If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know a few things about Jamie–that she likes to patrol the outdoor area, that she likes to have the humans join her on the other side of the fence on these patrols, and that she often keeps the humans late at night in the summer by insisting that we do walk after walk until she is satisfied.
We don’t complain too often about these overtime duties because it makes Jamie happy and because it’s a beautiful time to be outside on the sanctuary property.
Last week, we had a heat wave that prevented the chimpanzees from spending a lot of time outside during the day, but it always gets cooler here at night, so Jamie simply waited until the temperature dropped to get her exercise for the day.
Sometimes, especially during the day, Jamie is very focused on the perimeter trail that she’s worn in the grass, and will follow this path at a fairly brisk pace as we walk on the trail on the other side.
Her dusk-walking tends to fulfill a completely different desire, though, and Jamie will often veer from the perimeter path and explore the climbing structures in the middle of a walk, often stopping to take in a view or rest for a bit. The new Twister structure is a favorite viewpoint of late.
Below are a few photos of her nighttime meanderings.
At the top of Twister:
After viewing the setting sun, she came down the hill and did some more meandering on the shaky bridge:
Balancing on the metal pole structure:
Finally choosing a cross-legged position to rest for a minute:
And moving along again:
Eventually heading back inside, quite satisfied:
