We all woke up to a couple inches of snow this morning and while the chimpanzees were not interested in going outside today, they were interested in eating the snow! Missy, Burrito and Annie were ready and waiting when I opened the door to Young’s Hill and immediately started food grunting when they saw the snow. They each took turns stretching out of the doorway to grab handfuls of the fluffy stuff. After breakfast was served, Jamie came in to nest bringing along of cup of snow to go that she had gathered:
Some of the chimps don’t mind collecting their own snow, but others are quick to figure out it’s much easier to just ask their caregivers to fetch it for them. Foxie sat at the window blowing raspberries with gusto until I brought a bucket in for them to snack on. After cleaning, we filled buckets with snow and sunflower and pumpkin seeds and you should have heard the excitement!
Jody inspected her options before relaxing with a big mouthful on the stairwell:
Burrito’s plan was to just grab a bucket and shovel in as much as possible:
And Foxie made the rounds and spent time at several buckets:
If you look closely, you can see Foxie rubbing her happy toes together.
And of course eating all that snow can make a person cold! So after the snow fest (which included snow in cowgirl boots!), Jamie bundled up to get warm:
I couldn’t get any photos of Negra as she is now frequenting her “winter” nesting area which is, of course, in a cozy corner out of sight. But rest assured the Queen had grabbed herself her very own bucket of snow snacks to enjoy from the comfort of her nest.
LOVE it!!! Vicariously enjoying along with all of you – chimp and human. xo
Heartwarming….love reading about these guys. Thank you for returning their dignity to them.
What fun and great pictures!
I love this post! Especially when you get a picture of Foxie rubbing her toes. I just love that … ????
Do they ever get brain freeze? ????
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Burrito’s plan was to just grab a bucket and shovel in as much as possible:” That tickled me. I TOTALLY agree with Negra….it is the time of year to NEST!!
What a kick! Fantastic pictures. Just like my grandkids. Wonder how they would react to a snowman ??
I. LOVE. SNOW! I’m such a snow ‘ho. 😉 I grew up in WV, but we get very little of it here in Nashville.
Have you ever seen the Chimps try to build snowmen out of it? I’m with Kathleen K.–have you ever built snowmen in their areas and how did they react? Would LOVE to see video of that!
Hi Carla and Kathleen,
Thanks for your ideas! We are always trying to think of something exciting to do with snow (and everything else) to provide enrichment for the chimps. Most snow “sculptures” get torn apart pretty quickly as they forage. I don’t think we have any snowman videos, but we have made some little ones before. Last year we did some crazy stuff with snow and icicles (another highly prized winter treat!). 🙂 https://chimpsnw.org/2014/02/icicles-2/
Joy is so evident in each picture. Makes me happy to see them so happy.
Awesome post for an awesome day!