One of the great things about getting to know a chimpanzee is you learn how multidimensional their personalities are. When you first start being around chimps (or reading a blog about chimps), you learn what their favorite things are. Take Foxie for instance, she loves her Troll and Dora the Explorer dolls and she has a sweet tooth (fruit smoothie is always a hit).
Then as you dig a little deeper, you learn a little bit more…
Foxie is widely known for her mischievous fun personality. She does flips and spins with her caregivers and chimp friends. She tests human newcomers by spitting a stream of water at them, and she also plays with old caregiver friends by spitting a stream of water at them. She can get Jamie (who is usually the most serious of the bunch) to roll around on the floor, laughing and wrestling. Foxie is daring and brave, adventuring to all corners of Young’s Hill by herself (or with a doll in tow) and often being the leader in the hunt to find intruding snakes. She is also the peacekeeper of the group, sometimes trying to diffuse a situation with dramatic over the top play behavior. She is good friends with the boisterous Burrito, spending hours in the greenhouse grooming with him. Their friendship has limits though. When Burrito is running around the building, displaying and scaring the group (as male chimpanzees have a tendency to do), Foxie seems personally affronted when he tries to intimidate her. She turns the tables on him and may then chase him around, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Foxie is friendship, courage, and fun, rolled into a small chimpanzee package.
