Today was a really nice day, so I was able to give the chimps access to their Outdoor Enclosure and their Front Rooms while Elizabeth and I cleaned the Playroom. Almost everyone was playing outside at some point, and they were very interested in playing with us through the new glass window. This has been such a wonderful addition to the sanctuary. It must be SO nice to look out and not see bars! And they’ve created a very fun (and distracting!) new game to boot!
Archive for November, 2009
Through The Looking Glass
Sunday, November 29th, 2009Troll rescue
Saturday, November 28th, 2009Foxie pulled an Indiana Jones this morning. I was letting the chimps out to the playroom after breakfast, and Foxie was the last one through the door, with her giant troll in tow. Just as I closed the door behind her, she seemed to realize that she had left a few other trolls behind. She wheeled around and looked through the closed door for her missing dolls with a slightly panicked look. I reopened the door, and she flew through the room, gathering all of her trolls with her free hand. She was back out the door before I even finished opening it!
Of course I didn’t catch that on camera, but I did take some photos of Foxie yesterday:
Thanksgiving Field Roast Dinner
Friday, November 27th, 2009As Elizabeth mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, the good people at Field Roast Grain Meat, Co. generously donated some vegan grain meat for the chimp’s Thanksgiving Dinner. Thanks so much Field Roast Grain Meat, Co.! The chimps really enjoyed it!
Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 26th, 2009We have had a pretty fantastic Thanksgiving here at CSNW. The chimps came into the front rooms at 8:30 this morning for a breakfast of fruit smoothie, bananas, and cranberry sauce. While Jackie served the meal, the rest of us cleaned the playroom and prepared the Thanksgiving feast. By 10:30, cleaning was finished and we set out the food as a big forage in the playroom: pumpkins, green onions, bok choy, whole frozen apples, potatoes (sweet and otherwise), broccoli, bell peppers, parsnips, whole pomegranates, swiss chard, eggplant, and stuffing (all thanks to supporter Tamela!).
The chimps have been in terrific moods all day. Jamie made a magnificent nest out of blankets, a ball of yarn, a cardboard box, various toys, and a GIANT teddy bear. After she was done, she lounged inside it, quite visibly pleased with things, until Foxie marched over and started a vigorous tickle game. Meanwhile, Burrito and Negra groomed each other in front of Negra’s favorite window that looks out over the valley; Jody napped with a full belly; and Missy and Annie chased each other around the playroom.
For dinner, the chimps enjoyed oranges, strawberries, sparkling cider, and ridiculously delicious vegan meat, donated by our friends at Field Roast Grain Meat Co. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and thank you so much for your support and for helping to give the chimpanzees something to be thankful for this year.
Who’s in your wallet
Thursday, November 26th, 2009This is in response to a question from Shari on the last post. Below are the images of all of the credit card options with the chimpanzees names above them. We can only have five designs at a time, and Jody is not one of the images. I decided since her image is on most of our merchandise (t-shirts, soon-to-be-added bumper stickers, and tote bags), it was okay to leave her out of this first round of designs. Thanks for helping out the sanctuary by applying for one of these cards!
Burrito
Negra
Missy and Annie
Foxie
Jamie
The most unique cc in your wallet
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Give the sanctuary $50 right now without spending a dime, and continue to help every time you use one of five just unveiled credit cards: http://www.cardpartner.com/app/csnw
Bonus for you – you’ll be earning accelerated points (up to 15 points per dollar) at hundreds of national merchants, which can be redeemed for merchandise, account credits and free tickets on over 175 airlines, with no blackout dates!
Choose and use the only card that supports Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and earns you valuable rewards at the same time. Go to http://www.cardpartner.com/app/csnw – request your card today.
I’m really excited thinking about everyone carrying around CSNW credit cards. Let me know which one you like best!
Jamie, Foxie and Jody Play
Monday, November 23rd, 2009Yesterday, Jamie and Foxie literally played all day. Jamie would steal Foxie’s trolls and was even spotted hiding them from her. In this video, you see Jamie just minding her own business when Foxie comes charging in to start yet another play session. They went on and on until finally Jody decided she wanted in the mix. Seeing Jody play is a rarity. She is, by far, the most serious chimpanzee at CSNW, but as you can see from the video, she’s coming around.
CSNW featured in Seattle Metropolitan Magazine
Friday, November 20th, 2009Really great article: http://www.seattlemet.com/issues/archives/articles/chimpanzee-sanctuary-northwest-1209/
It’s hot off the presses (or at least recently uploaded to the world wide web) and the print version should be all over the Seattle area soon. Please share on your Facebook and Twitter pages and send to all of your contacts (you can do that by clicking “Email” or “Share This” at the top of the article when you go to the link). It not only tells the story of CSNW, but also the broader plight of chimpanzees in captivity.
I only wish Jamie knew how famous she is.
Missy then and now
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Every once in a while it’s good to look back to see how far we’ve come. Though we are very focused on the future – the next celebration, the next event, the next fundraising initiative, the next building improvement, etc, looking back can be really motivating.
One way to do this is to see how much the chimpanzees have changed since their arrival to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.
The below “before” and “after” photos appear in the 2010 calendar, which you can purchase through the online store (and, yes, I am looking forward to lots of people buying the calendar and sharing the Cle Elum Seven with friends, family and coworkers this year!)
Missy on her first day at CSNW, after years of living as a biomedical research subject and “breeder”
Missy after one year in sanctuary
The new door
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009On Sunday, the chimps got to use the new door for the first time. We do our best to keep things interesting around here, but the facility itself doesn’t change that often, so the chimps are always very excited and very curious to see the improvements.
Anytime there is a major change, whether in the social group or in their environment, the chimps like to reassure each other and seek comfort amidst the excitement. You’ll notice a lot of greeting, hugging, and submissive behavior in this video (Foxie kissing Burrito, Jody greeting me with a “genital bounce”, Annie kissing Jody, Annie and Missy submitting to Burrito who is off-camera).
We serendipitously discovered that the chimpanzees appreciate having fire hoses hanging just outside the door. The hoses were there previously, but once we installed the door, many of the chimps used them to climb from the door up to the the platform outside without setting foot on the wet ground. That’s one of the strange things about caring for ex-lab chimps (any captive chimps, really). Wet ground is a fact of life for free-living chimps, but it can be unpleasant and even terrifying for individuals who have spent a lifetime indoors. We used to place tractor tires outside so that Foxie could use them as stepping stones, but now we’ll have to hang some more fire hose by the other door.
