The wild greens growing on Young’s Hill are in full bloom, practically covering the chimps’ structures in certain areas. When the chimps decide to go foraging, it’s difficult to even see them in the tall growth.
Jamie and I headed out for a walk around the hill this afternoon, her following the path she’s worn down walking, and me following the path the humans have worn down accompanying her. At the last minute Missy came running out of the greenhouse after us, taking a pit stop in the shade of one of the structures. Missy often likes to wait for us to reach the top of the hill so she can (naturally) run all the way after us.
Once Jamie and I reached the top of the hill, Missy decided to brave the heat and made a mad dash behind us to forage in the largest wild mustard patch:
One can imagine the awe she must feel looking at all that’s available to her:
She was beside herself after collecting her huge feast of wild greens and ran straight to the new climbing structure to enjoy them while taking in the view. I could just make out her food grunts of happiness:
I didn’t notice until writing this, but you can just see Foxie and Mademoiselle Dora (down in the lower right corner) photo-bombing. (Yes, when I arrived this morning I found them happily reunited.) 🙂
Great pictures!
I love the images of Missy getting lost in the wild mustard patch! With all those lovely yellow blooms on the wild mustard, I see Missy prefers the greens. Does she (or any of the chimps) eat the little yellow flowers?
I am also curious about the new tower structure. So nice seeing Missy choosing to climb up and enjoy her freshly picked goodies. Who doesn’t enjoy a restaurant with a killer view?! Do you find that all the chimps (well maybe not Negra) prefer the new tower these days?
Hi Kathleen,
Yes, many of the chimps are loving the wild greens! On an evening walk last night, Missy picked so many she had to carry them in both arms until she somehow managed to get them all in her mouth! In past seasons, Jody brought in huge bunches of the wild mustard flowers, but I don’t know if they’ve just discovered the greens are better or they have more of them now. I, personally, haven’t seen the chimps with them this year, but someone else may have.
Chimpanzees are super curious and naturally they are excited to have something new to explore! The past week we’ve seen unseasonably hot temperatures and the chimpanzees have only been making brief trips onto the hill so we haven’t seen them on the new structure (or really any) as frequently. But when temps have dropped a bit, they do enjoy heading up there to enjoy the shaded areas. It will be great to see what they do as the seasons progress. 🙂
I’m looking forward to what the season brings!