Enjoying the winter sun

We have continued to get quite a bit of snow off and on at the sanctuary over the last week and while the chimpanzees do have access to Young’s Hill, they have understandably chosen to stay indoors and make good use of their caregivers by asking us to fetch snow for them to eat. Maybe not so much asking, as demanding. But that’s why we’re here and we wouldn’t have it any other way. They each took handfuls, mouthfuls, and “footfuls” (that could be a word…) and swung up to the upper level of the greenhouse, or the southern facing windows, to enjoy it while lounging in the sun. Smart chimps.

The sun has been out intermittently today so the chimps have spent a lot of the day napping and grooming in the warmth. Before lunch, I found Burrito (left) and Missy (right) grooming one another in the sun:

Notice Missy’s prehensile lip action while grooming Burrito.

Of course, Jamie is a busy lady and doesn’t have much time to relax. In the midst of everyone else lying about, enter Jamie, pant hooting (notice the hoot face) and pounding on her barrel:

As a result, Missy and Burrito’s grooming session came to an abrupt halt. As you can probably tell from the photo, they may have just been a little too relaxed to respond:

Jamie’s display was short lived and I think everyone else was feeling so relaxed they chose to ignore the outburst for the most part and just continue enjoying the warmth of the winter sun.

And THANK YOU to all of our amazing supporters who have not only helped us reach our Share the Chimp Love goal, but surpass it!! It’s truly because of each of you that the chimpanzees are able to enjoy their “day in the sun” so to speak. We are so grateful to all of you who have been able to contribute! We still have 8 days left so please continue to share your love for the chimps and spread the word about our fundraiser!