As part of our continued efforts to encourage Foxie to use more varied enrichment — and hopefully one day nest with something soft! — Diana created the ultimate troll hat/wig. As you’ll see in the video, we at CSNW are not above looking silly for the purpose of entertaining the chimps.
P.S. As I was typing this, Diana caught Foxie lying on a blanket in the playroom (which I believe is a first-time occurrence)!
Wow… that was some back flip. Go Foxie!!! Did she put the troll hat on??
Ya … did she put the wig on? LOL. Silly is *good.*
And yippee about lying on a blanket!
Oh what a wonderful video! And that was so good to hear Foxie was caught lying on a blanket. All the love, and caring you give them sure has made a difference in lots of lives. Thank you for all you do, everyone.
I’m continually impressed with the dedication the staff shows to improve in any way possible the lives of these animals. I know that the staff and volunteers lay awake at night (or at least I do) thinking of ways to make the next day go better than the last for the CE7. Acting “silly” is just a perk the staff gets for a happier chimp.
I know one morning they will walk into the Sanctuary and see Foxie with a nest of her own built with carefully chosen enrichment. It will be another good day (among many) at the chimp house.
Diana — I think Foxie is very happy to see you being more creative with enrichment. As she nods her head maybe she’s saying, “These humans have come a long way from when we arrived…” 😉
So wonderful to see back-flipping happiness!
Yeah for Foxie, blanket and backflip. Kudos to Diana, so Jamie’s not the only one with exquisite fashion sense!!! Exercising one’s inner child/chimp is truly one of the best parts of life with chimps!!!
So, did Diana flip too? 🙂 I’d love to hear what certain expressions mean on a chimp – to help us understand their behavior more. What constitutes a chimp laugh from a smile? Do they always make particular sounds when excited? Was the flip a playful move or excitement? Most of us only know how to put human expressions on chimps – how can we really know what they’re “thinking” by observing their expressions? (Or does this get too detailed for a daily blog? How about an brief [2-3 description] as an ongoing online dictionary of chimp communications as part of the website?)