Archive for June, 2009

Adventures in a Tutu

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Yahoo!! We are officially over the $7000 mark! Yay for Candace and her very generous donation today! Thanks so much to everyone who helped us reach our goal. And thanks to all our readers for supporting the CSNW family. We couldn’t take care of our seven wonderful friends without you!

So, as promised, here’s the video of Jamie exploring the outdoor area in a tutu. Thanks to Laura for the tutu manufacturing and donation! You’ll see Jamie climbing, brachiating, rolling the culvert, and lastly – trying to poke the camera. A good adventure, right?

Soooo close!

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Jamie’s in a great mood today. At the moment she’s wearing a new tutu, a scarf, a sock, and a glove. I’ll post some video of her costumed adventures shortly. But first – we’re only a few hundred dollars away from reaching our anniversary goal, and the deadline is today. Please help us get there! I’ll report back when we’ve met our goal. We can do it!

A new life for Jody

Monday, June 29th, 2009

It’s sometimes surreal to think that just over a year ago, Jody was stuck in a cage in a windowless basement with nothing to do, nothing to see, and nothing interesting to eat. Now she spends her days gorging on watermelon and resting in gigantic nests. What a difference a year makes!

$980 away!!

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

Thanks to a generous offline donation from Barb, we’re $500 closer to reaching the $7,000 goal! Only three days left – donate today for Negra and in celebration of the Cle Elum Seven’s first year in sanctuary: http://www.firstgiving.com/chimpsanctuarynw

Tireless Missy

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

The weather in Cle Elum is gorgeous today and the chimps have spent many hours outside in the sun. Missy has been so playful that she has barely stopped to eat.

Four Days, $1565 – can we do it?

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Thanks to really awesome supporter-fundraisers, we have raised $5,435 on our Firstgiving pages towards the goal of $7,000 by the end of June. I have been amazed at the success of the supporters of the Cle Elum Seven, and can’t thank you all enough!!

We’re still $1565 away from reaching our goal, and there are only four days left.
So, I’m writing this post while I’m on vacation and way past the time when I should be sleeping because I’m wondering if we’ll be able to do it.

I know we can.

Please donate to Negra’s page today or take a look at the other wonderful pages set up by supporters. Margaret is still offering to paint a portrait of the chimpanzee of your choice in exchange for a donation (her paintings are absolutely amazing), Grace is still offering cards with animal illustrations by artist Colin Redmon (who is uber-talented), and Tamela is still offering to make chimpanzee footprint pendants (I have one and it is really cool!). Plus there are many other people who have pages set up and are offering fabulous things in exchange for a donation (including simply the good feeling you get when you support a friend and a good cause) – check them all out, give, and help me sleep easy knowing we’ve reached our goal.

Some new old photos

Friday, June 26th, 2009

It’s been a busy day and I didn’t have time to take any new pictures or video, but I did find some older portraits that haven’t been posted before (I hope!).

Annie:

annie

Burrito:

burrito

Foxie:

foxie

Jamie:

jamie

Jody:

jody1

Missy:

missy

Negra:

negra1

Today at CSNW

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

It’s been a good day. Here’s a brief video diary:

Hanging out with Foxie

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

People sometimes ask how we interact with the chimpanzees through the fencing. While there are plenty of things to do that don’t involve any physical contact at all (chase!), there are safe methods of physical contact that allow us to tickle or groom — or be tickled or groomed by — the chimps. To make sure everyone stays safe, our fingers never penetrate the plane of the fencing. In this video, Jackie, our newest caregiver, uses a decapitated troll head (!!!) and a piece of bark to groom and tickle Foxie.

Do chimpanzees chew gum?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Yes. Yes, they do. See video below

All of the chimpanzees at CSNW enjoy gum as an occasional treat. Foxie is particularly enthusiastic with her gum chewing.