Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Wish List

Fifth Day of Thanks, Featuring Vicki Fagerlee & Foxie

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Yesterday, J.B. took some photos of the chimpanzees enjoying their post-Thanksgiving morning romp on the hill. It was a beautiful morning yesterday and the chimpanzees wasted no time in taking advantage of the sunshine. There are some great images of Foxie in this post below!

Today is the fifth day of thanks highlighting seven different donors and their seven ways of donating + the seven chimpanzees at the sanctuary!

In case you missed the first four posts, day one featured legacy donor Bruce Davidson + Burrito, day two featured event donor Kathy Cochran + Annie, day three featured recurring donor Julie Olson + Jody, and day four featured challenge and competition donor Monica Best + Negra.

For the fifth day of thanks, we are sending big thanks to Vicki Fagerlee and everyone who sends items via our amazon.com wishlist. Vicki won a “spend the day behind-the-scenes at the sanctuary” auction item a few years ago and traveled halfway across the country for that unique experience. It was really special for the staff to be able to meet Vicki in person and get to know her, and to introduce her to the chimpanzees who she had been following via the internet. Vicki also donates cold hard cash, but she likes to supplement her cash donations by browsing the wish list for all of the somewhat boring supplies needed to run the chimp house and fun stuff for the chimpanzees too.

Here’s what Vicki had to stay about her wish list giving:

It’s an easy way to contribute to the functioning of the sanctuary and the happiness of the chimpanzees. With the wish list, I know what I’m buying is exactly what is needed. Plus it makes me feel so good to give in a small way. You are all so special and I saw first-hand all that it takes to keep things going on a daily basis.

She also added this about following the blog, “Your daily updates put me in my happy place.”

That last sentiment made my day. I just love knowing that people are following the lives of the chimpanzees and that these seven chimpanzee people bring happiness to a lot of human people out there.

For those who even just casually check in on the blog once in a while, you likely are very aware of Foxie’s love of dolls. Her main and original love is troll dolls:

foxie troll on neck

 

but she also likes Dora the Explorer and friends:

 

and the occasional “other” doll:

 

Her main type seems to be handheld size dolls with hard plastic bodies, big eyes, and a bonus for colorful hair.

Like any collector, Foxie has her old favorites. Today she has been carrying around a standard troll with orange hair that is missing one eye and is one firm bite away from being without feet. Each time I passed her by during the cleaning routine this morning, she pushed this troll out to me.

I think it was the same doll that she carried around all day last week:

foxie holding troll

 

Also like a true collector, Foxie  is always excited when new dolls arrive for her in the mail. So we do add dolls to our amazon wish list once in a while. There are a lot of materials that we’re not able to give to the chimpanzees (see the long list here), so when items are purchased from the wish list, you know they have been pre-approved by the staff.

Recently, Foxie’s been into a line of Strawberry Shortcake dolls. She had one of them on her morning romp on the hill yesterday. Here are those photos taken by J.B. that I promised:

foxie and the landscape

foxie holding doll

foxie tossing doll

The Christmas in July Celebration

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I have to admit, with temperatures pushing 100 degrees it’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit. But after receiving dozens of items from our wish list over the past week, you can’t help but feel the spirit of giving in the air.

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We’re so grateful for the support you’ve shown us – you helped stock our shelves with office and cleaning supplies; you gave us new medical equipment so that we can keep the chimps healthy; you sent food and treats for the chimps to enjoy and toys and enrichment to keep them occupied; and you gave us two gently used GoPro cameras so that we can give you a different perspective on life at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. We are truly humbled and grateful for your generosity.

This morning, we collected many of the items we’ve received so far and threw a little party for the chimps. I hope you can see the difference you make in their lives.

By the way, if you sent an item from our wish list and you don’t hear from us in a reasonable amount of time, please drop us a note. Packages from Amazon don’t always include information about the donor and we’d love to be able to thank you!

Merry Christmas in July!

Holiday gift suggestions

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Now that the holiday season is upon us, we are receiving numerous requests for chimpanzee gift ideas from supporters. There are a number of ways to support the Cle Elum Seven this holiday season from sending monetary donations to purchasing items directly from our Amazon Wish List.

Our wish list allows folks to purchase enrichment items that we have already approved for the chimpanzees here at CSNW. We try to give them a little bit of everything to enrich their senses and keep them occupied, but for their safety, we follow strict guidelines. These guidelines have been modified throughout the years as we have observed the chimps interacting with the various types of enrichment.

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Some examples of already approved enrichment items that may be on the wish list at any given time (which are geared directly for these chimps) include combs, brushes, hard plastic tools, wooden toys, Dora the Explorer and troll dolls, toothbrushes, slinkies, and buckets. You can also earmark a monetary gift towards enrichment so that the staff can purchase acceptable items.

Burrito with a toothbrush.
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Jody inspects tool bench enrichment.
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Foxie eating snow from enrichment container this morning.
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We also add food items to the wish list, because as many blog readers already know, food can be quite enriching! These food items are very specific items that we have approved for the chimps to consume and include multi-vitamins, probiotics, gum, organic raisins, unsalted peanut butter, and almond milk.

Here is Foxie eating the peanut butter that we put inside of the PVC enrichment tube.
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Also on the wish list are items that we do not give to the chimps, but they still do benefit the chimps. While garbage bags or printer toner may not seem like exciting gifts, they are essential for day-to-day operations here at the sanctuary! These non-chimp items include cleaning products like laundry detergent (we wash 70 plus blankets per day), latex-free gloves (for humans to use to clean the enclosures), scrub brushes, dish soap (to wash the enrichment items we give the chimps each day) and garbage bags. Other items on the list include office supplies such as pens, sticky notes, printer toner, and packaging tape, as well as maintenance tools and supplies. By updating the wish list, we are able to reflect what is needed at the time, as items are ranked by priority from highest to lowest.

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Other gift suggestions that will benefit the chimps include gift certificates from Amazon, Safeway, Fred Meyer, Home Depot and Lowes. These gift certificates enable staff to purchase materials for building chimp-approved enrichment that cannot be bought in stores, such as hanging puzzles and raisin boards.

Jamie with raisin board that J.B. made.
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Example of a PVC hanging puzzle used at the sanctuary and made by J.B.
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Supporters around the world ensure these chimpanzees’ lives are enriched and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Thank you for all your donations and for keeping the Cle Elum Seven in your thoughts this holiday season!