example, J.B. had some work to do with the gator and the tractor. Jamie, naturally, took great interest in this. We took numerous walks to watch J.B. and make sure his work was up to par (no worries, it was). We also have several different volunteers onsite on any given day! Lizz, who is a level 3 volunteer, was here this weekend. Burrito was loving it!

Burrito:

Lizz and Burrito playing tug-of-war:

However, sometimes shaking up a “normal” day can be exhausting. The chimps were all in spots relaxing where the camera couldn’t reach (& Jamie also didn’t want anyone getting their photo taken), but I did get one of Neggie snacking on some spruce tree, wrapped up in a blanket:

And a bonus photo of Burrito:

Burrito later watched Lizz leave from Front Room 4:

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy Sundays

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Well, today turned out to be a mostly rainy day. The chimps took advantage and tried to recuperate after the crazy party yesterday! Jamie and I got to fit a few walks in luckily, but otherwise the chimps spent their day playing lazy games of chase, napping, and grooming.

Burrito took a mid-day nap on the floor:

Jamie found most of the Playroom forage (big nuts) and snacked on it for a while:

Later, Jamie took a nice relaxing nap with her boot:

Annie also took a minute to lay down and rest:

Jody decided to keep it pretty low key:

Jody and Annie spent a lot of their day grooming and laying in any warm sunshine they could find:

Keeping It Clean

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It’s a safe bet that anything you give to a captive chimpanzee will go immediately into their mouth, and if it’s possible to swallow it, they will swallow it. Those of you who have expressed an interest in sending gifts to the chimps have probably been directed to our incredibly detailed safety guidelines for enrichment.

Occasionally we put out a few buckets of soapy water for the chimps – they like to play with the bubbles and sometimes they’ll even pitch in with some cleaning. Always keeping in mind that they can’t be trusted not to ingest whatever we give them, we use only a tiny drop of plant-based non-toxic soap. And that’s a good thing given Annie and Missy’s choices this morning:

Annie:

Missy:

Today is for Janice Clayton!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Carole Galuska in honor of her friend, Janice Clayton! Carole shared this really lovely message about her dear friend:

“I wanted to sponsor this 1st day Spring, in honor of my very good friend, Janice Clayton. I can’t say enough about what a good person Janice is. She volunteers and sponsors all sorts of organizations and has a never ending love for animals. She is truly one the most generous people I know, always thinking about what she can do for others. Last year Janice made my childhood dreams come true by bringing me to the chimpanzee sanctuary, I was absolutely thrilled. My love for chimps had started as a small child, some children beg for a pony but I drove my parents crazy with my desire to have a chimpanzee! For a Christmas gift this year Janice is bringing me back to the sanctuary for another visit this summer! She really has no idea how special this gift is to me. So I decided what better way to thank her again but to sponsor a day in her honor. Thank you JC for all that you have done for Steph and I over the years. You are such a special person with an amazing soul and we both adore you! We will see you soon Jody, Burrito, Annie, Foxie, Missy, Negra & Jamie!!”

Carole, this is such a wonderful way to celebrate Janice and we so appreciate you thinking of the chimpanzees and being part of their special home here.

Janice, thank you so much for all the good you bring to the lives of so many and for sharing your love of the chimps! It’s wonderful to be able to celebrate someone who brings so much  hope and inspiration to others.

Happy spring hoots from the chimps to you both (and everyone the chimps are so fortunate to call their family and friends)!

In honor of your friendship I couldn’t help but think of dear friends, Annie and Missy: