To start the day off with some excitement, you may have heard that we had a 4.4 earthquake here in Cle Elum very early this morning! It definitely shook things up a bit, but for the most part it seems to have just woken people up with a start. The chimpanzees remained quiet and have appeared unphased today, though Jamie was uncharacteristically still in bed when I arrived this morning.
To add to the excitement the chimpanzees celebrated Mardi Gras today! A bit late, but that’s no reason for them to skip a party! We decided to have a partial breakfast forage in the greenhouse this morning with banana and strawberry smoothie in fancy cups, peanuts in gift boxes and chow. And of course, what Mardi Gras celebration is complete without a couple of bald, eyeless trolls?
Burrito was beside himself and sat in the window fear grimacing with excitement and food squeaking as he watched one of our interns, Ally, and I set things up. His plan seems to have been to get as much chow as he could hold (mouth and hands both count):
Jody was the first one out to the party and went straight for the fancy looking smoothies:
It is Mardi Gras…
Fancy drinks are always one of Jamie’s favorites and she typically collects as many as she can:
Foxie was really in the spirit of things and doing a lot of her signature “spider chimp” moves, but was so fast I could only capture a couple of photos:
Negra really enjoyed the chow and gift boxes with peanuts (both her favorites) and spent her time looking for them. Though judging from her clapping in a demanding manner at us, it would seem she didn’t think we put out enough! I believe she was appeased by J.B. dancing for her though (don’t tell him I told you that 😉 ). But hey, what’s Mardi Gras without dancing? Though I am sorry there is no photographic evidence of this portion of the revelries.
Annie and Missy enjoyed the hoopla as well, but both preferred to avoid the paparazzi.
And what better way to end the day than with a walk around Young’s Hill:
