Archive for December, 2008

Front room playing

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

We do a lot of cleaning at the sanctuary. We thoroughly clean the front rooms and playroom in the morning (unless one or more of the chimps decides not to follow the morning routine) and we spot clean throughout the day. When we clean the playroom, the chimps stay in the front rooms. When we’re doing our big morning clean, during and after their breakfast, we’re always conscious of trying to get done quickly so that the chimps can have the playroom back. What we’ve noticed is that at least some of the chimpanzees take this time to play in the front rooms. We’ve already shared a few videos of Foxie and Jamie playing in the front rooms while we are cleaning the playroom.  Somehow playroom cleaning time = Jamie and Foxie playtime (along with the occasional addition of Missy, Jody and Annie). It’s kind of a play routine they’ve established around our cleaning routine.

Below is another video of Foxie and Jamie. This short video is action-packed! It includes double troll doll action, a sheet, and a leap-over move never seen before. The noise you hear in the background is J.B. squeegeeing the floor of the playroom.

play video coming soon…

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

Sorry we haven’t posted in a little while! Things are hectic, in a good holiday kind of way. We’ve been working on getting all of your donation thank-you cards, new chimp pal packages and merchandise orders out in time for your holiday celebrations. Having this kind of work is so fun and gratifying. I can’t believe everyone’s generosity, and it’s so neat to see people come together in support of the Cle Elum Seven!

I do have a video to share with you all. I will upload it by tomorrow at noon – how’s that for giving myself a deadline :) — it’s a really sweet video.

More soon!

More adventures in the snow

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Missy had her eye on a nice snowball, but she didn’t want to set foot in the snow to get it:

Foxie ventured out farther, with her troll in tow:

Another snow video

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Here’s another video for you to enjoy. I think you can see everyone, at least for a second. Missy is jumping up and down on a blanket. Foxie (and her troll!) are up on the platfom eating snow. Negra spent the most time outside out of all of them!

PS. It’s not too late to make a gift donation to the chimps! If we get your donation by Monday, we’ll be sure to get a card out to your gift recipient before the 25th!

Chimps and tea!

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

There was a lot of interest about the chimps drinking tea yesterday! Here’s another picture of Jamie. We like to give them hot tea to warm up their bellies. And – lucky for us – the good folks at Yogi Tea like to help! They provide the chimps with all the tea they can drink! So next time you’re craving a cup, go check out our friends!

More fun in the snow

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

It was -2 degrees this morning when I woke up. Yikes! But since the sun was shining and the snow is beautiful, Keith and I let the chimps out for a quick romp this morning. We put blankets on the ground and cups of warm drinks in the snow. Missy was more interested in seeing how the snow on the hammock tastes! Jamie sat back for a nice cuppa tea.

More snow photos…and Jamie signing?

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

To answer some of your questions from the previous post, both Jamie and Annie ventured all the way out yesterday. Jamie explored the entire outdoor area without stepping foot on the snow. She eventually settled in an alcove where she could sit on a dry ledge and watch the snow fall. Annie took very delicate steps across the snow to fetch some dried fruit.

Some of you may remember that Jamie signs to us occasionally. Sometimes she is clearly gesturing - in a way that other chimps don’t - but we can’t figure out what she’s trying to say. Its possible that she was taught different signs than the signs of American Sign Language that we are familiar with, or it could be that she just gets too excited to sign in a way that we can understand.

When we first opened the door to the snowy outdoor enclosure, Jamie was signing up a storm. I thought she might be asking for clothes, but when I offered her a sweatshirt, a hat, some mittens, and a scarf, she just looked frustrated. She eventually donned the winter hat and gave up on me…

Let it snow!

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

Yesterday began Cle Elum’s first snow storm of the year. And, to be honest, the chimpanzees did not react to the first flakes. I was thinking, “oh no, what are we going to tell the blog readers! Everyone is anxious to know what the chimps think of snow and they have no reaction!” It snowed more overnight and of course we had the outdoor area closed off to keep it toasty warm in the building. I opened the door to the outdoor area about 11:00 this morning and to my delight and surprise there was food grunting – and lots of it, especially from Jody. Everyone except Burrito took a turn sitting in the doorway and gathering up snow to eat. Burrito hung back and watched – I’m not sure if he was apprehensive or if he just didn’t get what the fuss was about.

Anyway, here are some photos and a video of the Cle Elum Seven ladies’ first experience of snow. What a way to celebrate 6 months in sanctuary!

Six months ago today

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

 I wanted to start everyone’s morning by simply pointing out that today is the Cle Elum Seven’s six month anniversary in sanctuary. It’s hard to believe. We’ve seen so many changes in the chimpanzees in this half year. Six months is a short amount of time compared to the years they spent in biomedical research, but I think we’ve proven that it doesn’t take long to begin to heal. I look forward to writing about all of them at their one year, two year…. ten year anniversary.

Thank you all for being there for them.

Keeping Foxie Amused

Friday, December 12th, 2008

As you know, Foxie is completely obsessed with trolls.  Nearly every time we walk by, she passes one out to us to initiate a game. But there’s only so much you can do with a troll, right? Sooner or later, the passing-the-troll-back-and-forth game starts to get boring. Luckily, Diana is able to think outside the box. Tucking the trolls into our socks and running back and forth made Foxie so happy she had to do back flips.