For the big Christmas celebration yesterday, Diana, Elizabeth, and Seana put out some tangerines on Young’s Hill in addition to the ones strung on the Christmas tree. However I guess the chimps were too excited about the big party inside that they didn’t really go out and forage for the tangerines yesterday. So today, they were still hanging out there, frozen for sure. I decided to leave them because I know how excited the chimps get about frozen fruit. Turns out that Jamie was pretty much the only one willing to brave the cold for any length of time, so she ended up with lots frozen tangerines to herself!
Foxie quickly came out and grabbed one tangerine while Jamie was working on some by the bamboo:
Jamie decided to eat her collection in the warmth of the greenhouse.
It’s been a very merry Christmas here at CSNW. The chimpanzees started the day with a special Christmas breakfast of peanut butter rice balls, bananas, and smoothie. After the playroom was cleaned, the real party began – complete with whole pomegranates and tangerines, new toys and blankets from friends Robbi and Dick Brown, Leslie Sodaro, and Joanne Pierce, and a Christmas tree decorated with popcorn and peanut strings and troll dolls.
Aside from the pomegranates, the tree might have been the star of the day. Diana had the idea to suspend it a couple of feet off the ground, so it spun festively whenever someone touched it. Burrito, in particular, seemed quite taken with it, as you’ll see below.
The other day, we put a mostly empty plastic peanut butter jar in with the chimps’ enrichment, which is something we often do when we’ve used the bulk of the peanut butter- the chimps spend hours trying to get the peanut butter remnants off the insides! Foxie was the lucky one who found it first the other day, and she took it on quite the adventure. First, she had it in the playroom. Later, she took it out with her into the greenhouse, and then she and her peanut butter jar went on a hike on Young’s Hill.
She took it with her as she climbed up and down a couple of the climbing structures and then around the perimeter, enjoying the occasional snack. At one point, Jody decided to start a game of chase. She got in front of Foxie and started playfully walking backwards, encouraging Foxie to follow her.
They played for a little while, but then Foxie got distracted and put down the jar. I can’t say if Jody had an ulterior motive for starting the game of chase, but it definitely seemed to work in her favor.
Jody enjoying the peanut butter jar in the greenhouse:
At my house, we traditionally have our Thanksgiving Day meal at lunch because usually we all eat so much that we need a nap almost immediately, but then can get up later and have leftovers and pie! In the spirit of family, I incorporated some of that tradition into the chimps’ day, only they had brunch instead (so they can still have room for their Field Roast dinner and dessert tonight!). Their Thanksgiving Day Brunch included small plates of sweet and regular baked potatoes, Brussels sprouts, onions, pumpkin, cranberry sauce, and some delicious blueberry pomegranate juice. They were going crazy watching us set it all up!
The chimps were so excited when they went into the playroom that a small fight broke out. Chimps are very emotional and sometimes excitement can lead to aggression, which is exactly what happened today. Chimps’ emotions are very strongly tied to their limbic systems, meaning they have less control over their emotions- so when they feel something, they truly feel it and sometimes it gets out of hand (which is why the most predictable thing about chimps is that they are unpredictable). Not surprisingly, like a true Queen, Negra stayed out of things while everyone else worked it out. In fact, while everyone else was screaming and running around after each other, Negra was quietly sitting in her nest enjoying her Brussels sprouts. The argument only lasted about 2 minutes and soon everyone was quietly enjoying their Thanksgiving brunch together.
Negra enjoying her Brussels sprout stalk while sitting in her nest in her favorite spot in the playroom:
Jamie loved the Brussels sprouts!
Missy enjoying a little onion
Burrito was so excited! I wasn’t able to get too many good photos of him today because he was moving around so fast collecting his favorite foods! Here’s a photo of him mid-chew, enjoying the delicious baked potatoes:
Annie enjoying her sweet potato:
Here at CSNW, we have a lot to be thankful for! It’s been a spectacular year and so much of that is because of our generous donors and supporters! In addition to Emily Ruch and Marcia Douthwaite, who both sponsored today, a special thank you goes out to Robyn Petticrew and Barbara Bakaletz, who both made recent donations to help ensure a spectacular day for the chimps! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Emily and Marcia have each sponsored today as a Thanksgiving gift to the Cle Elum Seven. Their generosity has helped enable us to plan the big bash about to get underway. (I’ll give you all a sneak peek: it’s going to involve Field Roast, cranberries, chunky homemade applesauce, pecans, warm rolls, and sugar-free pumpkin pie for dessert.) We are so thankful for Marcia, Emily, and all of you who love these chimpanzees as much as we do. Happy Thanksgiving!
(Be sure to check back later for photos and video of the party.)
Today was a little warmer than the past few days, and the snow is starting to melt a bit. When we opened up Young’s Hill, the chimps all ran out to get a bite of snow. It’s still pretty cold out though, so they didn’t stay too long. Here’s some pictures from this afternoon:
Annie
Missy (balancing on the firehose railing)
Foxie
Burrito, grabbing a bite from the warmth of the greenhouse
In case you haven’t heard, in the world of chimps, Brandon Wood rocks!
Brandon is 11 and has been working hard on behalf of chimpanzees. He’s been very busy sending letters to congress and to the president, telling them about the importance of the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, and has even been fundraising for the Cle Elum Seven! His dedication, passion and diligence is something to really look up to. I know I do!!
So, as a way to honor him and all that he has done, and is doing, we had a surprise party for the chimps today. Volunteer Connie initiated the plan and brought a few “rock star-style” party decorations and then, volunteers Stephanie and Katelyn went on the hunt in Seattle and found all kinds of rockin’ decor, including a guitar pinata- because we think Brandon “rocks”! In addition, I secretly contacted Brandon’s mom, Deanna, to find out some of Brandon’s favorite foods and snacks so we could have them for the party and make the day as special as possible.
To get the chimps geared up for a party, we started things out by having a snow cone/cup forage in the greenhouse.
Annie:
Burrito:
Foxie:
Deanna told me that one of Brandon’s favorite things is pumpkin pie. We don’t give the chimps dairy or sugar, so we were presented with a challenge, but it didn’t stop us! We pureed pumpkin, soy milk, tofu, and cinnamon and baked it inside mini pumpkins. I think it worked out pretty well!
Burrito loved it!
Some of the decor, pre-party:
Annie with the guitar pinata:
Jamie:
Deanna told me that another favorite of Brandon’s is ants-on-a-log, and that he also really enjoys tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. Can you guess what we served the chimps for lunch?
Thank you so much for all you do, Brandon! In our eyes, you really are a rock star!
Today volunteer Laura and I put together a peanut butter/fruit puree and smeared it inside the tubes for the treat rock. The treat rock mimics a termite mound, in that the chimps can use sticks or hoses to fish for treats we place in tubes mounted inside the rock. Thus far, the chimps have been a bit too busy with other things to care about “fishing” for treats in the rock (the hill is a lot to take in!), but today Jody, Jamie, and Missy all spent some time checking it out.
Jody only took a quick peek or two, but was definitely intriqued.
Not all the holes have tubes in them, which Jamie quickly figured out
Did I mention that I love Jamie-ween’s Hallo-Birthday at CSNW? As if The Great Pumpkin and all the treats in the Playroom weren’t enough, volunteers Stephanie and Katelyn carved mini pumpkins and filled them with various fruits and veggies (cucumbers, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, etc) for the chimps’ lunch forage in the greenhouse. I think the chimps were already stuffed at that point, but they enjoyed them none the less! Needless to say, no one, not even Burrito, was interested in dinner.
The carved mini pumpkins:
If you take a closer look at the photo above, you might noticed that one of the pumpkins has a “CS” on it. And you may notice that in the photo below, Burrito’s carved pumpkin has a “W” on it. It was impossible to really get a good photo of the whole thing, but it says CSNW. Stephanie is so creative.
They also carved faces into melons:
Jamie:
Jody:
Foxie looks like she’s mimicking the face of hers
What a great day. Thanks so much to Stephanie, Katelyn, Tamela, Dick and Robbi for all the awesome gifts and decorations for the party and to all of those who donated in honor of Jamie’s big day! You guys are the BEST!
Welcome to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest's blog! The sanctuary is currently home to seven chimpanzees released from biomedical research. This group, the Cle Elum Seven, arrived at the sanctuary on June 13, 2008. We post photos, stories, videos and more to this blog almost everyday, so visit often! Also, visit us on social networking sites (see links below).
