Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Jamie has an intense love for boots, especially new ones. She’s been carrying around the boots Candy sent since the minute she got them (a week ago today). I think she enjoys having lots of boots, but to her, there is nothing quite like a new pair of boots. Her other boots, even her favorites, get pushed aside when a new pair comes along. I guess that’s probably true for me too.
In the following photo, Jamie’s actually just yawning, but I love how it looks like she’s wearing a huge playface!
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so you must be thinking about flowers, strawberries and… piñatas, right?
If these aren’t the things that come to your mind, you’d better check out our special Valentine’s Gift Store. You can give your human loved ones the unique gift of having these gifts given to the chimps in their honor (plus personalized fence posts, beads for Burrito or a Chimpanzee Pal subscription). It’s the gift that gives twice! Just do it soon so we have time to give your Valentine a handwritten card about the donation in their honor.
As inspiration, here’s some photos of the chimps with flowers, strawberries and piñatas.
Yesterday, Jackie and I put out a party with “Texas in a box” sent from Candy C. She also sent a DVD with line dancing for us to show the chimps. We thought Negra would like to see the dancing, so Jackie went to set up the TV so they could watch from the front rooms. We had come technical difficulties so instead decided to just do a video search on my iPad and show the videos to the chimps that way! Negra, Jamie, Foxie, and Burrito all showed interest. Jamie especially liked the boots the dancers were wearing. Thanks again Candy for sending us fun enrichment!
Big thanks to the Seattle Animal Defense League for organizing a Donation Drive Extravaganza for the Animals to benefit Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest as well as Precious Life Animal Sanctuary and Pigs Peace Sanctuary. The drive is underway now and ends February 13th.
Here’s how it works:
Anyone can donate money in the form of checks made out to the sanctuary of your choice, cash brought to the drop-off locations, or through this paypal account.
The drive was also set up to collect wish list items for the sanctuaries (see list below) and there are several convenient drop off locations in the Seattle area (see other list below). If you want to donate something specific for the chimps, be sure to label it “CSNW” or “for the chimps” or something else obvious. You can donate anything from our online wishlist, in addition to the general wish list below that covers all three sanctuaries.
For more information, of if you have any questions, email SADF at [email protected]
All of this information is also on their Facebook event page. Please spread the news about the drive! RSVP to the event and share with your FB friends.
WISH LIST:
money!
fresh fruits and vegetables
trash bags
(HE) laundry detergent
bleach
soy protein powder
buckets
scrub brushes
vegan chewable vitamins
boot and western wear catalogs
boots (of any size)
troll dolls
canned fruit
uncooked pasta
vegetarian dog treats
peanuts (unsalted)
towels
peanut butter
wet and dry cat food (preferably friskies)
cat litter
rabbit pellets (preferably honor brand)
wet cob
rolled oats junior or senior equine feed
orchard grass or alfalfa
dry dog food (preferably pinnacle or nature’s choice)
DROP OFF LOCATIONS:
Pizza Pi Vegan Pizzeria
5500 University Way NE
Wayward Cafe
5253 University Way NE
Araya’s Place
1121 NE 45th St
Chocolate Shoebox
7410 Greenwood Ave North
Mighty O Donuts
2210 N 55th St
Downtown Dog Lounge
420 E Denny Way
Georgetown Liquor Company
5501 Airport Way S
Evergreen Holistic Vet
14711 Fryelands Blvd (Monroe)
Thanks also to the businesses who are serving as drop off locations!
Negra doesn’t hang out with her human friends all too often, so when she’s in the mood to play (or to even just sit next to you), it’s a real treat. Lately, however I think she has been more interactive than usual, both with her human caregivers and with the other chimps. This morning while we were cleaning the playroom, I caught her casually spying on me through a mirror. At first I just greeted her with a head nod and she enthusiastically head nodded back, so I started dancing for her (Negra loves it when her caregivers dance and often bobs her head and moves with us a bit when we do). I think she was definitely enriched.
I was watching Jamie gather blankets and enrichment to make a nest in the playroom this morning and thinking about some of the unique and impressive nests she makes. She has some nesting habits that distinguish her from the other chimpanzees.
She often forms a circle with her blankets and leaves bare floor underneath:
When she’s making a nest near some caging, she likes to weave blankets or sheets in and out of the fencing:
But her favorite spot to nest seems to be at the base of the stairs in the playroom (maybe because it’s a good vantage point for keeping an eye on all of her chimpanzee and human friends). The nests she makes there always include an interesting combination of blankets, sheets, paper, toys, and any other suitable material she can find. She’ll generally walk around gathering her materials, arrange everything in a pleasing fashion, then settle down in the nest and inspect all the enrichment she’s collected.
Yesterday Jackie and I set up a great enrichment project for the chimps. We filled buckets with some snow and added a little juice for flavor, and then we put the buckets outside the caging and gave the chimps straws to use as tools. Everyone had their own way of trying to get the most out of the buckets. Eventually all the snow completely melted and the buckets were dry, but we certainly found a way for this project to last longer than just juice in buckets.
